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We're Going To Miss Monte

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2008

TAMPA - It still hasn't sunk in yet. Probably because he hasn't left yet. When he does, we are going to miss Monte Kiffin.

We're going to miss his four-alarm energy and enthusiasm, that caffeine-induced way he has of firing up his players, and even Bucs fans, with his squeaky machine-gun-like delivery.

We're going to miss his wiry flyaway-haired genius, the way he would make just the right adjustments to his scheme each year to keep it fresh for his players and confusing for opponents.

We're going to miss his artistry and his craftsmanship, that special knack he has for taking players with ordinary ability and molding them into star-caliber contributors.

We're going to miss his powers of resurrection, his almost uncanny ability to take a last-chance player like Chris Hovan or Philip Buchanon and breathe new life into their careers.

We're going to miss his fear-no-one, respect-everyone approach to game-planning, the confident way in which he would tell his players that it's not about what our opponents do, it's about what we do.

We're going to miss the roots he laid down here, because as long as they were planted in Tampa, we always knew there was another star head coach or defensive coordinator blossoming right in front our eyes.

We're going to miss him on draft day, when his response to every player selected for his defense reminded you of a kid unwrapping the present he couldn't live without on Christmas morning.

We're going to miss him at training camp, especially at 7:45 in the morning, when he would wake and incite the sleepy crowd and chase the dew away with his fervor and passion for the day ahead.

More than anything, we're going to miss him on game day, in much the same way a small child misses a parent who is away, because as long as he was there we knew everything was going to be OK.

We have no idea who will replace Monte Kiffin. It could be Raheem Morris; it could be Rod Marinelli or Joe Barry if one of them suddenly becomes available. It might be someone we haven't considered.

Whoever it turns out to be, he has an almost impossible task ahead of him. It's something akin to replacing Steve Spurrier at Florida or Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh or, dare we say it, Vince Lombardi in Green Bay.

Kiffin is that good. He is Hall of Fame material. He is a legend, the only defensive coordinator ever (repeat - ever) to lead a unit that finished in the top 10 in points allowed and yards allowed 10 times in 11 seasons.

Without him, the Bucs don't turn their franchise around back in the late 1990s. Without him, they don't win a Super Bowl in 2002. Without him, they don't continue to replenish themselves year after year.

Kiffin is glue, the one constant that has kept everything together through all that has happened here the past 13 years. Offensive coordinators have come and gone, and little changed on their side of the ball.

The Bucs, though, have always been respected, if not feared, because of their defense, because of Kiffin, because of the way he tweaked his scheme and molded his players.

They, of course, will miss him more than anyone.

"The thing about Monte is that there's always a lot of trust with him," linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "You knew with him that he was never going to come with a game plan that you looked at and said, 'What?'

"And believe me, I've had coordinators like that. But every week there's a lot trust with everything he puts down there. There's never any second guessing with him, so yeah, we're going to miss him."

Won't we all?

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