Tag: Zach Strief

Broncos sent their offensive line coach to Taliese Fuaga’s pro day

Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief is taking a close look at some of the top offensive tackle prospects ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.

Denver Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief will be a busy man leading up to the 2024 NFL draft.

Strief traveled to Washington earlier this month to watch offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga at Oregon State’s pro day. Fuaga (6-6, 324 pounds) is considered one of the top tackles in this year’s class.

Our most recent NFL mock draft has Fuaga falling to No. 16 in the first round, but some draft pundits expect him to go in the top 10. He might be a potential target for the Broncos at pick No. 12.

Strief also helped run drills for offensive tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher at Notre Dame’s pro day, and he worked with offensive linemen at Michigan’s pro day as well.

Strief, 40, played for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2017. Three years after Strief announced his retirement, Sean Payton made him an assistant offensive line coach in New Orleans.

Strief followed Payton to Denver in 2023 to serve as the team’s offensive line coach. He is now entering his second season on the job.

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Broncos OL coach Zach Strief worked out Joe Alt at Notre Dame’s pro day

Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief got close looks at tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher at Notre Dame’s pro day last week.

Denver Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief got a close look at offensive tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher at Notre Dame’s pro day last week.

Strief was among the NFL coaches on hand to run Alt and Fisher through various drills at the Irish Athletics Center in Indiana.

Alt (6-9, 321 pounds) is widely considered the top offensive tackle prospect in this year’s class. Our most recent NFL mock draft has the Tennessee Titans selecting Alt with the seventh overall pick. The Broncos are not scheduled to pick until 12th overall, so if they are targeting Alt, they will likely need to trade up.

Fisher (6-6, 310 pounds) has been projected to go in the third round of most NFL mock drafts. Denver holds pick No. 76 in the third round and Fisher might be a realistic target at that spot.

Mike McGlinchey is under contract through the 2027 season, but Garett Bolles is set to become a free agent next year. The Broncos would be wise to begin planning for the future at offensive tackle.

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Broncos GM George Paton attended J.J. McCarthy’s pro day

The Broncos are taking a close look at Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton and offensive line coach Zach Strief attended Michigan’s pro day in Ann Arbor on Friday.

Paton got a close look at Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who has been rising up pundit big boards as the NFL draft draws closer.

McCarthy was not the only notable draft prospect working out at Michigan’s pro day, but he was the most notable prospect for the QB-needy Broncos.

KFAN’s Paul Allen reported last month that Broncos coach Sean Payton is “quite enamored” with McCarthy, and Denver’s staff met with the QB at the combine. Unless the Broncos are attempting an elaborate smokescreen, it seems fair to say the club is interested in McCarthy.

Denver does not pick until 12th overall in the first round and McCarthy seems unlikely to fall that far. If McCarthy is Payton’s preferred QB, the team will likely need to trade up to land him.

The New York Giants, who hold pick No. 6, have been doing their homework on McCarthy. The Minnesota Vikings don’t pick until No. 11, but after also acquiring pick No. 23 via trade, they appear to be positioned to trade up for a QB.

So if the Broncos want to land a top QB, they might have to trade all the way up to pick No. 4 (unless they’re willing to make a deal with their division rivals — the Los Angeles Chargers sit at No. 5). Our most recent seven-round mock draft has Denver trading with the Arizona Cardinals to acquire pick No. 4 and draft McCarthy.

The 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit from April 25-27.

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Every Round 7 draft pick the Saints have chosen since 2002

NFL draft: Every New Orleans Saints seventh-round pick since 2002, highlighted by Zach Strief and Marques Colston in 2006

The seventh and final round of the annual NFL draft has brought mixed results to the New Orleans Saints — they hit home runs on both of their seventh-round picks back in 2006, giving fans hope that every subsequent seventh rounder could be the next Zach Strief or Marques Colston. But more often than not these late-round fliers haven’t panned out. The drop in prospect quality from earlier in the draft is often just too tough to overcome.

Still, with the Saints picking twice in the seventh round this year, it’s worth looking back on past results to set a realistic expectation for the upcoming rookies. Here’s the Saints draft history in Round 7 and every other phase of the draft under longtime general manager Mickey Loomis:

20 years later, here’s the top picks from each round of Saints drafts under Mickey Loomis

20 years later, here’s the best picks from each round of New Orleans Saints drafts under general manager Mickey Loomis:

The New Orleans Saints have the longest-tenured general manager in the NFL in Mickey Loomis, who has held his post since May 13, 2002 — a span that’s seen 20 NFL drafts come and go under his stewardship. Always eager to trade up and act aggressively on draft day, Loomis has made 24 picks in the first round alone during his run as general manager.

But which picks stand apart as the best? We’ve broken it down round-by-round to highlight the best returns New Orleans has found in the draft under Loomis:

Sean Payton made Zach Strief a priority for his coaching staff in Denver

“Wherever I went, if I was able to, I [wanted] to hire him as the line coach,” Sean Payton said of Zach Strief.

Zach Strief was selected by Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft out of Northwestern. The offensive lineman went on to start 94 games from 2006-2017, splitting time between guard and tackle.

After hanging up his cleats following the 2017 season, Strief initially transitioned to broadcasting, serving as a play-by-play announcer for Saints games. Four years later, Payton asked him to join New Orleans as an assistant coach.

“Zach obviously played for us and then coached for me,” Payton said at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona last week. “He’s one of the few former players that moved from playing and went into the play-by-play booth, not the color [analyst] booth. All of us were [impressed], but none of us were surprised that pretty soon he did it pretty well. I was calling him about a coach when I was in New Orleans, and he told me what I wanted to hear. I was hiring a line coach, and then I was going to hire an assistant line coach.

