No NFL defensive coordinator had success stopping former Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick like Monte Kiffin did. So it’s only fitting that Tampa Bay induct Kiffin, who was defensive coordinator from 1996-2008, into the Bucs Ring of Honor against the Falcons at halftime on September 19. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke the news.

Kiffin becomes the 14th induction into the Bucs Ring of Honor. He joins John McKay, Lee Roy Selmon, Doug Williams, Jimmie Giles, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Mike Alstott, Ronde Barber, Paul Gruber, John Lynch, Malcolm Glazer, Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden in having his name permanently affixed to the walls of Raymond James Stadium.

Mike Tomlin, Monte Kiffin and John Lynch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from being inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor last season. So the club had to wait until the attendance would be back to normal in properly induct the defensive mastermind.

Kiffin, who is 81, joined Dungy’s staff in 1996 as the team’s defensive coordinator and installed one the NFL’s most successful defensive schemes with what became known as the “Tampa 2.” Working with great players like Sapp, Brooks, Lynch and Barber, among others, Kiffin’s Bucs defense was a perennial Top 10 defense that helped propel Tampa Bay to its Super Bowl title in 2002.

No other coach in Bucs history won as many games as Kiffin, as he served under the full tenures of both Dungy and Gruden. The Bucs won 111 regular season games with Kiffin on the staff, in addition to five postseason games, including Super Bowl XXXVII.

Kiffin left the Bucs in 2008 to join his son Lane at Tennessee (2009) and later USC (2010-12). Kiffin was also a member of the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff for two seasons (2013-14) and Jacksonville (2016). He re-joined his son Lane’s staff at Florida Atlantic (2017-19) as a defensive assistant, and now serves under Lane as a player personnel assistant at Ole Miss.