Gruden: Kiffin rumors not a distraction

The reports that Monte Kiffin is heading to the University of Tennessee to join his son, Lane, on the Volunteers coaching staff will not present a distraction to the first-place Bucs, said Bucs coach Jon Gruden on Monday morning.

"A lot of our coaches are sought after every year, and Monte's sought after every year,'' Gruden said during his Monday morning press conference."He should be. I'm not worried about any distractions. We've got a great opportunity ahead of us, and we want to take advantage of it.''

Lane Kiffin is scheduled to be named the Vols coach at a 2 p.m. press conference today. ESPN is reporting Lane will bring his dad with him as the defensive coordinator.

Monte called those rumors “speculation” after Sunday’s win against the Saints, and ESPN has been known to be wrong.

Kiffin is in the first year of a multi-year contract, and the Bucs have never been in the habit of letting coaches out of their contracts to pursue other jobs.

If the rumors are true and Kiffin were to leave, Gruden said he expects Kiffin to finish the season with the Bucs, who are 9-3 and tied for first place in the NFC South with Carolina.