Current:Home > BackMississippi coach Lane Kiffin delivers emotional tribute to father at SEC media days-LoTradeCoin
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin delivers emotional tribute to father at SEC media days
View Date:2024-12-23 21:31:32
DALLAS ― Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin used to watch his father write a simple phrase on the chalkboard during his coaching days.
"Show up."
That was the doctrine Monte Kiffin asked his players to live by, and it's what Lane Kiffin did on Monday when he took the stage at SEC media days following his father's death on July 11 at the age of 84.
"The first rule of getting better was you gotta show up, show up and do your job. And that's what I'm trying to do here," Kiffin said.
In an emotional tribute to his father ‒ considered one of the best defensive minds of his time and the architect of Tampa Bay's Super Bowl-winning "Tampa 2" defense − Kiffin thanked the Oxford and Ole Miss communities for their support during what he described as a "challenging" week.
"It's been an amazing outpouring of support, of stories from former players, former coaches and especially former staff of people in the building and how many friends came out of that in the Bucs community and family," Kiffin said.
Kiffin said that SEC Media Days was not the setting to go in-depth on his father's passing, pointing instead toward a celebration of life scheduled for noon on Saturday at Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Florida.
He did, however, spin a tale about one of his childhood friends.
"I've talked before about him being my hero. I had a middle school friend," Kiffin said. "And he said hero is not really the right term for (Monte). It's superhero. That's what he was to the people that he touched. He used this term and now I'm using this term in description of him because I really feel like there's very few superheroes and very few great ones that loved everyone and tried to help everyone they came in touch with forever. Whether you were big or small, whatever you were, he tried to help."
Monte spent the latter part of his life working for his son. He was on staff as an analyst in Oxford, and also worked at Florida Atlantic, Southern California and Tennessee.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn Coming Out of Retirement at 40
- Watch Pregnant Sofia Richie's Reaction to Finding Out the Sex of Her Baby
- American Airlines’ hard landing on Maui sends 6 to hospital
- Takeaways from the AP’s investigation into how US prison labor supports many popular food brands
- Donna Kelce Includes Sweet Nod to Taylor Swift During Today Appearance With Craig Melvin
- Protesting farmers tighten squeeze on France’s government with ‘siege’ of Olympic host city Paris
- Nelly Korda defeats Lydia Ko in sudden-death playoff to capture LPGA Drive On Championship
- U.S. pauses UNRWA funding as U.N. agency probes Israel's claim that staffers participated in Oct. 7 Hamas attack
- Does the NFL have a special teams bias when hiring head coaches? History indicates it does
- Report: California officers shot in ambush were not verbally warned that suspect had gun, was on PCP
Ranking
- Georgia lawmaker proposes new gun safety policies after school shooting
- Will Taylor Swift attend Super Bowl 58 to cheer on Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce?
- Princess Kate returns home after abdominal surgery, 'is making good progress,' palace says
- A Costco mirror, now a Sam's Club bookcase: What to know about the latest online dupe
- 'Cowboy Carter' collaborators to be first country artists to perform at Rolling Loud
- Teen awaiting trial in 2020 homicide who fled outside hospital is captured in Philadelphia
- Country music star Chris Young cleared of all charges after arrest in Nashville bar
- 2 teens fatally shot while leaving Chicago school identified: 'Senseless act of violence'
Recommendation
-
Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
-
Italy’s Meloni opens Africa summit to unveil plan to boost development and curb migration
-
A Costco mirror, now a Sam's Club bookcase: What to know about the latest online dupe
-
The Super Bowl is set: Mahomes and the Chiefs will face Purdy and the 49ers
-
Target will be closed on Thanksgiving: Here’s when stores open on Black Friday
-
The IRS is piloting new software that could let you file your taxes for free
-
Pauly Shore sued by man for alleged battery and assault at The Comedy Store club
-
Pauly Shore sued by man for alleged battery and assault at The Comedy Store club