JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Retirement was not what Monte Kiffin thought it would be.

Kiffin and his wife, Robin, have a condo on the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa. After a 49-year coaching career that ended after he spent two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2013-14), he was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying himself.

At first, he did -- but once the 2015 football season began, he became restless. He needed to be doing something, and watching tape in ESPN NFL analyst Jon Gruden's office three days a week wasn't cutting it.

"I don't fish. I don't bowl," Kiffin, 76, said recently. "You can only go on so many walks with your wife on the beach.

"I just love coaching."

After a brief retirement, Monte Kiffin is excited to be back on the field, working with the Jacksonville Jaguars. AP Photo/John Raoux

So when Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley called and asked Kiffin if he would work as an unpaid consultant -- help with a couple hires, watch film, offer input during free agency -- Kiffin quickly said yes. He hoped that would be a first step in his return to coaching.

It was. The Jaguars hired him in March as a defensive assistant. When Bradley approached him with the offer, Kiffin jumped at it with the same eagerness he had when he took his first job as a graduate assistant for Bob Devaney at Nebraska in 1966.

"I was like, 'Wow,'" Kiffin said. "I was so proud of that."

Bradley wasn't exactly sure what the role would be, but he knew he wanted to tap into Kiffin's knowledge and experience, especially with a first-time defensive coordinator, Todd Wash, and a defense that could include up to eight starters who didn't take the field with Jacksonville's first string in 2014.

It's still not a completely defined role, but Kiffin helps out Wash, breaks down film, serves as a mentor to the coaches and helps with scouting free agents and opponents. Bradley, who spent three years on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff with Kiffin from 2006 to 2008, has been pleased with how the arrangement has worked.

"Once we came up with an idea of his role, was he going to accept that role?" Bradley said. "It's gone above and beyond. It's better than I imagined. He's really doing everything he can to help this defense, this organization, to get better and wants nothing in return. It's really cool for him and he adds tremendous value."

"You can only go on so many walks with your wife on the beach." Monte Kiffin

Kiffin helped Tampa Bay win a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator. He didn't invent the Tampa 2 defense but he did a masterful job of employing it, and he is regarded as one of the best defensive coaches of the past 25 years. Yet he's fine with his role with the Jaguars.

"I'm not here to run this show or be the coordinator," Kiffin said. "Really, I came here to help young coaches get better and young players. I know Todd and Gus and I can help out. It's not like I'm calling the defense or saying, 'Hey, we should do this or that.' I'm not into that. This is their [team]. I've been there, done it, seen it. I'm just there to help them."

Kiffin is on the field, too. He's not running drills or jumping into the huddle, but he watches and talks to players and coaches.

He said he sees similarities between what the Jaguars are doing now and what the Bucs did in the mid-'90s when they drafted Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in 1995 and Warrick Dunn and Ronde Barber in 1997. Kiffin sees the Jaguars stockpiling young talent and feels they're on the verge of competing for the playoffs.

"That's what I see happening here," Kiffin said. "It could be like the Bucs. I don't know that it will be. We have to go out and do it on the field. The [Bucs] owner had patience with Tony [Dungy]. After a certain point, of course, he got fired. Our first year there we won four games and then we got going. That's what we hope can happen here."

Speaking of the Bucs, Kiffin said he did not approach the organization or then-head coach Lovie Smith about working with that franchise after his contract was not renewed by Dallas after the 2014 season. He wasn't actively job searching either, but was hoping he'd find a way to get back into football and was ecstatic when Bradley called.

He feels rejuvenated.

"Getting up every morning and going to work -- golly, I can't wait to get to work in the morning," Kiffin said. "I'm really having a lot of fun. But having fun -- you've got to win, you know. You want to win. Like I told Gus, 'I didn't come here to be one-and-done now. Let's go.'"