The Bengals promoted a key player to quarterbacks coach and Jordan Kovacs to secondary/safeties coach. Justin Rascati was hired as the team’s pass game coordinator.
Cincinnati (WKRC) The Bengals promoted Brad Kragthorpe to quarterbacks coach and Jordan Kovacs to secondary/safeties coach on Thursday. Justin Rascati was hired as the team’s pass game coordinator.
Rascati joins the Bengals from the Minnesota Vikings, where he served as assistant offensive line coach for the previous two seasons (2022–2023). He was previously employed by the Denver Broncos from 2019 to 2021 as an offensive quality control coach.
Rascati worked as a college assistant for seven years before entering the NFL coaching ranks. He was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Weber State University (2012–2013), the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the University of Tennessee–Martin (2014–2015), and the offensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech University (2016–17).
In 2003, Rascati started his collegiate playing career at the University of Louisville as a quarterback. He later transferred to James Madison University. In his three seasons at JMU (2004–06), he completed passes for 5,912 yards and 51 touchdowns. In 2004, he played a major role in leading the Dukes to a 13-2 record and the program’s first FCS national championship.
In 2023, Kragthorpe wrapped up his fifth season as a member of the Bengals coaching staff, his first as an assistant quarterbacks coach. After working as an offensive assistant in 2019–20, he was the assistant wide receivers coach for the previous two seasons (2021–2022).
In 2018, Kragthorpe worked as an offensive analyst at Louisiana State University, where he was involved in an offense that included wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow of the Bengals. At Utah State University, he started his coaching career as an offensive graduate assistant coach (2016–17).
After playing for Idaho State University for one season (2011), Kragthorpe transferred to LSU to complete his remaining three years of eligibility. He was a placekicker and backup quarterback for the Tigers, appearing in 25 games.
In 2023, Kovacs’ fifth season as a Bengals coach came to an end. He was the defensive quality control coach from 2019 to 21 and the assistant linebackers coach for the last two seasons (2022–2023). Similar to Kragthorpe, he showed intelligence, leadership, and developmental qualities that were helpful to the coaching staff.
After serving in coaching capacities at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, for two seasons (2017–18), Kovacs moved to Cincinnati. There, he started as a walk-on and finished as captain and an All-Big Ten second team member.
Kovacs was a safety for the Miami Dolphins for three seasons (2013–15), appearing in 28 NFL games. He also played preseason games with the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams in 2016, in addition to being a member of the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad in 2014.
Robert Livingston, who left the Bengals to reportedly take a job as defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado, is being replaced as head coach by Kovacs.
