WAXAHACHIE
Jon Kitna may soon trade his headdress in for an NFL headset. Multiple major news outlets reported Tuesday that the Cincinnati Bengals have interest in bringing the current Waxahachie head football coach on board to fill a coaching vacancy, likely as the quarterbacks coach.
Sporting News' Alex Marvez first reported the courtship early Tuesday morning, Jan. 8. An SB Nation article on Cincy Jungle stated Marvez is typically one of the first reporters with breaking Bengals news and noted he is close to Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis, which led the site to label the report "credible."
Kitna, an undrafted journeyman who spent 16 seasons in the NFL, played for the Bengals from 2001-05. The last three of those years came under Lewis. The quarterback appeared in 53 games (46 starts) while with Cincinnati and compiled an 18-28 record with 10,707 yards, 59 touchdowns and 59 interceptions in the process.
Over his NFL career, Kitna appeared in 141 games. He completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 29,745 yards and 169 touchdowns with 165 interceptions. He played for the Seattle Seahawks, Bengals, Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.
Kitna first began his coaching career at his alma mater Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington. He helped Tacoma to a 24-8 mark and three playoff appearances (2 first-round exits and a quarterfinal appearance) over three seasons.
He was then hired in 2015 to lead the Waxahachie Indians football team, where he has a 20-13 mark over three seasons and one playoff berth. He has a career 10-12 mark in District 10-5A.
Kitna replaced longtime coach David Ream in Waxahachie after the latter retired following 15 years with the football program. Ream compiled a 102-66 record with seven district championships.
Kitna could not be reached by the Daily Light for comment. As of press time, he had not confirmed or denied the Bengals' interests with any other news outlet, either.