Zachary David Strief (born September 22, 1983) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

who is the assistant offensive line coach for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Strief played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Northwestern and was drafted by the

in the seventh round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played 12 seasons for the Saints.

Playing career

High school

A native of the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

suburb of

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, Strief attended Milford High School and earned All-Midwest Region honors with the Eagles football team. Besides football he also earned

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. He was also an honor student. In January 2009 Milford High announced to it would retire Strief's number 63 jersey (which he also wore in college), only the second jersey to be retired by Milford.

College

Strief attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Evanston and

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ed his first year. By his junior season he became starting right tackle for

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

and started in 40 straight games under

Mike Dunbar Michael L. Dunbar (December 31, 1948 – September 13, 2013) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Central Washington University in 1983 and from 1987 to 1991 and at the University of Northern Iowa ...

, who was the Wildcats'

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

. He earned consensus Second-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

honors twice and was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n by the

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

during his senior season, becoming the Wildcats' first offensive lineman to win national recognition since

Chris Hinton Christopher Jerrod Hinton (born July 31, 1961) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts franchise. In addition to his seven seasons wi ...

. NFLDraftScout.com described him as a "hard worker who has no problems digesting a complicated playbook." He graduated with a degree in communication studies and sociology in 2005.

National Football League

New Orleans Saints

Strief was drafted by the

in the seventh round of the

. After backing up

Jon Stinchcomb Jonathan Stinchcomb (born August 27, 1979) is a former American football offensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Georgia. He was drafted in the second rou ...

for five years, in the 2011 season he became the team's starting right tackle with Stinchcomb's retirement and part of the Saints' offensive line that won the

Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award The Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award was a trophy awarded annually to the best offensive line of the National Football League. The trophy, sponsored by Prilosec OTC, is named in honor of former NFL coach and commentator, John Madden. Desig ...

as the best offensive line in the NFL. (He also shared in the same award as a backup in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

.) Strief was a 2013 Pro Bowl alternate but was not selected to the game. Strief re-signed with the Saints on a five-year extension during free agency in 2014. This is the second time he re-signed in free agency. Strief was elected as the Saints' representative to the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

Board of Player Representatives for the 2014 season. He has also served as an offensive team captain since the 2012 season. In 2017, Strief suffered a knee injury in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings and missed the next two weeks. He returned in Week 4, only to re-injure the knee and was placed on injured reserve on October 3, 2017. On March 12, 2018, Strief announced his retirement from the NFL.

Coaching career

New Orleans Saints

On March 4, 2021, Strief was hired by the

as their assistant offensive line coach under head coach

Sean Payton Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

, replacing Brendan Nugent, who was promoted to offensive line coach.

Broadcasting career

On July 25, 2018, Strief was named as the play-by-play voice announcer for Saints radio broadcasts, replacing the retired Jim Henderson. Strief worked with color analyst and former teammate

Deuce McAllister Dulymus Jenod "Deuce" McAllister (born December 27, 1978) is an American former football running back who played eight seasons for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Ole Miss and was dr ...

on the broadcasts.

Personal life

Strief was previously married to former Saintsation Mandy Schexnaydre. Since moving to New Orleans, Strief has set up a foundation which organizes youth camps and aids Milford student-athletes. In 2009, he produced a cookbook for charity entitled ''When You're the Biggest Guy on the Team!'' Strief also spearheads the POB initiative along with other former and current Saints players. This initiative provides groceries to COVID-19 survivors, meals for healthcare workers and for those in the artist communities who may be facing food insecurity as a result of the pandemic. After retiring from the NFL, Strief has opened the brewery Port Orleans in New Orleans.

References

External links

*
New Orleans Saints bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strief, Zach 1983 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles National Football League announcers New Orleans Saints announcers New Orleans Saints players Northwestern Wildcats football players People from Milford, Ohio Players of American football from Cincinnati New Orleans Saints coaches