“The next day he called me back and said, ‘Hey, I’d be interested in the assistant line job.’ I said, ‘I thought you were play-by-play guy?’ He said, ‘I want to be a line coach.’ I said, ‘Alright. Come in tomorrow.’ I hired him the next day. There are certain people you get to come across in your lifetime that you just know are achievers, and that you know whatever it is that they don’t know, they’ll figure out quickly and be successful. He’s one of those people. It just so happens that he had a long career of playing offensive line.”

Strief served as an assistant with the Saints from 2021-2022 and he will now get a promotion to head offensive line coach in Denver. Strief was a priority target for Payton when he built his Broncos coaching staff.

“[H]e was a target,” Payton said. “Wherever I went, if I was able to, I [wanted] to hire him as the line coach. You guys will enjoy getting to know him. He’s a pretty special person.”

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Austin King is another player-turned-coach on Sean Payton’s staff

Broncos assistant OL coach Austin King will work under OL coach Zach Strief, a fellow player-turned-coach.

Sean Payton clearly appreciates what former players can bring to a coaching staff.

After becoming the Denver Broncos’ head coach, Payton built a staff that includes just-retired former players Davis Webb (as quarterbacks coach) and Chris Banjo (as a special teams assistant), plus several other coaches who spent time in the NFL as players before transitioning to coaching.

Austin King is one of the ex-players now coaching under Payton in Denver. Hired as the team’s assistant offensive line coach, King (41) played center in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons from 2004-2006. King dressed for 34 games, earning one start, before hanging up his cleats in 2007.

After taking a break from football, King transitioned to coaching and joined Toledo as an offensive quality control coach in 2012. He later held the same role for Syracuse in 2014 before becoming Dayton’s offensive coordinator in 2015.

After eight years after the college level, King got his first opportunity as a coach in the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. He was promoted to tight ends coach in 2021 before leaving to join the Chicago Bears as an assistant offensive line coach in 2022.

After one season in Chicago, King will now join the Broncos in a lateral move. He will work under offensive line coach Zach Strief, another former player who spent his entire playing career under Payton with the New Orleans Saints.

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Broncos offensive line coach started 94 games and won a Super Bowl as a player

Broncos new offensive line coach Zach Strief started 94 games and won a Super Bowl as a player before switching to coaching.

The Denver Broncos will have a new offensive line coach in 2023.

Earlier this month, Broncos head coach Sean Payton announced several additions to his coaching staff, including Zach Strief.

Strief, 39, is just six years removed from his time as a player in the NFL. Payton drafted Strief in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft out of Northwestern. He then went on to spend 12 years with the New Orleans Saints, playing as a guard and tackle.

Strief was active for 158 games from 2006-2017, earning 94 starts. A team captain and one-time All-Pro in New Orleans, Strief helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV following the 2009 season.

After hanging up his cleats in 2018, Strief initially transitioned to commentating, serving as a play-by-play radio announcer for Saints games. He returned to the team as an assistant offensive line coach in 2021 and held that position for two years before reuniting with Payton in Denver this offseason.

The last former player the Broncos had coaching their offensive line was Mike Munchak, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Strief might not have a Hall of Fame resume, but he had an accomplished career as a player and will now look to use his experience and expertise to coach up Denver’s offensive linemen.

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Saints legend Jahri Evans to join Dennis Allen’s coaching staff

Report: New Orleans Saints legend Jahri Evans to join Dennis Allen’s coaching staff, replacing Zach Strief as Doug Marrone’s assistant

This is good to see: Nola.com’s Luke Johnson reports that the New Orleans Saints are adding Jahri Evans to their coaching staff, where Evans will assist offensive line coach Doug Marrone. Evans replaces Zach Strief, who he played next to for most of his 11 years in New Orleans; Strief left for a promotion on Sean Payton’s rebuilding Denver Broncos staff earlier this offseason.

Interestingly, the Saints previously hired former Los Angeles rams offensive line coach Kevin Carberry for the same assistant position working with Marrone. So we’ll see exactly how those day-to-day responsibilities shake out.

Evans first joined the Saints as a coaching intern for training camp last summer, working closely with former first-round draft pick Cesar Ruiz. Ruiz ended up playing his best football of his NFL career, so maybe having an All-Pro right guard advising him is going to be good for his continued development.

When he isn’t busy coaching the next generation of Saints players, Evans will be keeping an eye on his Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy. He made it to the semifinalist stage in his first year of eligibility, and he’ll be drawing heavy consideration again when voters reconvene later this year. The former Division II prospect out of Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania won a Super Bowl with New Orleans and earned a ton of accolades as a player, including five All-Pro team placements and six Pro Bowl nods. That experience has done a lot to help him start the next chapter in his football life as a coach.

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Broncos announce coaching staff additions: All 8 of the ex-Saints joining Sean Payton

Broncos announce coaching staff additions: Here are all eight of the ex-Saints joining Sean Payton in Denver

There we go: the Denver Broncos announced their changes to the coaching staff under Sean Payton on Saturday, and as expected there’s a large group of former New Orleans Saints assistants and players coming to town. Eight of the 15 announced hirings have ties to Payton’s tenure in New Orleans.

We knew most of these additions thanks to previous reporting from New Orleans and Denver, but there are a couple of unexpected surprises — including at least one former Saints player who is kicking off his coaching career with Payton on the Broncos. Here’s what you need to know about each of these new additions: