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Article: For Jags, Del Rio is grand
- Article from:
- Oakland Tribune
- Article date:
- December 20, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WHEN HE was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003, Jack Del
Rio was 38 years old, second only to Jon Gruden among the NFL's
youngest head coaches, and that by a mere four months.
These days, though, Del Rio knows he's nothing special in terms
of age. Half of the NFL's 32 head coaches are now 48 or younger, and
when he looks at 32-year-old Lane Kiffin, he actually feels a bit
like an old-timer at 44.
Del Rio remembers Kiffin from his playing days as a linebacker
for the Minnesota Vikings in the late 1980s. Kiffin was a teen-aged
ballboy.
"He was like my son is now," Del Rio said Wednesday via
conference call. "He was around with his dad Monte Kiffin (the
Vikings defensive coordinator ...