Lane wasn’t the only Kiffin to make a striking, though brief, impression on Tennessee football.
When he was hired as UT’s coach in 2009, his father came with him. No one cried “nepotism.”
Monte Kiffin, who died two years ago at 84, established himself as one of the game’s great defensive coordinators years before he came to Tennessee.. His renowned “Tampa 2” defense surged in popularity at the pro and college level after the Tampa Bay Bucs won the 2003 Super Bowl.
He did OK with the Vols, too. They improved from 5-7 to 7-6 with modest talent in the Kiffins’ only season in Knoxville. Tennessee held eventual national champion Alabama to 12 points in a two-point loss and limited Tim Tebow-led Florida to 23 points in a 10-point loss in The Swamp.
I
bring up Monte Kiffin as a reminder that Tennessee’s transitions to a new defensive coordinator don’t always go badly, although fans vividly remember such failures. I won’t mention any names, but one of those coordinator’s initials were “B. S.”
Another reason for dropping Monte’s name: New Tennessee coordinator Jim Knowles, who also is an acclaimed defensive strategist.
Listening to Knowles during Tennessee’s media day on Aug. 4, he reminded me of Kiffin for several reasons.
Both are on the backside of distinguished careers. Both communicate effectively. And both greatly value safety play in run defense.
I first realized Kiffin could help a story with meaningful quotes at the Bucs-Raiders Super Bowl in 2003. NFL writers knew all about that. You could tell by how many of them gathered around him in interview sessions.
Knowles also can provide insight on his defense.
You probably couldn’t care less how a defensive coordinator responds to questions from the media. But the way Knowles offers thoughtful, concise answers in a question-and-answer session could be an indicator of how he interacts with players.
Virtually every college football coach knows the game. However, not all coaches can succinctly convey that knowledge to players. Every player I asked about Knowles described him as a “great teacher.”
Kiffin made a risky move in his one season at Tennessee. He got All-American defensive back Eric Berry more involved in the running game — so much so at times that you might have thought Berry had been moved to linebacker.
In Berry’s first two college seasons, he had 12 interceptions, which he returned for 487 yards and three touchdowns. He had only two interceptions in 2009 but a career-high 87 tackles. Having proved himself against both the run and pass, Berry was the fifth player taken in the 2010 NFL Draft.
There’s no evidence Knowles has a Berry-caliber safety or one as talented as All-American Caleb Downs, who starred on Knowles’ defense in 2024 when Ohio State won the national championship.
Those Buckeyes were not just sure tacklers. They gave up only 129.7 yards passing per game — best in FBS and 24 yards fewer per game than the second-best pass defense. Six defensive backs off that team were drafted into the NFL, three each the past two seasons.
“Edrees picked up things so quickly,” Knowles said. “That put him in position to make plays."
Knowles obviously doesn’t have that depth of talent at Tennessee. But the Vols have added three safety-type players from the transfer portal who could all start. They also return a couple of secondary starters in cornerback Ty Redmond, a third-team All-SEC pick last season as a freshman, and junior safety Edrees Farooq, who had 76 tackles and forced four fumbles in 2025.
Knowles got a favorable impression of both players in the spring.
“Ty had a great spring and summer. He has exceptional natural talent,” he said.
Knowles added that Redmond has become more detail-oriented in his approach to the game.
Thanks to the portal, Farooq and Redmond are now surrounded by experienced players in the secondary — seniors TJ Metcalf, Kayin Lee and Qua Moss. Metcalf started the past two seasons — first at Arkansas, then at Michigan. Lee started the past two seasons at Auburn. Moss has experienced junior college, FCS and FBS football on his circuitous route to Tennessee.
Along the way, Moss developed a reputation as a heavy hitter. Metcalf, who was Michigan’s third-leading tackler last season. also has an affinity for contact.
I asked him if he would be more excited over an interception or a jarring tackle of a ball carrier. He smiled and said “the tackle.”
Monte Kiffin would have liked that answer.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee football's Jim Knowles reminds me of Monte Kiffin | Adams
