Lane Kiffin opens up about late father at SEC Media Days

The opening day of SEC Media Days on Monday was a difficult one for Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin after the recent death of his father, longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. But he addressed this in a very touching way, honoring his father with some stories about his dad to reporters.

Monte Kiffin is perhaps best known as one of the originators of the Tampa 2 defense, which famously played a massive factor in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning their first Super Bowl championship in 2003.

But naturally, Lane Kiffin spoke much more about his father’s impact away from the football field, calling his dad a “superhero” while speaking about his legacy.

“In my opinion, this isn’t really the place or time to go into a lot on this. That will be Saturday in Tampa. So I’ll just say one thing. I’ve talked before about (him) being my hero. I had a high school friend who said hero isn’t really the right term for him. It’s superhero. That’s what he was to the people that he touched.

“There’s very few superheroes. There’s very few great ones that loved everyone and tried to touch everyone they came in contact with. Forever, whether you were big or small. He tried to help. One person said ‘I met him in a gas station. And although he was a stranger to me, he made me feel like a friend.’ He would never want anyone to have a bad day or be sad. So this is me trying to do that.”

"Hero isn't the right term for him, it's superhero."@OleMissFB's @Lane_Kiffin on his late father Monte Kiffin ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VfwSOtLB7v

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 15, 2024

Based on this video alone, it seems to be quite clear that Kiffin is still quite broken up about his father’s passing. So you certainly have to commend him for speaking about the situation in front of a national audience.

It goes without saying that based on Kiffin’s description of his father, he would be quite touched by these incredibly nice comments from his son.

[SEC Network on X]