1. Alan Keith Saunders was born on February 1,1947 and is an American football coach.
30 Facts About Al Saunders
1. 2.
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.
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Al Saunders attended St Ignatius College Preparatory and graduated in 1964.
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Al Saunders is a former prep All-American swimmer, Junior Olympic Champion and national record holder and has been inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame in the sport.
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Al Saunders is a member of the San Jose State University Hall of Fame.
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Al Saunders earned Academic All-American football honors as a three-year starter and team captain at defensive back and wide receiver from 1966 to 1968.
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Al Saunders was selected to appear in the 1969 edition of "Outstanding College Athletes of America" in recognition of his "outstanding ability, accomplishments and service".
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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.
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Al Saunders retired in 2018 after spending 38 years coaching in the NFL.
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Al Saunders was considered one of the most accomplished and innovative offensive minds in the game.
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Al Saunders was a Super Bowl winner in 2000 with the St Louis Rams.
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In 2005 Al Saunders was named "USA Today Offensive Coach of the Year"as well as being named by Pro Football Weekly as "The best offensive play caller in football inside the 20 yard line".
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Al Saunders began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at USC under John McKay from 1970 to 1971 and served as receivers coach for the University of Missouri's Fiesta Bowl team in 1972.
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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.
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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.
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At 38 years old, Al Saunders became the youngest head coach in the NFL.
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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.
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From 1989 until 1998, Al Saunders was with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Al Saunders served as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach working with Pro Bowl performers Carlos Carson, Stephone Paige, Webster Slaughter, Andre Rison and Derrick Alexander.
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Al Saunders worked for 10 winning seasons under the highly respected head coach Marty Schottenheimer.
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On January 30,2008, Al Saunders was hired as offensive coordinator for the St Louis Rams.
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In 2009, Al Saunders was hired away by the Baltimore Ravens to serve as the senior offensive assistant to John Harbaugh.
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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.
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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.
25.
On January 31,2012, following Davis's 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.
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Al Saunders served in that capacity for the following three seasons.
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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.
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On January 19,2016, Al Saunders rejoined Jackson at the Cleveland Browns to be the team's senior offensive assistant.
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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.
30.
Al Saunders remained with the Browns until retiring after the 2018 NFL season.