One of the architects of the ultra successful Tampa 2 defensive scheme, Kiffin spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator of the Bucs under former coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden from 1996 to 2008 and helped the franchise win the first of its two Super Bowl titles.

The Old Miss football program announced on the social media platform X that Kiffin, once the head coach at North Carolina State, died surrounded by family and friends in Oxford, Mississippi, where Kiffin’s son, Lane, is coach of the Rebels.

Lane Kiffin was the FAU coach from 2017-19, with his father serving as a defensive assistant.

“As a coach, Monte was a true innovator who got the best out of his players and helped create one of the signature defenses of the early 2000s,” the Glazer family, which owns the Buccaneers and inducted Kiffin into the team’s Ring of Honor three years ago, said in a statement.

“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,” the Glazers added. “Off the field, Monte was kind, genuine, gracious and always had a positive attitude. He was very special to the Buccaneers organization and our family.”

Sapp was voted NFL defensive player of the year in 1999 and Brooks earned the honor in 2002, when Tampa Bay had the league’s top-ranked defense and dominated the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl.

During his stint with the Bucs, Tampa Bay’s defense led the NFL in fewest points allowed per game (17.5), ranked second in takeaways (293) and yards allowed per game (286.8), third in interceptions (249) and 10th in sacks (503).

With Brooks, Sapp, Lynch, Barber and Simeon Rice leading the way, the 2002 Bucs defense became the first unit since the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears to lead the league in fewest points allowed (196), yards allowed per game (252.8), and interceptions (31) in the same season.

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Kiffin also worked as a NFL assistant for the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.

After leaving the Bucs, he mostly worked for son, Lane, in college stops at Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Vladislav Goldin has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will join his coach from Florida Atlantic, Dusty May, as a graduate transfer at Michigan.

Goldin’s decision was first reported Monday by ESPN. The Michigan men’s basketball program reposted the news on its X account.

The 7-foot-1, 240-pound Goldin averaged 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and shot 67% for the Owls last season. He had declared for the draft on April 2 but with the option to return to school. Goldin, who is from Russia, played one season at Texas Tech before transferring to FAU.

May was announced as Michigan’s coach on March 24 after six seasons at FAU, which he led to the NCAA Final Four in 2023.

Goldin is the sixth player from the transfer portal to land at Michigan. The Wolverines fired fifth-year coach Juwan Howard on March 18 after an 8-24 season.

The Owls guard announced on Instagram that he was both declaring for the NBA draft and entering the transfer portal. He is the fourth FAU player to enter the portal since Florida Atlantic hired John Jakus as its new head coach to replace Dusty May, who left to be the new coach at Michigan.

“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to play at FAU and for the incredible people I’ve met here,” Davis wrote. “These past four years have been full of incredible lessons and memories that I will cherish forever. To the coaching staff, thank you for your support and building this culture that will never be forgotten. To Owl nation, thank you for always cheering us on and having our back. You guys made the Elly one of the best arenas in the nation.

“To my teammates, what we built together is something I’ll always remember. Lastly, to my family, thank you for the unconditional support.”

Davis was a key member of the Owls’ Final Four team in 2023. In his four years with FAU, he averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Last year, he notched a career-best 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, but FAU fell to Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida Atlantic has already lost forwards Vladislav Goldin and Giancarlo Rosado and guard Nick Boyd to the transfer portal.

They’re already in Boca Raton. And Jakus wants them to stay.

Jakus’ introductory news conference at FAU was Friday afternoon in Boca Raton, and his first public act as the school’s new coach was speaking directly to those players who have decisions to make — stay or go? — and state his case for them to come back next season.

“I just asked them one thing: ‘Give me a chance. Give me a chance,’” said Jakus, whose five-year deal pays $1 million a year. “And the reality of the situation is if you leave, maybe you find something better. But I doubt it. Because what you’ve built here and what you’ve built as friends is fantastic.”

Jakus’ arrival at FAU’s arena was accompanied by a standing ovation from fans and boosters, a blaring school pep band and cheerleaders waving pompoms in the air. And it took about two minutes before the new FAU coach was greeted by expectations, too.

“Coach, you know we’re going back to the tournament next year, right?” FAU President Stacy Volnick said, as those in the gym roared in approval.

It’s a new era at FAU, but the goals won’t change, and Jakus wouldn’t have it any other way. The former Baylor associate head coach was hired Wednesday night to replace Dusty May — who left after six seasons for Michigan, ending a run where he took the Owls to the Final Four a year ago and back to the NCAA Tournament this year.

“I’m going to fight like crazy to keep you,” Jakus told the players. “And I’m just going to tell you this real quick: If you’re a season ticket holder, I wouldn’t give that up. If you’re a student who had to wait in line because it’s so hard to get into this place, I’d tell you to get here earlier next year.”

The interview process was quick. After about two hours of an in-person meeting with FAU athletic director Brian White and others — White, smartly, let Jakus sit facing the window overlooking the beach and ocean water below — it was made clear that the Owls were about to make an offer.

Jakus called his wife, Sara. They’ve had offers before and turned them down because of what it might mean to their family; one of their three children was born with severe autism. Jakus made clear that in his house, what Sara says goes.

“And so, we said yes,” Jakus said. “She said yes.”

The deal was done, Jakus met his new team a couple hours later.

“He’s won a national championship. He’s been to multiple Final Fours. He’s been to three Elite Eights and five Sweet Sixteens,” White said. “You know, that’s success. He wasn’t just a part of it. He was a big part of it.”

Jakus and May have exchanged messages this week; Jakus thanked May for what he did at FAU, and May wished him luck.

Jakus was at Baylor under Scott Drew for seven seasons — including the team’s national championship season in 2021 — and spent time at Gonzaga as director of operations under Mark Few before that. During that three-year stretch, the Bulldogs went to an Elite Eight one year, a Sweet 16 the next and then national title game.

Jakus has familiarity with South Florida. He has family there, has vacationed there, even went on spring break there once. (“I’m not going to tell you what happened during that time, OK?” he said.) In his initial conversation with White on Sunday, Jakus revealed that he’s planning to retire in the area and that “if you’re going to bring me here 20 years earlier, let’s do it.”

He’s already started using some of the school’s top selling points: The campus is 1.8 miles from the beach, the weather’s often perfect, the athletic department’s slogan is “Winning in Paradise.” And as he looked at FAU’s current players on Friday, he told them about that first call and how it made him realize FAU is where he wanted to be going forward.

“I wanted it bad. So, I spent an hour just selling my heart out for it,” Jakus said. “And one of the reasons I wanted it so bad is because what you guys have done. The beach is great. Paradise is great. What this university is is great. But what you guys have given this place is what I want to be and what I’ve been about. And the two Final Fours have been some of the greatest memories of my life. And the fact that you guys have done this, I want to do another one with you.”

Florida Atlantic is hiring Baylor associate head coach John Jakus as its coach, a move that comes four days after Dusty May capped his six-year run with the Owls and took over at Michigan.

Jakus and the school have agreed on a five-year contract. Financial terms were not immediately released and the school was planning to hold an introductory news conference on Friday.

“This program has been in such great hands, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Dusty May, his staff, and the players have accomplished,” Jakus said. “FAU has been one of the best teams in the nation the last two years and I am so fortunate to carry on that tradition.”

Jakus was at Baylor under Scott Drew for seven seasons — including the team’s national championship season in 2021 — and spent time at Gonzaga as director of operations under Mark Few before that. During that three-year stretch the Bulldogs went to an Elite Eight one year, a Sweet 16 the next and then national title game.

“He checks so many boxes in what we’re looking for to enhance and build on the momentum in our program,” FAU athletic director Brian White said. “His pedigree, learning from two of the greatest coaches in the game today, is unmatched. John is a tireless worker who cares deeply for his players and has an innate understanding of the current landscape in college athletics. He is a winner and is passionate about doing it the right way.”

In Jakus’ 12 seasons on Division I staffs, the teams have posted a combined 316-99 record.

He’s been a head coach in Europe at clubs in Macedonia and Bulgaria from 2007 through 2011. Jakus also has experience working with Athletes in Action, collecting more international experience over about a decade.

The Owls lost in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament to Northwestern. May left for Michigan a day later, signing a five-year contract worth nearly $19 million — basically tripling his annual salary of $1.25 million plus incentives at FAU for this season.

FAU has won 60 games over the last two seasons, 35 of them during last season’s run to the Final Four. Only Houston (65), defending national champion UConn (64) and Purdue (60) have as many wins as the Owls since the start of last season.

Michigan President Santa Ono, in a social media post, announced the hiring on Saturday night. May and the Wolverines were in the process of finalizing details of what was expected to be a five-year contract, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Michigan had yet to announce the terms of the deal.

“I am thrilled to welcome Dusty May to the University of Michigan as our new head basketball coach,” Ono wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

ESPN first reported the agreement.

May will replace Juwan Howard, a former Michigan star who was fired after five seasons with the Wolverines. Howard went 82-67 with two NCAA tournament appearances, but the Wolverines went 8-24 this season — the school’s worst record since 1960-61.

Barely 24 hours after FAU’s season was done, Michigan put its turnaround task in May’s hands.

