Michael John Kafka (born July 25, 1987) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). After attending St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Illinois, he played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats, receiving second-team All-Big Ten Conference honors as a senior. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft, and spent six seasons in the NFL as a journeyman quarterback. Kafka became the quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018, and Patrick Mahomes, the starting quarterback for the Chiefs, earned the NFL Most Valuable Player award that season. Kafka helped the team win Super Bowl LIV the following season. He was the New York Giants' interim head coach in 2025.
Despite being the backup quarterback in 2008 for Northwestern, Kafka finished second on the team in rushing yards with 321. Following C. J. Bachér's graduation, Kafka became the starter for 2009. Against Syracuse, he set the school record for most consecutive pass completions with 16. In the same game, he became the first Big Ten Conference player to score a passing, receiving, and rushing touchdown since Zack Mills from Penn State in 2004. He was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In the 2010 Outback Bowl against Auburn, Kafka set the all-time bowl record with 47 completions and 78 passing attempts. He set Northwestern and Outback Bowl records with 532 passing yards and an Outback Bowl record with five interceptions.
Kafka spent two seasons as a member of the Eagles. In 2010, he was the third-string quarterback behind Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb but did not see playing time. He was mainly the third-string quarterback again in 2011 behind Vick and Vince Young, but saw some playing time in two games early in the season, both of which resulted in losses. He was expected to be the backup quarterback behind Vick in 2012 but a broken hand caused him to miss time in the preseason and was ultimately released in favor of rookie Nick Foles and veteran Trent Edwards. Kafka spent time on offseason rosters with the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013, on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad in 2014, on the preseason roster with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015, and on the practice squad for the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals in 2015.
Kafka became a graduate assistant with the Northwestern football team in 2016, and was hired by the Chiefs as an offensive quality control coach in 2017. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2018, and helped the team win the Super Bowl during the 2019 season, his first as a player or coach. He was given an additional title of passing game coordinator in 2020. After the 2021 season, he joined the New York Giants as their offensive coordinator. He added the title of assistant head coach with the Giants in 2024, and became the team's interim head coach in 2025. He joined the Lions as the team's passing game coordinator in 2026.
Early life Kafka was born on July 25, 1987, in Chicago, Illinois, to Michael and Sandra Kafka. He attended St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, where he played football and baseball. He was the team captain for both teams. In football, he led the Mustangs to three conference championships and had a career record of 35–8. He played safety as a freshman, but moved to quarterback during his sophomore year. The next season, he also played wide receiver. As a senior in 2004, Kafka completed 75-of-129 passes. In the season-opener against Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Kafka went up against H-F's quarterback Freddie Barnes and won the game, 52–28. Against Mt. Carmel High School, he ran for 164 yards and passed for 126 yards. Kafka passed for 1,004 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2004. He ran for 806 yards with a 5.6 yards per carry average, and five touchdowns on 144 carries. His career stats at St. Rita were 1,816 total offensive yards and 16 touchdowns.
Kafka made the school's Silver Honor Roll all four years of high school and was an Academic All-State. He was an All-area selection by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report and was an honorable mention all-state selection. SuperPrep named him All-Midwest Region and Rivals.com placed him on the Top 25 dual-threat quarterbacks list. SuperPrep ranked him 25th among players from Illinois at all positions and 50th nationally among quarterbacks. He was ranked 20th in Illinois by Rivals.com and 25th nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks. Kafka was named Team Offensive MVP and Catholic Metro Blue Offensive MVP. He was an honorable mention all-area honoree by Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Southtown.
Kafka committed to Northwestern University on December 10, 2004. He also received offers from Florida Atlantic University, the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University.
College career
2005–2007 During the 2005 season, his first year, Kafka redshirted in order for him to learn the Northwestern Wildcats' offensive system.
In his Northwestern career debut on September 1, 2006, against Miami University, Kafka threw for 106 yards and one touchdown on 13 completions out of 17 attempts. His first touchdown was a 19-yard pass to running back Tyrell Sutton. He led all players with 89 yards rushing on 17 rushing attempts. His passer rating for that game was 148.26 as Northwestern went on to win 21–3. The following week against New Hampshire on September 9, Kafka went 19–32 and threw for 173 yards along with one interception and a fumble. He rushed for 42 yards. The Wildcats ended up losing the game, 34–17. Kafka played the first half of the game against Eastern Michigan in the third week of the season and rushed for 33 yards with a 6.6 yards per run average, along with his first career rushing touchdown, a six-yard run. He passed for 76 yards and completed 10 out of 18 passes with an interception.
