23 Facts About Al Saunders

Alan Keith Saunders was born on February 1,1947 and is an American football coach who most recently served as the senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League.

Al Saunders was born in the north London suburb of Hendon as part of a sporting family; his great-uncle, Ron Al Saunders, played soccer for a number of teams in The Football League and later became a manager, winning honours with Norwich City and Aston Villa.

Al Saunders is a member of the San Jose State University Hall of Fame.

Al Saunders is a former prep All-American swimmer and National record holder in the sport as well as being an accomplished distance runner.

Al Saunders was veteran of numerous marathons and was crowned the Road Runners Club of America's Masters 5K National Champion in 1996.

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Al Saunders is a member of Theta Chi Fraternity and has been enshrined in their Hall of Honor as well as receiving their "Distinguished Achievement Award" in 2016 for professional and life accomplishments.

Al Saunders earned a master's degree in education from Stanford University in 1970.

Al Saunders is married to the former Karen Mize, daughter of television personality and recording artist Billy Mize, a three-time winner of Academy of Country Music's Personality of the Year Award.

Al Saunders spent 1973 through 1975 as play-caller and offensive backfield coach at Utah State where he coached Louie Giammona to become the NCAA leader in all purpose yardage and rushing in '74 and '75.

Al Saunders guided the Golden Bears to set 32 NCAA, conference and school records and finished each season ranked in the top ten in the nation in passing.

Al Saunders tutored Hall of Fame receivers Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow and oversaw the development of Pro Bowl receivers Wes Chandler, Lionel James and Gary Anderson.

Al Saunders served as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach working with Pro Bowl performers Carlos Carson, Stephon Paige, Webster Slaughter, Andre Rison and Derek Alexander.

Al Saunders worked for 10 winning seasons under the highly respected head coach Marty Schottenheimer.

On January 30,2008, Al Saunders was hired as offensive coordinator for the St Louis Rams.

In 2009, Al Saunders was hired away by the Baltimore Ravens to serve as the senior offensive assistant to John Harbaugh.

Al Saunders contributed to designing an offense that produced back to back playoff appearances for the Ravens and worked closely with pro bowl performers Todd Heap and Dennis Pitta.

On January 20,2011, Al Saunders was hired by Al Davis and Hue Jackson to serve as the Offensive Coordinator and QB coach for the Oakland Raiders.

On January 31,2012, following Davis' death and Jackson's firing, and after interviewing for several vacant offensive coordinator positions with other organizations, Al Saunders agreed to return to Oakland as Senior Offensive Assistant under Dennis Allen.

Al Saunders served in that capacity for the following three seasons.

Al Saunders announced his retirement on April 10,2015, but returned on October 7 as the Miami Dolphins senior offensive assistant under interim coach Dan Campbell.

On January 19,2016, Al Saunders rejoined Jackson at the Cleveland Browns to be the team's senior offensive assistant.

Al Saunders additionally coached wide receivers, and turned former QB Terrelle Pryor into a 1,000 yard receiver in his first full season at the position.

Al Saunders remained with the Browns until retiring after the 2018 NFL season.