Preseason Week 2 Bengals vs Buccaneers: player, coach and team connections

There are quite a few connections between the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On each side of the ball you can find coaching connections, hometown similarities and many former college teammates. Though he won't be playing, Michael Johnson will be representing the Bengals unlike the last time the two teams matched up during the 2014 season. In Week 13 of the 2014 season, the Bengals beat the Buccaneers 14-13 in a victory helped by a technically against-the-rules red flag thrown challenging a play in which the Bucs had one too many players on the field. Though the flag was against the rules, it alerted the refs to the situation and in turn helped the Bengals win the game in dramatic fashion.

Here are the connections between the Bengals and Buccaneers.

Player connections

• Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap and S Reggie Nelson played at the University of Florida; Nelson is from Melbourne, Florida.
• Bengals DE Wallace Gilberry was with the Bucs for 2012 preseason and on the roster for one game of the ’12 regular season.
• Bengals WR Onterio McCalebb is from Fort Meade, Florida.
• Bengals DT Marcus Hardison is from Punta Gorda, Florida.
• Bucs RB Bobby Rainey played at Western Kentucky University.
• Bucs TE Luke Stocker is from Berea, Kentucky.
• Bucs G Patrick Omameh is from Columbus, Ohio and attended St. Francis De Sales High School.
• Bucs S Keith Tandy is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky and attended Christian County High School.
• Bengals HB James Wilder Jr. is from Tampa and played at Florida State.
• Bucs WR Louis Murphy and TE Brandon Myers played for two seasons with the Oakland Raiders under Bengals Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson, who was head coach in Oakland for two seasons (2010-11).
• Bucs S Bradley McDougald is a native of Dublin, Ohio and attended Scioto High School (Columbus, Ohio).
• Bucs WR Donteea Dye is a native of Fairfield, Ohio and attended Heidelburg University (Tiffin, Ohio).
• Bucs DE T.J. Fatinikun is a native of Perrysburg, Ohio and attended the University of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio).
• Bucs RB Dominique Brown is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Louisville.
• Bengals DT Geno Atkins is a native of Pembroke Pines and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida.`
• Bengals RB Giovani Bernard is a native of Boca Raton, Florida and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
• Bengals LB Emmanuel Lamur is a native of West Palm Beach, Florida and attended King’s Academy.
• Bengals RB James Wilder Jr. graduated from Henry B. Plant High School (Tampa, Florida) played collegiately at Florida State University from 2011-13 and is the son of Bucs all-time leading rusher RB James Wilder.
• Bengals OT Eric Winston played collegiately at University of Miami from 2002-05

Former teammates

• Bucs OL Garrett Gilkey and Bengals WR Greg Little were teammates on the Cleveland Browns (2013).
• Bucs G Logan Mankins and Bengals WR Brandon Tate were teammates on the New England Patriots (2009-10).
• Bucs Assistant Defensive Line Coach Paul Spicer (2000-08) and Bengals S Reggie Nelson (2007-10) were teammates on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• Bucs LB Lavonte David (2010-11) and WR Kenny Bell (2011- 12) played with Bengals RB Rex Burkhead (2010-11) and LB Trevor Roach (2011-12) at the University of Nebraska.
• Bucs LS Andrew DePaola (2009), LB Khaseem Greene (2009- 2012), DE George Johnson (2010), and TE Tim Wright (2010-12) played with Bengals  WR Mohamed Sanu (2009) and TE Tyler Kroft (2012) at Rutgers University.
• Bucs HB Charles Sims (2013) and S Keith Tandy (2010- 11) played with Bengals DE Will Clarke and WR Mario Alford (2013) at West Virginia University.
• Bucs WR Louis Murphy and Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap (2007- 08) and S Reggie Nelson (2005-06) played together at the University of Florida.
• Bucs WR Russell Shepard and Bengals RB Jeremy Hill were teammates at LSU (2012).
• Bucs DE William Gholston and Bengals CB Darqueze Dennard played together at Michigan State University (2010-12).
• Bucs RB Doug Martin and Bengals S George Iloka played together at Boise State University (2008-11).
• Bucs OL Matthew Masifilo and Bengals FB Ryan Hewitt were teammates at Stanford University (2010-11).
• Bucs LB Bruce Carter (2007-09) played with Bengals WR Greg Little (2007-09) and WR Brandon Tate (2007-08) at the University of North Carolina.
• Bucs WR Tavarres King (2008-12) and K Brandon Bogotay (2010-11) played with Bengals WR A.J. Green (2008-10), G Clint Boling (2008- 09), DT Geno Atkins (2008-09), S Shawn Williams (2009-12), DT Kwame Geathers (2010-12) and WR Michael Bennett (2010-2014) at the University of Georgia.
• Bucs RB Dominique Brown and Bengals C Jake Smith (2011- 14) were teammates at the University of Louisville.
• Bucs CB Sterling Moore and Bengals DE Margus Hunt played together at Southern Methodist University (2009-10).
• Bucs S D.J. Swearinger and Bengals C T.J. Johnson played together at the University of South Carolina (2009-12).
• Bucs S Chris Conte and Bengals WR Marvin Jones played together at the University of California-Berkeley (2008-10).
• Bucs DT George Uko and Bengals CB Josh Shaw were teammates at the University of Southern California (2011-13).
• Bucs WR Mike Evans played with Bengals T Cedric Ogbuehi and S Floyd Raven at Texas A&M (2012-13).
• Buccaneer TE Luke Stocker and Bengals WR Denarius Moore were teammates at the University of Tennessee from (2007-10).
• Bucs DT Da’Quan Bowers (2008-10) and WR Adam Humphries (2011-14) played with Bengals DT Brandon Thompson (2008-11) and DT DeShawn Williams (2011-14) at Clemson University.
• Bucs QB Jameis Winston and Bengals RB James Wilder Jr. played together at Florida State University (2013).

Bengals who are former Bucs

• Bengals DE Michael Johnson played for the Bucs last season.
• Bucs DT Clinton McDonald was drafted by the Bengals in the seventh round of the 2009 Draft, was on the Bengals' practice squad in 2009 and played for them in 2010.
• Bengals K Mike Nugent was with the Bucs for part of the 2009 season.
• Bucs T Reid Fragel attended Ohio State University.

Coaching connections

• Bucs head coach Lovie Smith coached at the University of Kentucky in 1992 and at Ohio State in 1995
• Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier served in the same role for the Bengals under Marvin Lewis from 2003-2004.
• Bucs running backs coach Tim Spencer played (1979- 82) and coached (1994-2003) at Ohio State.
• Bucs offensive line coach George Warhop played (1981-82) and coached (1983) at the University of Cincinnati.
• Bucs head strength and conditioning coach Dave Kennedy coached at Ohio State from 1989-2001.
• Bucs senior defensive assistant Larry Marmie played (1962-65) and coached (1972-76) at Eastern Kentucky University, and coached at Morehead State from 1968-71.
• Bucs Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter (2007-11) was the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator when they drafted Bengals S Reggie Nelson (2007-10) in the first round (21st overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft.