Monte Kiffin, a longtime NFL and college assistant coach, died at 84 on Thursday.

While his accolades as a coach are long, he played a much bigger role in the life of his son, Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin.

Monte Kiffin, 84, died in Oxford surrounded by family and friends, according to Ole Miss Athletics that announced Kiffin’s death on its social media sites Thursday.

In a simple albeit powerful message on X, Lane posted two childhood photos of himself with his father and a short message that read simply, “My Hero.”

Kiffin was widely considered to have been one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history.

For 30 years he was an NFL assistant coach, including 13 years as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“His passionate and energetic leadership style resonated with all his players, and he was instrumental in our first Super Bowl win and the success of Hall of Famers such as Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Ronde Barber,” stated a message from the Glazer Family, owners of the Buccaneers.

Kiffin spent 25 years in the NFL, also as a coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.

In March, he was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame through its Awards for Excellence program.

According to ESPN, Kiffin began his career in 1966 as a graduate assistant at Nebraska following his playing career, learning from Hall of Famers Tom Osborne and Bob Devaney. Within four years he had his first defensive coordinator job, at Nebraska in 1970, and worked his way up to becoming head coach at NC State from 1980 to 1982. Kiffin went 16-17 in those three seasons, his only stint as a head coach.

From there, he moved on to the NFL as a linebackers coach with the Green Bay Packers in 1983.

Monte Kiffin spent the bulk of his later years working for Lane Kiffin — first as defensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2009, then at USC from 2010 to 2012, then as a defensive analyst at FAU and Ole Miss, where he served as an analyst since Lane became head coach in 2020.

Monte is survived by his wife, Robin, and his children, Heidi, Chris and Lane.