When Monte Kiffin talks, people not only listen they usually follow his sage advice.

It happened in 2009, when the then-defensive coordinator for the Buccaneers persuaded then-Seahawks coach Jim Mora to interview Gus Bradley to be his defensive coordinator. Mora listened – first to Kiffin, then to Bradley – and guess who ended up being the Seahawks’ DC?

It happened again in 2010, after Pete Carroll replaced Mora as Seahawks coach. This time it was Carroll who got the Kiffin call on Bradley’s behalf, and Bradley was retained to coordinator Carroll’s defense.

Things have changed, with Bradley now the head coach of the Jaguars and Kiffin in Dallas as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator after three seasons as assistant head coach at USC on the staff of his son, Lane. But Kiffin continues to watch the Seahawks’ defense, and he’s obviously impressed by a group that allowed a league-low average of 15.3 points and ranked fourth in the NFL in average yards allowed during the 2012 season.

When Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr inquired about what type of scheme the Dallas defenders can expect, Kiffin told him to watch video of the Seahawks’ fast, physical and aggressive unit.

“I kind of asked him what our philosophy and what the look of our defense was going to be, and as a prime example he said, ‘Go see Seattle film and you’ll probably learn a lot from those guys and just watch how they move on the field.’ ” Carr said during a radio interview in Dallas. “That’s some homework for me to do for the next couple of weeks.”