ST. LOUIS – Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher has promoted quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti to offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Rob Boras to assistant head coach/offense, the team announced today.
“Frank has been a key asset to our staff over the last three years and I’m confident that he’ll do a great job leading our offense in this new role,” Fisher said. “He’s done a great job in some difficult circumstances and he brings a great body of work as a play caller at some significant college programs. Our players know and respect Frank, and I believe we’ll benefit from the continuity he’ll provide.”
CIGNETTI will serve as the team’s offensive play caller and lead the offensive coaches through their weekly installations and game planning. Prior to joining the Rams, he served as offensive coordinator on the college level for Rutgers University (2011), Pittsburgh (2009-10), University of California-Berkeley (2008), North Carolina (2006), Fresno State (2002-05) and Indiana (Pa.) University (1997-98). He held dual coordinator and quarterback coaching roles with Pittsburgh, California and Indiana.
In his first season in St. Louis, Cignetti coached QB Sam Bradford to career highs in passing yards (3,702), touchdown passes (21), and passer rating (82.5). Bradford was on pace to establish new career highs in passing yards, completion percentage and completions in 2013 before a knee injury ended his season seven games into the year.
Last season, Cignetti integrated Austin Davis and Shaun Hill into starting roles after the Rams lost Bradford for the entire year due to an injury suffered during the preseason. The two threw for 3,658 yards and 20 touchdowns combined and completed 63.4 percent of their passes, the sixth-highest single-season percentage in franchise history.
Cignetti, whose resume includes two decades of coaching experience, also served as the quarterbacks coach of the San Francisco 49ers (2007) and New Orleans Saints (2000-01). In New Orleans, Cignetti helped Jeff Blake to a career-best passer rating and also helped Aaron Brooks produce some of the best statistics of his career en route to a Pro Bowl alternate selection. Cignetti landed his first NFL appointment in 1999 as a quality control assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs.
As the assistant head coach/offense, BORAS will help oversee all aspects of the offense with a particular emphasis on leading the run game. In addition, Boras will continue to coach the team’s tight ends as he has for the last three seasons.
“Rob is a tremendous teacher and he’s done a great job with our tight ends,” Fisher said. “His expanded role is sure to make us better as an offense.”
