MONTREAL - The Montreal Alouettes announced on Tuesday that the club has named Turk Schonert it’s 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 comited 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.
No kidding! :lol: Glad to see the team refusing to be pushed around by its coaching staff. As I’ve said before, I am not necessarily a huge Schonert fan, but all reports suggest that he, not Garcia, was the main reason for our turnaround last season, and he at least knows the team. He’s also got lots of pro OC experience, which should offset his relative lack of CFL knowledge. He’ll be able to lean on Sweet and AC to catch up on the Canadian game. Now the question is: who coaches which positions? Right now, we have Sweet at O-line and Bolduc for RBs, with Dinwiddie and AC on staff as “offensive assistants.” I’d give receivers to Ryan and QBs to Anthony and let Schonert concentrate on being OC.
Maybe this hire will make Green think twice about going to free agency…
Contrairement à Miller, il arrive dans cette position avec un peu plus d'une demi-saison dans le football canadien.
Il a occupé le poste de coordonnateur à l'attaque dans la NFL, aussi il n'est pas totalement vert pour ce genre de poste. Il a beaucoup d'expérience chez les pros et est lui-même une ancien quart-arrière, contrairement à Miller.
Je crois donc que Calvillo va hériter des quarts-arrières, Dinwiddie des receveurs et Bolduc des porteurs de ballon.
J'espère que Schonert pourra contribuer significativement à la relance de l'attaque. Les Alouettes ont une excellente ligne offensive et des bons demis avec Whitaker, Sutton, Rainey et Rutley (bien que ce dernier devient agent libre prochainement). Les points d'interrogations demeurent le quart et les receveurs, mais il y a encore du temps et des opportunités pour regarnir la brigade que nous avons présentement.
Je souhaite que cette embauche puisse encourager Green à revenir à Montréal, et d'autres candidats intéressants à se joindre à l'équipe.
Excellent point. Si les Alouettes avaient l’air d’être un carrousel d’entraîneurs depuis le départ de Trestman et sa suite, l’équipe montre en effet maintenant des signes de continuité.
La nomination de Schonert dans le contexte actuel ressemble beaucoup plus à une promotion qu’à un grand ménage. En fin de compte, il ne reste plus qu’à combler le poste de Quick et l’équipe d’entraîneur serait complète.
Maintenant que Tibesar est confirmé sous d’autres cieux, les candidats intéressants ne crèvent pas les yeux. Je dis absolument n’importe quoi, comme d’habitude, mais maintenant que Gary Etcheverry est au chômage, est-ce qu’il pourrait venir combler ce vide? S’IL semble un peu dépassé comme coordonnateur à la défensive, il me semble que c’est un gars qui a du métier, qui connaît bien la ligue et qui peut encore être un bon entraîneur de position.
I think even if the Als offer was best. After turning down what was likely the best deal Popp could offer him, it will be difficult for him to sign, just human nature.
Things are coming to for the 2015 season and I hope SJ signs with us but if he doesn't I am confident that Popp will pull another rabbit out of his hat.My daughter + I had a great season in 2014 and look forward to 2015.
According to Herb, Schonert will be QB coach as well as OC, while Dinwiddie and Calvillo will each take one of the remaining positions (receivers and running backs), though it hasn’t been determined who will coach which position.
This makes sense to me. Dinwiddie is relegated to position coach, which is the appropriate level for him, and Calvillo gets to test the coaching waters and see if he can translate his vast playing experience to a unit outside the QBs.
Yeah, I don’t like that either, but what choice do we have? We’ve made ourselves a horrible destination for offensive coaches in the past couple of years. So the onus is on us to field a good offense this year and show the rest of the league that we are a good destination for bright offensive minds.
This deal also gives us an out in case Schonert bombs as OC.