The Cincinnati Bengals are generally considered one of the classiest organizations in the NFL but the upstanding organization has a tendency to behave differently when their biggest interdivisional rival is involved. Earlier in the season, Cincinnati announced the monster contract extension given to elite quarterback Joe Burrow literally during the kickoff of the Kansas City Chiefs season premiere against the Detroit Lions. While it wasn’t reported as a snub of Kansas City, it clearly was as the Cincinnati club chooses to upstage their midwestern rival in any way they can.
Bengals Announce Major Coaching Decisions Three Days Shy of the Super Bowl
It appears that Cincinnati will be continuing that trend as they announce major coaching changes three days ahead of their biggest rivals big game. On Thursday morning, the organization declared that they had hired three new coaches to their staff in a move that may not seem significant but carries a hefty weight this early in the offseason.
The biggest move made by Cincinnati is the introduction of Justin Rascati to the newly formed position of passing game coordinator. Like the rest of the Cincinnati coaching staff, Rascati is a young and rapidly ascending coach who served last season as the assistant offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. Prior to that, he was an offensive assistant for two years with the Denver Broncos from 2019 to 2021. He also spent seven years at the collegiate level after he played quarterback at the University of Louisville and James Madison University from 2003 to 2006.
The team also made the expected decision of promoting their assistant quarterbacks coach Brad Kragthorpe to the quarterbacks coach position after a few minor interviews just to do their due diligence. Kragthorpe has risen through the ranks after starting as an offensive assistant in 2019 under head coach Zac Taylor. Hiring Kragthorpe is a sign that the team wants to keep familiar faces around their loyal star quarterback and will be as accommodating as possible to maintain his affinity with management.
The third and final coaching announcement made by Cincinnati was the promotion of Jordan Kovacs into the secondary/safeties coaching position. Kovacs, like Kragthorpe, has rapidly risen through the defensive ranks after being hired by Taylor as a defensive quality control coach in 2019. Kovacs has been described as a hardworking and extremely well likely young coach during Cincinnati practices and games. He will be filling the position after the teams former secondary coach Robert Livingston just left the team to become the new defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado under Head Coach Deion Sanders.
Kovacs had a solid collegiate career at the University of Michigan from 2009 to 2012 when he went undrafted into the NFL. He played four seasons in the NFL, spending most of his time on practice squads until he finally hung up his cleats in 2016. After his playing career concluded, Kovacs became an assistant coach at his alma mater until 2019 when he was hired by Cincinnati.
These small positional coach changes may not seem significant to many people, but remember how quickly coaches like Taylor and Sean McVay made the jump from position coaches all the way to Super Bowl head coaches. Maybe there is a reason announced their announcement today: these three coaches may be critical to a Cincinnati Super Bowl Run in 2025. Fingers Crossed!
For More Football News:
Follow me on Twitter at @Super_Squatch76. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and NFL news, click here! If there is a topic you’d like me to cover or a question you’d like to ask, feel free to contact me at my email timothy.mcbride76@gmail.com.