ALOUETTES NAME SCHONERT O.C.
The Montreal Alouettes announced on Tuesday that the club has named Turk Schonert its offensive coordinator for the 2015 season.
Schonert joined the Alouettes coaching staff as a consultant in July 2014, before being named the team’s receiver coach a few weeks later.
Under his tutelage, receivers Duron Carter and S.J. Green finished the season on strong notes. Carter was named to the CFL’s All-Star Team as he completed the season with 1,030 receiving yards on 75 catches, all while scoring seven touchdowns. For his part, Green caught 53 passes good for 835 yards. In the Eastern Final, he scored three touchdowns all while racking up 126 receiving yards. Schonert was also implicated with the offensive game planning.
“Turk played an important role in last season’s turnaround and we are thrilled to have him back with us as this will allow us to have some consistency on offence,” said Alouettes head coach Tom Higgins. “He has experience and is well liked by the players. We now have all the pieces of the puzzle in place and look forward to getting ready for what should be a promising season.”
After playing for nine seasons in the NFL as a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons from 1981 to 1989, Schonert joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a quarterbacks’ coach in 1992. He later joined the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers, the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints before returning to the Bills in 2006 in the same position. Under his tutelage in Buffalo, quarterback Trent Edwards was the most productive rookie passer in the NFL in 2007. He was promoted to the team’s offensive coordinator in 2008.
“I am excited to rejoin the Alouettes organization. I look forward to working with Tom Higgins again, as well as his staff and the players,” said Schonert. “We will be committed to building on what we did as a team last season, as our quest to bring a championship back to Montreal fuels us.”
Schonert, who was named the head coach of the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the United Football League in 2012, has over 15 years of coaching experience at the professional level.
Always good to see new coaching blood infused into the CFL.