Monte Kiffin named at Tennessee

Dec 31, 2008 - 9:46 PM KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Monte Kiffin officially joined his son's coaching staff Wednesday.

The longtime defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kiffen was named the defensive coordinator at Tennessee, joining his son Lane Kiffin, who was introduced as the school's head coach on December 1.

Monte Kiffin, who coached in the NFL for 26 seasons, accepted the job with Tennessee on December 15, but his hiring was not announced by the school until Wednesday.

"As a coach with a background in offense, it was imperative to find the best defensive coordinator we could," Lane Kiffin said. "We feel we got the best defensive coach at any level. The addition of coach Kiffin not only puts us in position to play great defense, but also gives us the ability to sign the best defensive players in the nation if they want to prepare for the NFL every year they are here."

Monte Kiffin, 68, had spent the last 13 seasons with Tampa Bay and has overseen one of the NFL's top defenses over that span.

His trademark Cover-2 defense helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII following the 2002 season, the only title in Tampa Bay franchise history.

Ironically, Monte Kiffin's return to the college ranks comes at a school where he was considered for a defensive coordinator's post in 1983 under Johnny Majors.

"I chose instead the Green Bay Packers to start my NFL career, but this was an impressive place," the elder Kiffin said. "Now that I'm back 25 years later, it's bigger and even more amazing than I remember.

"It is more than just the facilities, though. I felt it when I arrived at the airport and no one even knew who I was. I could just feel what it means here to be a Tennessee Volunteer. I've never coached when there have been 102,000 fans watching us play. And what's really great is these 102,000 fans will be Tennessee fans and this will be our home field. I can't wait."

Lane Kiffin, 33, succeeded Phillip Fulmer, the second-winningest coach in Tennessee history who was forced to resign last month.