Jacksonville Jaguars: What does Monte Kiffin bring to Jags?

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant Monte Kiffin brings decades of experience to the team and will undoubtedly impact the defense, but what exactly does he bring to the team?

The first things that jumps off the page about Monte Kiffin are his years of experience and his time as the pioneer of the Tampa 2 defense that dominated the NFL during his 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s a wealth of experience that the young Jacksonville Jaguars need and his younger contemporaries, head coach Gus Bradley and defensive coordinator Todd Wash can lean on.

Entering year four of the massive Jaguars rebuild, it’s no surprise that someone like the seasoned Kiffin is brought in. One of the primary problems for the Jaguars so far under Bradley and general manager Dave Caldwell has been the lack of experience. From the owner down to the playing field, the Jags are still young and inexperienced. Kiffin, like the offensive brain trust the Jags brought in last season, helps to rectify that problem.

What else does Kiffin bring aside from a balanced, experienced perspective? Michael DiRocco at ESPN noted that he will have an on-field role, but is it one that will have an actual impact on the outcome of a game?

Kiffin’s last stop as a defensive coordinator came in 2013 as the full time coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys (he was an assistant head coach in 2014) in which the Cowboys finished with the worst overall defense in the NFL. That’s hardly the kind of help the Jaguars – who have set franchise-low marks on defense the last three seasons – need out of their new defensive assistant.

Kiffin needs to show that his wealth of knowledge and the experience he brings can be properly implemented with the Jaguars. His time in Tampa Bay needs to shine through in whatever role he takes with the Jags, rather than the disaster that was 2013 with the Cowboys. Bradley won’t be adopting the Tampa 2 scheme and he is primarily using Kiffin as a sounding board, bringing his insight to the team.

How far does that go with the Jaguars? Is it going to be enough to turn the defense around or is this an example of trying to find someone, anyone who can influence the defense as a unit? Is it just an extension of throwing almost any player at the leo pass rushing position and hoping it sticks?

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Right now there are more questions than answers about the Monte Kiffin hiring for the Jacksonville Jaguars. There’s a lot of uncertainty about the defense and Kiffin’s presence is not helping to alleviate that uncertainty. Hopefully we see improvement and can credit some of it to Bradley’s ability to create a defensive braintrust to rival the one on the offensive side of the ball, but until we see the difference on the field it will be tough to judge.

For now, Kiffin is a bit of a mystery.

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