Jordan Kovacs

Jordan David Kovacs (born June 12, 1990) is a former American football safety who is the secondary/safeties coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL).

That same afternoon in June 2008, Labadie called to confirm that Kovacs had been admitted from the wait list.

The admission came without an athletic scholarship.

Labadie encouraged Jordan to attend walk-on tryouts.

Kovacs initially passed the walk-on tryouts, but he had to pass the physical with Paul "Schmidty" Schmidt, who had been a trainer since Jordan's father Lou had played and been on the coaching staff at Michigan.

He had had surgery to repair cartilage damage in high school, but that did not alleviate his problems.

When Jordan responded yes to a question about whether he had had any surgeries in the prior 12 months, it triggered a line of questioning about his senior season meniscus surgery.

He did not make the 2008 Wolverines due to a knee problem, but was advised to try out again after his knee healed.

After discovering a torn meniscus, he had a second knee surgery, which was successful.

He attended every game that season in his family's season ticket section.

He was a walk-on who earned 2009 CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America second team recognition and 2009 Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten honors for the 2009 Wolverines while being the second-leading tackler on the team.

In 2009, he was one of the most highly regarded walk-ons in the nation, and emerged from a group of Michigan football players who referred to themselves as "The Walk-On Nation".

His debut on September 5 against the Western Michigan was on special teams.

The following week, he registered 31 plays against Notre Dame after starting safety Michael Williams suffered leg cramps.

He made his first start on September 26 against Indiana.

On October 3 of that season, he had 17 tackles against Michigan State in the annual Paul Bunyan Trophy.

He posted ten tackles and made his first career interception on November 14 against Wisconsin.

That season, he played free safety before being switched to strong safety.

He started one game at free safety and seven at strong safety over the course of the season.

He finished the season as the second leading tackler for the 2009 Wolverines.

He earned 2009 CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America second team recognition and 2009 Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten honors.

He was also a Rudy Award candidate.

Granted a scholarship by the 2010 team for his second year, he was the second-leading tackler in the Big Ten Conference and was selected as a 2010 All-Conference honorable mention.

Kovacs earned a scholarship at the beginning of the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

In the second game of the season on September 11 against Notre Dame in the Michigan – Notre Dame football rivalry game, Kovacs recorded his first interception of the season and second of his career as part of a 10-tackle effort.

On October 16 he recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss against Iowa.

He was also a 2011 All-Big Ten honorable mention for the 2011 team.

He served the 2012 team as captain and was also a 2012 All-Big Ten second team selection and a 2012 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Kovacs, a Hungarian American, attended Clay High School, which is the rival high school of former Wolverine teammate Kevin Koger.

In high school, he earned varsity letters in basketball as a sophomore and junior.

He also earned All-City recognition in track and field three times (first team as a senior, second team as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore) and was a four-year letterman.

He qualified for the Ohio State championships in the 4x400 meter relay.

He was a three-year letterman in football, where he earned All-Ohio academic honors and All-district honors as both a wide receiver and defensive back.

He was not recruited by any Division I schools as a high school football player, but he was recruited by some Division II schools.

Kovacs only had two campus visits: Division II Hillsdale and Toledo (a school 13 miles from his high school).

By the time he completed his college applications, even Hillsdale had lost interest in him.

His father placed a call to Michigan Director of Football Operations Brad Labadie after Jordan was wait listed and got him to agree to review a homemade highlight reel.

As his graduation neared, Kovacs shook hands with Andy Boyd, a Toledo coach, on a preferred walk-on spot.

He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

He played college football at Michigan.