New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints have hired Turk Schonert as quarterbacks coach; it was announced today by Executive Vice-President/General Manager Mickey Loomis. Schonert, who played in the NFL for 10 seasons, has tutored quarterbacks for eight seasons.

Schonert's last served on the New York Giants coaching staff under Jim Fassel in 2003 as quarterbacks coach. He held the same position for the Carolina Panthers in 2001, when he was a member of George Seifert's staff. He directed the passers for the Buffalo Bills from 1998-2000, and Schonert started his career as quarterbacks coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1992-95.

"Turk has played the position and spent years refining the skills of quarterbacks within West Coast offenses similar to what we have had the last five years. He was tutored under Bill Walsh in this system and as a quarterback at Stanford he set many of the records that are used as a benchmark today," said Coach Jim Haslett. "He understands the terminology that our players are familiar with and he is considered a first-rate teacher.

Schonert entered the NFL as a ninth-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1981 after a record-breaking career at Stanford. He never played for Chicago, but was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals that season, where he stayed for six years. He was traded to Atlanta in 1986, and returned to Cincinnati from 1987-89. In 10 seasons he played in 72 games with 12 starts, completing 311 of 504 passes for 3,788 yards and 11 touchdowns. Schonert was 7-5 as a starter.

A native of Torrance, Calif., Schonert was born on Jan. 15, 1957. He and his wife, Beth, have two sons, Jake and Hayden, and a daughter, Camery.