A veteran college football coach who spent two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, passed away on Sunday night after struggling with Parkinson’s disease. He was 59 years old, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Kragthorpe, a former quarterback at Eastern New Mexico and West Texas, began his coaching journey at Northern Arizona in 1990, later taking positions at North Texas, Boston College, and Texas A&M.
In 2001, he joined the Bills as a quarterbacks coach under Gregg Williams. During his time there, Drew Bledsoe enjoyed his fourth and final Pro Bowl season in 2002, passing for 4,359 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
After two seasons with the Bills, Kragthorpe transitioned to his first head coaching position at the University of Tulsa, succeeding Keith Burns. Under his leadership, the Golden Hurricanes reached three bowl games in four years, a significant turnaround for a program that hadn’t had a winning season since 1991. Earlier this year, he was inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame.
Kragthorpe also served as head coach at Louisville for three seasons, ending his head coaching career with a record of 44-43. In 2011, he took on the role of offensive coordinator at LSU but resigned after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, subsequently spending two years in an off-field position in Baton Rouge.
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