Kiffin hasn’t lost his passion yet

Ex-coordinator to enter team’s Ring of Honor

TAMPA — Monte Kiffin was back on his old stomping grounds, front and center at a lectern in the team meeting room at the Bucs training facility where all those great game plans came to life. In the audience, players such as Booger McFarland, Dexter Jackson, Shelton Quarles and even Mike Alstott leaned forward to hang on his every word.

“I know one thing, I walk a little slower,” the 81-year-old Kiffin said Wednesday at a Ring of Honor news conference. “I’ve got a bad back. But I feel very fortunate to be here today. My health is good. I’ve got a great wife. I’ve got eight grandchildren. What they call me at Ole Miss, they call me defensive analyst. I can’t spell the word analyst, but I can tell you one thing, I know what the heck we’re doing! It’s a great honor to be here.”

Kiffin and his wife, Robin, arrived from Oxford, Mississippi, where he is a consultant on the Rebels’ football staff. The head coach is his son, Lane, whom the elder Kiffin followed to Tennessee, Southern Cal, Florida Atlantic and now Ole Miss.

The Bucs surprised Kiffin on his 80th birthday last year with

back Carlos is still unlikely to make the trip to Canada due to an adductor injury, defenders Moutinho and Ruan have both returned to training and could begin easing back into their starting roles soon.

Perhaps most impactful for the Lions is the return of defensive midfielder Sebas Méndez and goalkeeper Pedro Gallese from nearly a full month of international duty during the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers and Copa América. Méndez logged eight games and Gallese played nine during the monthlong stretch of international tournaments.

With these pieces returned, Pareja said he feels more confident heading into the weekend’s match.