Days before Northwestern faced Nevada in the fourth game of the season, head coach Pat Fitzgerald confirmed that Kafka would remain the starter despite his poor prior performances. In the game, Kafka ran for a career-high 111 yards, which included a 13-yard touchdown rush, and averaged 9.2 yards per run. He passed for 122 yards, completing 9 out of 21 passes and three interceptions. His 111 yards rushing were the most by a Northwestern quarterback since Zak Kustok ran for 111 yards in a November 21, 2001, game versus Bowling Green. Kafka suffered a hamstring injury during the game, which kept him out of the next three games of the season. One of the games he missed was the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A history, an eventual 41–38 loss to Michigan State on October 21. Kafka made his first appearance since the injury against Ohio State on November 11, in which he passed for 17 yards and completed four out of eight passes.
In 2007, Kafka was a backup and only played in two games, in which he passed for 11 yards on two completions and rushed for eight yards.
2008 season Kafka entered the 2008 season as a backup quarterback behind C. J. Bachér. Against Syracuse, Kafka entered the game in the fourth quarter and rushed twice for 18 yards. Against Southern Illinois, he threw two passes, completing one for one yard, in addition to rushing for three yards. He played in the final series at Indiana and completed a pass, which went for nine yards.
Starting in place of the injured Bachér for the game against Minnesota, Kafka ran for 217 yards on 27 attempts, which included a 53-yard run, and passed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 12 completions out of 16 throws. His 217 rushing yards set a school and Big Ten Conference record for quarterback rushing yards in a game. The Big Ten record was later beaten in 2010 by Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on September 11, 2010. Kafka began the game by completing his first eight throws, which included a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ebert. He was named the team's offensive player of the week after that game, along with being named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Kafka earned an ESPN College Gameday Helmet Sticker and was named an AT&T All-America Player of the Week candidate.
The next week, Kafka started in his second straight game against Ohio State, and passed for 177 yards while completing 18-of-27 throws. He ran for 83 yards and a touchdown on 29 attempts. He ran for 300 yards in his two starts against Ohio State, which is the most by a Northwestern quarterback in successive contests. He was named the team's offensive big playmaker for the game.
Against Michigan, he entered the game in Northwestern's second series on offense and rushed for 20 yards on three carries before he was forced to leave the game after suffering a concussion. He ran for one yard on three carries against Illinois.
Kafka passed for 330 yards during the season along with two touchdowns on 32 completions and 46 total attempts. He finished second on the team in rushing with 321 yards.
2009 season Kafka entered his senior season as Northwestern's starting quarterback after C. J. Bachér graduated. He was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list, along with 19 other players nationally, with two others in the Big Ten Conference. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy eventually won the award. In the offseason, Kafka was tutored by offensive coordinator Mick McCall and former Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez. Kafka was named co-captain for the 2009 season.
At home against Towson on September 5 to start the 2009 season, Kafka threw 15-of-20 attempts for 192 yards, setting a career-high for passing yards in a game. He ran for six yards on six carries in a blowout 47–14 win. Against Eastern Michigan at home on September 12, he threw for 158 yards and one interception on 14 completions out of 24 attempts. He ran for 21 yards on five runs in the close 27–24 win over the Eagles.
During the Syracuse game, Kafka set a school record for consecutive completions in a game with 16, breaking a record set by Tom Myers in 1962. He set a new career-high in passing yards in a game by passing for 390 yards, breaking his previous career-high in the season opener. Kafka also ran for a three-yard touchdown and threw three touchdown passes along with an interception. He caught a receiving touchdown when he tossed a lateral to Andrew Brewer who threw it back to Kafka for a 24-yard touchdown. Kafka became the first Big Ten Conference player to score at least one passing, receiving and rushing touchdown in a game since Zack Mills from Penn State accomplished it on September 4, 2004, against Akron. Kafka finished the game with 35 completions on 42 attempts. However, despite his record-breaking performance, the Wildcats lost 37–34. He was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week on September 20 for his performance.
Kafka passed for 309 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Minnesota. He took four sacks and during a desperation drive to win the game, fumbled the football, which helped end the game and give the Golden Gophers the win. In the Purdue game, Kafka went 28-of-44 and threw for 224 yards. He rushed for a season-high 39 yards on 18 carries and ran for the game-winning two-yard touchdown. After leading after the touchdown 25–21, Kafka threw a successful two-point conversion pass to Drake Dunsmore to increase the lead by six to win the game after Purdue failed to score on the final drive of the game.