The speculation about May’s future started long before now — it really has been a constant for more than a year. He was touted as a rising coaching candidate last season after a 20-game win streak thrust FAU into the national spotlight for the first time. And then the NCAA run to the Final Four, where the Owls were a bounce away from making it to the national championship game against Connecticut, only further validated the sense that May was ready for the biggest of big time.

FAU did what it could last year to keep May, signing him shortly after the Final Four run to a 10-year extension. He earned $1.25 million in base salary this season, plus another $25,000 for making the NCAA tournament. FAU is due a $1 million buyout now that May has decided to leave.

May got questions about his future for the last several weeks, including when FAU lost to Northwestern on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tourney. His stance never wavered: His plan was to listen to those who called, then decide what was best.

And Michigan evidently made him the offer that he couldn’t decline.

“College basketball is very fluid. Just click on Twitter to see,” May said after FAU’s loss on Friday in the tournament. “No idea what’s next for anybody in our locker room. I love it at FAU. I love coaching these guys, and that’s it.”

May went 126-69 in his six years at Florida Atlantic, finishing with winning records in each of those seasons — and seeing the victories really pile up in the last two years. The Owls went 35-4 last season on their way to the Final Four and finished this season at 25-9.

That’s 60 wins in the last two years; entering this weekend, the only Division I men’s programs with more victories in that span were Houston (64) and defending national champion UConn (63). And FAU’s home record in that stretch of 30-1 tied Drake for the best at the Division I men’s level, with all those games being sellouts in Boca Raton — such a hot ticket that students would line up for hours to get into some of those contests, something that the school hadn’t seen before.

Countless “firsts” in FAU basketball history came on May’s watch, such as first NCAA Tournament win, first 25-win season, first AP Top 25 appearance, first Final Four. FAU had exactly one season with 20 wins before May came along; the Owls have three now, after he was able to lure big-time talent to Boca Raton and play in a 3,000-seat arena that doubles as the practice court, a place where the orange paint is chipped off many of the rims and without many of the amenities that top programs can boast.

Put another way: May had more winning seasons at FAU (six) than the school had in its first 25 years of Division I play before he arrived combined (five).

FAU was May’s first stop as a head coach. He was previously an assistant at Florida, Louisiana Tech, UAB, Murray State and Eastern Michigan, started his coaching career as an administrative assistant and video coordinator at USC — and before all that, graduated from Indiana where he was a manager under Bob Knight.

And now he goes back to the Big Ten, only in maize and blue.

May provided the words, too.

“I’d like to express some gratitude to this group for taking so many on a great ride,’’ the Florida Atlantic men’s basketball coach said after a 77-65 loss to Northwestern in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Isn’t that it? Doesn’t that sum up the past two years for anyone watching the FAU program?

Sometimes the magic is on the other side. Northwestern wasn’t too good Friday as much as too tough, too hungry. They made the biggest play to send the game to overtime and created the big moments from there, just as Florida Atlantic did all last tournament in its run to the Final Four.

Or May said: “Did it go all our way (Friday?) No. But it went our way last year.”

That’s best way to see it, even if it hurt a little. It wasn’t just this loss so much as probably represents the end of this particular show at FAU. The full cast of starters who returned from last year’s Final Four trip will move on now.

The question is May, if it’s in fact a question. There were rumors he was up for the Ohio State job before the Buckeyes promoted an assistant. Now the whispers say Louisville and Michigan are interested in him. Why wouldn’t they be?

May took a team that had been to one NCAA Tournament in its history to back-to-back tournaments, including that noted Final Four. He’s a Midwestern kid, too, bordering both states while weaned on Bobby Knight’s Indiana team.

Schools would be crazy not to consider him.

He’d be crazier not to go, if the offer comes.

This is his moment. Sometimes that moment to land the big contract, coach at the big school and achieve a career hope only comes along once. The previous FAU coach to reach a NCAA Tournament in 2002, Sidney Green, returned with the idea of building up the program and his name even more. He was fired three years later.

FAU rode last year to playing in national tournaments this season. The Owls sold out every home game. They put in a second row of courtside seats. FAU did everything to maximize the fun of that Final Four trip, right down to reaching the tournament again.

The disappointing part of Friday’s end is it didn’t feel representative of what this team accomplished. It’s one thing to lose, as happens especially in one-and-done tournaments like this.

But FAU had a season-low 20 points at half. It committed a season-high 21 turnovers in the game. It had the ball and a two-point lead with under 30 seconds to play in regulation and couldn’t take the day.

“Credit to them,’’ May said of Northwestern. “They were statistically better at every facet of the game, and we weren’t at our best. They made the plays when they needed to.”

