Irving, TX – The Dallas Cowboys are expected to name Monte Kiffin as their new defensive coordinator.
The team's website reported on Friday that the 72-year-old has been tabbed to replace Rob Ryan, who was fired from the position on Tuesday following two years on the job.
The Cowboys have yet to make an official announcement.
Kiffin spent the last four years as a defensive coordinator on the college level for his son Lane's teams at Tennessee (2009) and USC (2010-12), but he has 26 years of NFL experience.
He is most known for guiding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense from 1996-2008, winning Super Bowl XXXVII with the club.
Over that span with the Bucs, Kiffin's defense finished in the top 10 in total defense and scoring defense in 11 of his 13 years.
The architect of the "Tampa-2" defense used by many teams across the NFL today, Kiffin will be tasked with turning around a Dallas defense that ranked 19th in the NFL and allowed a franchise-worst 5,687 total yards.
The Cowboys ran a 3-4 scheme under Ryan and are expected to make the switch to a 4-3, which is the defensive alignment Kiffin is known for running.
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