CELEBRATING THE ARCHITECT

In 2003, Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrated their first Super Bowl champion run.

This franchise defining moment was made possible by one of the greatest defensive systems the National Football League had seen. As a young football fan, growing up in Central Florida, watching the rise of the Buccaneers was a powerful influence on my own view of the sport. Specifically, that champion run taught me the important lesson that offense wins football game, and defense wins championships. If future hall of famers like Ronde Barber, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch were the X-Men, then Monte Kiffin was Professor Xavier.

Coach Kiffin first arrived in Tampa in 1996, complimenting head coaching stylings of Tony Dungy, and later Jon Gruden. These coaching staffs would perfect the ‘Tampa 2’ adaption of defensive concepts from the classic ‘Steel Curtain’ defenses of the 70’s. During the decade following the Bucs’ Super Bowl, the ‘Tampa 2’ would sweep the rest of the NFL.

This week, we celebrate the life of the lead architect of that system, Coach Monte Kiffin.