The St. Louis Rams have hired Al Saunders as offensive coordinator.
"I can’t tell you how happy I am to be able to announce that Al Saunders is our new offensive coordinator," Rams’ head coach Scott Linehan said. "The process took time. We wanted to be patient. When Al became available and we were granted permission to talk to him, it became obvious he was the right man for the job." Saunders has agreed to a three-year contract and will call the offensive plays.
Saunders, a former Rams assistant coach from 1999-2000, spent the last two seasons with the Washington Redskins as Associate Head Coach/Offense.
Prior to joining the Redskins, Saunders, 60, spent five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs as Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator under former Rams head coach Dick Vermeil. In his five seasons guiding the Chiefs’ offense, no team scored more than the Chiefs’ 2,157 points. Saunders’ time with the Chiefs marked his second stint with the team after coaching with Kansas City for 10 seasons as Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers from 1989-98. In that 10-year time period Saunders was part of a coaching staff that led the Chiefs to three AFC West titles and seven playoff berths.
Saunders also coached with Vermeil while with the St. Louis Rams, serving as Associate Head Coach/Wide Receivers coach from 1999-2000, helping lead the Rams to the Super Bowl XXXIV title. During the 1999 season, the Rams led the NFL with 6,412 yards of total offense and also in points per game averaging 32.9. In 2000, Saunders was part of a coaching staff that directed the Rams to score 540 points, the third-highest single-season total in NFL history. The Rams also amassed a league-leading and NFL-record 442.2 yards of total offense per game.
courtesy: St. Louis Rams Press Release
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