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The Bengals will have a coaching presence in at least one of the college all-star games this offseason.
On Wednesday, the team announced that assistant linebackers coach David Lippincott has been selected by the NFL for a coaching assignment in the 2017 East-West Shrine game. Lippincott will serve as the linebackers coach for the East team.
“This is a good opportunity for David, a chance to coach these young prospects,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis via press release. “These are players who will be entering the 2017 draft, and his experience through the week will give us some good insights.”
Looking at the most updated rosters for the East squad, some of the linebackers on the team could include Mississippi State’s Richie Brown, Army’s Andrew King, Wake Forest’s Marquel Lee, Villanova’s Austin Calitro, Notre Dame’s James Onwualu, and Arkansas’ Brooks Ellis.
The East-West Shrine Game often serves as a starting point for prospects looking to carve out NFL careers. More than 90 players from last year’s game signed with professional teams this spring, and more than 70 made final NFL rosters.
On average, more than 265 East-West Shrine Game alumni are on NFL rosters each year. The players are selected to the game based on their potential to make an NFL roster. A consensus of the 32 NFL teams is taken into consideration to field two teams of players who meet this criterion.
The divide typically used to assign East and West teams is the Mississippi River, though exceptions are made to ensure that the best 100 players are selected for the game, regardless of location.
The Shrine game is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST on January 21 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It will be broadcast live on the NFL Network. The head coach of the East team is Arizona Cardinals defensive line coach Brentson Buckner, whose NFL playing career included the 1997 season with the Bengals.