Then came an overtime where Northwestern ran FAU off the court.

“This is the first time we’ve lost consecutive games this year,’’ May said. “It’s the first time we lost in double digits in a long, long time. We looked a little bit out of gas in overtime and emotionally spent.”

Senior guard Bryan Greenlee said afterward players were taking a moment in the locker room to consider what they’ve accomplished.

“I can sit here and appreciate these past two years, especially,’’ he said. “But the whole time I’ve been here it’s been about building something from the ground up. It’s disappointing (to lose Friday), but you’ve got to appreciate even making the tournament.”

May sat behind a microphone, said he loved his players, and said a loss like this was as much as the experience as all those big wins last year.

“I wish I’d coached better in the offseason and in practice,’’ he said. “I’ve been doing this 20 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever ended a season where I’ve been disappointed I didn’t coach better.”

It felt like more than the end of a season at FAU. It felt like the end of a good movie, right down to May saying how he appreciated going on this great ride with his players.

NEW YORK — Ryan Langborg scored 12 of his career-high 27 points in overtime, and ninth-seeded Northwestern finally put away No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic 77-65 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Vlad Goldin had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Owls (25-9), who returned nearly their entire team from a surprising Final Four run last year but were unable to muster that same March magic this time.

The injury-depleted Wildcats recovered after squandering a nine-point lead late in the second half. Brooks Barnhizer’s driving layup tied it with nine seconds left.

Next up for Northwestern (22-11) is No. 1 overall seed UConn in the second round of the East Region on Sunday in Brooklyn. The Big Ten program has never reached the Sweet 16 in three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Boo Buie had 19 of his 22 points after a quiet first half. Barnhizer added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Northwestern, which advanced in the NCAAs for the second consecutive season despite playing without injured starters Ty Berry (knee) and 7-footer Matthew Nicholson (leg), who are both finished for the season.

“They played really well in overtime,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “We just looked like we were a little bit out of gas, I guess.”

The Owls never gave up in forcing the overtime.

Down by nine with 6 1/2 minutes left, Florida Atlantic scored eight straight points to grab a 58-56 lead on Johnell Davis’ driving basket with 1:04 remaining — his first points of the second half.

Barnhizer tied it at the other end, and Davis missed a long, contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Langborg, a graduate guard from San Diego, came out firing in OT with two jumpers and a 3 to score Northwestern’s first seven points of the extra period. Buie sank a circus shot and Langborg drained another 3 to give the Wildcats a 70-59 advantage with 1:38 remaining.

Northwestern made all five shots from the field in OT and seven of eight free throws.

Davis finished with 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting.

Florida Atlantic fought back late with the help of a flagrant foul at the 3:21 mark of the second half charged to Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli — following a replay review — for accidentally elbowing Goldin during a scramble near the basket.

Goldin made both free throws, then two more, to tie it at 56-all with 2:44 left.

After both teams were off target in a messy first half, Buie buried a 3-pointer right out of the break and added a long one from the wing as Northwestern used a 7-0 run to build a 35-27 lead early in the second half. Langborg gave the Wildcats a 54-45 advantage on a jumper with 6:43 remaining, but FAU wasn’t finished.

Both teams were making their third NCAA Tournament appearance. FAU made a surprising run to the Final Four last season as a No. 9 seed, also coming out of the East Region in New York City (winning Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at Madison Square Garden), before losing to San Diego State on Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater in the national semifinals at Houston.

After moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference, the Owls brought back 14 of 15 players under coach Dusty May and were one of only five Division I programs that didn’t have a single player enter the transfer portal. They opened the season ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 and beat then-No. 4 Arizona in double overtime in December, but were coming off a hard-to-explain 74-73 loss to 11th-seeded Temple in the AAC semifinals.

Given not only an at-large berth anyway but a No. 8 seed, the Owls got another chance to add to the madness of March.

Northwestern, which beat Boise State in last year’s NCAA Tournament before losing to second-seeded UCLA in the second round, matched a program record with 21 regular-season wins this year but had lost three of four coming into this one.

The first half wasn’t pretty, with the teams combining for 3-of-21 shooting from 3-point range even though Northwestern entered ranked fifth in the nation at 39.4% from long distance and FAU was averaging 82.5 points per game, 16th in the country.

It wasn’t for lack of hustle, though, as Barnhizer went flying over the press table in pursuit of a loose ball along the sideline.

Northwestern went 5 1/2 minutes without scoring and a layup at the buzzer by Davis, the co-AAC player of the year, gave Florida Atlantic a 20-19 edge despite 12 turnovers. Davis had 11 points at the break, one of only three Owls to score in the first half. FAU shot 33% from the field to 21% for Northwestern.

Sure, his Florida Atlantic University basketball team isn’t just back in the NCAA Tournament but heading back to New York where players held their breath together before a practice last March to hold that special moment.

“I remember looking around, taking everything in,” forward Alijah Martin said.

They then won two games there to reach the Final Four. They’ve never let go of that feeling. Would you?

“Since we got off the plane last year from New York, life has changed for all of us — most of it in a good way,” May said.

Their arena, once echoing in its emptiness, sold out every game this season. They were ranked a preseason No. 10 and regulars on national television. May left last tournament a hot coaching commodity and the question is if he’ll be offered the Louisville or Michigan jobs whenever FAU is knocked out of this March.

Assuming he’s knocked out of the tournament.

Do you believe Miracles II?

“It seems more familiar,” May says of this year’s trip. “Guys seem equally excited. It’s just different. Guys have had this moment circled for a long time.

“There’s a renewed energy. It feels very similar in that way. But there’s a lot of other things going into the game, and that just seems much more familiar than a year ago.”

FAU plays Northwestern on Friday in Brooklyn in the opening round as opposed to playing in Madison Square Garden in the Sweet 16 last tournament. Still, it’s close enough to bring up memories, just as FAU being an eighth seed is close to its ninth seed last year.

No one pretends even with the same starters it’s the same team, though.

“Last year, our runs (in games) were defined by getting stops and rebounding,” May said. “This year it is with the ability to score. We take for granted our defense was slipping and didn’t play with the same edge.”

FAU ranked 191st  defensively since Feb. 9. It went from a preseason No.10 ranking to out of the Top 25. It had some defining wins — Arizona, Texas A&M, Loyola — and lost to Temple in the American Conference semifinal last Saturday.

It’s not diminishing the achievement of this tournament bid — just the third in school history — to say how hard it is to re-create magic of last season. May knew the challenge ahead when he sought counsel from Heat president Pat Riley before the season on dealing with a team’s success and Riley’s patented “Disease of Me.”

You also could just glance across South Florida to see how difficult it is to reach this far again. The University of Miami joined Florida Atlantic in the Final Four last season. It didn’t make the tournament this year. It lost 10 consecutive games to close the season. Coach Jim Larrañaga was especially frustrated this week in saying as least five players will leave via the transfer portal.

By comparison, May was talking Tuesday about Northwestern’s toughness and: “Knowing we have to play hard on every possession. We have to challenge everything. Have to pay with great physicality, greater intensity.”

So much remains the same at FAU despite their success. May’s office is still directly below a second-floor practice court, meaning the thud-thud-thud of dribbled basketball is the soundtrack to his workday. Coaches still have a rule to leave the cramped office when receiving a phone call so everyone doesn’t have to listen to the conversation.

The arena still seats 3,100 for games. But what’s important is the seats were full this season. The fabric of the program changed thanks to last spring.

“I always think of what we didn’t have now, which is the support of fans,” Martin said.

He knows what the chance they have now, too. Maybe the Temple loss last weekend actually helps. FAU hasn’t lost two games in a row this season.

“We’ve got a team that responds well to adversity,” May said.

Can they respond like last year?

“We know the type of game we have to play,” he said.

It’s different this time. They know that. But going back in the tournament, back to New York, back as a mid-level seed — maybe they should hold their breath again before practice and appreciate the moment. It worked once.

A year after making the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament and making a Cinderella Final Four run, Dusty May and Florida Atlantic earned a spot in March Madness for the second year in a row.

The Owls earned the No. 8 seed in the East Region. They will face Northwestern in Brooklyn, New York on Friday.

FAU is 25-8 this season, but the Owls were shocked by 16-20 Temple in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament on Friday.

The three surviving 2023 Final Four teams (with Miami having not made the tournament), FAU, San Diego State and defending champion UConn, are all in the East Region. If both FAU and UConn win their first-round games, they would face off in a Round-of-32 matchup.

The Owls did not have the same success as they did in the 2022-23 season, which they finished 35-4.

FAU, however, had a tougher schedule this season, beating tough out-of-conference teams like Arizona, Butler, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. However, the Owls also lost to Illinois and Bryant outside the AAC and dropped conference games to Charlotte, UAB and a surging USF, among others.

The Owls returned much of the same core from last year’s Final Four team, with guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin and forward Vladislav Goldin leading the way in scoring.

Two other Florida teams will join FAU in the NCAA Tournament. Florida returned to March Madness after a two-season absence, and Stetson punched its ticket to the first NCAA Tournament in school history.