Age, scheme don't matter much to 72-year-old new Cowboys defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin gestures as he responds to a question during an NFL football news conference at the Cowboys training facility Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, in Irving, Texas. Kiffin is about to turn 73 and has been out of the NFL for five years. The Cowboys are thinking more about his history of success at Tampa Bay and how a switch to Kiffin's 4-3 alignment will translate into fewer mistakes and more turnovers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (The Associated Press)

Monte Kiffin figures he could be 52 and coaching the 3-4 defense instead of 72 and running the 4-3.

Age and scheme don't matter much to the new defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Talent and passion do. Kiffin said Thursday that coaching is a question of "do you like it or do you love it" and says "you got to love it."

Kiffin, architect of the so-called "Tampa 2" defense when the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl after the 2002 season, will convert the Cowboys back to the 4-3. They used that alignment when coach Jason Garrett was a backup quarterback and Dallas was winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s.

Dallas switched to the 3-4 under Bill Parcells almost a decade ago.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL