The East-West Shrine Bowl, the nation’s oldest college football all-star game, announced today that Richard Hightower and Mike Kafka will serve as head coaches for the 99th East-West Shrine Bowl, held February 1 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.
Hightower will coach the East team after recently finishing his second season as the Chicago Bears special teams coordinator. He has been a coach in the NFL since 2006, working with the Houston Texans, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and the Bears.
Kafka, currently the New York Giants offensive coordinator, will oversee the West team. He just completed his second season with New York after five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Kafka served as the Chiefs quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the team’s Super Bowl win in 2020.
For the East team, Drew Terrell (passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach, Arizona Cardinals) will serve as offensive coordinator for the Shrine Bowl. Chicago Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi will be defensive coordinator and New York Jets special teams assistant Michael Ghobrial will coach special teams.
The West team’s offense will be under the guidance of Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and Carolina Panthers outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu will be defensive coordinator. Stephen Bravo-Brown from the Cleveland Browns will coach special teams.