Bengals vs Bills: Player and coaching connections

Among the Bengals and Bills are a pair of players whose connection dates back to high school. That's Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth and Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams. The duo played football together not only in high school, but in college too once Whitworth helped to recruit Williams to LSU, where they were roommates and, per Bengals.com, became lifelong friends and offseason neighbors.

Writes Geoff Hobson on Bengals.com:

Wouldn’t you know the Whitworths live in Ruston, about 500 yards from Williams and his family? "We’ll probably go up against each other a few times," Whitworth says. "You never know with Rex. You have no clue. He could line up a cornerback over you . . . Kyle is all day. He’ll keep bringing it. He’s an all-day sucker."

Former Bills who were Bengals

• Bills DE Manny Lawson played with the Bengals from 2011-12
• Bills RB Boom Herron spent time on both the Practice Squad and active roster for the Bengals in 2012.
• Bills WR Denarius Moore spent the 2015 preseason with the Bengals.

Hometown Connections

• Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is from Sandusky, Ohio, and played and coached at Miami (Ohio) from 1990-1997.
• Bills LB Preston Brown is from Cincinnati (Northwest High School) and played at the University of Louisville.
• Bills G John Miller played at Louisville.
• Bills C Eric Wood is from Cincinnati (Elder High School) and played at Louisville.
• Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander is from Rochester, New York.

Former NFL teammates

• Bengals LB Chris Carter spent one season in Pittsburgh with Bills DT Corbin Bryant.
• Bengals LS Clark Harris and Bills DE Mario Williams spent one season together on the Houston Texans in 2008.
• Bengals OT Eric Winston was also a teammate of Mario Williams in Houston from 2006-11.
• Bills ST quality control coach Michael Hamlin played with Bengals CB Adam Jones during his only season in Dallas in 2008.
• Bengals HB Cedric Peerman played two games in Detroit in 2009 with Bills FB Jerome Felton and ST coordinator Danny Crossman.
• Bengals LB Chris Carter and Bills RB Boom Herron spent a short time together on the Indianapolis Colts roster in 2014.

Coaching Connections

• Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis and Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan worked together in Baltimore from 1999-01, as well as Bills DB coach Donnie Henderson.
• Bengals OC Hue Jackson worked with Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan for one season in 2008 with the Ravens
• Bills Defensive Backs coach Donnie Henderson was Bengals S Reggie Nelson's coach in Jacksonville in 2008.
• In 2011 Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was the head coach of Oakland Raiders while Bills WR Denarius Moore was on the roster.

College Connections

• Bengals CB Dre Kirkpatrick and QB AJ McCarron played with both Bills DT Marcell Dareus and T Cyrus Kouandjio during their tenure with Alabama.
• Bengals OT Andre Smith played one season in 2008 at Alabama with Bills DT Marcell Dareus.
• Bengals DT Brandon Thompson played with both Bills WR Sammy Watkins and LB Tony Steward in 2011 at Clemson.
• Bills WR Percy Harvin played with both Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap, and S Reggie Nelson during his time with Florida.
• Bengals DE Michael Johnson and Bills CB Mario Butler both played at Georgia Tech together.
• Bengals DT Geno Atkins, G Clint Boling, WR AJ Green, and S Shawn Williams all played with Bills T Cordy Glenn and S Baccari Rambo at Georgia.
• Bills CB Stephon Gilmore played with Bengals C TJ Johnson at South Carolina.
• Bengals HB Ryan Hewitt played with Bills LB AJ Tarpley at Stanford.
• Bengals QB Andy Dalton played with Bills LB Jerry Hughes at TCU from 2006-09.
• Bills G Kraig Urbik played one season together with Bengals G Kevin Zeitler at Wisconsin in 2008.