Turk Leroy Schonert (January 15, 1957 – January 17, 2019) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and assistant coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the NFL before becoming a coach. Schonert played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal) and was selected in the ninth round in the

1980 NFL draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

. After his playing career, he was a long-time quarterbacks coach. He was an

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the NFL's

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in 2008 and was the head coach of the United Football League (UFL)'s Sacramento Mountain Lions in 2012.

Playing career

Early life

Schonert was a two-time All-American quarterback at

Servite High School Servite High School is a private, Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized ...

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He also played in the 1968 Little League World Series as a shortstop and third baseman for the Garden Grove, California team that finished in third place.

College career

As a senior quarterback at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Schonert followed Guy Benjamin and Steve Dils, who each won the

Sammy Baugh Trophy The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More ...

given to college football's top passer, and was backed up by freshman

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who spent his entire 16-year career with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, he then spent 1 ...

. Schonert finished as the school's third consecutive NCAA passing champion and set a team record for completion percentage. The season highlight came when Schonert led Stanford back from a 21–0 halftime deficit to tie top ranked

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, 21–21, ultimately costing the Trojans the national title.

Professional career

Schonert was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the ninth round of the

but never played for the franchise. He played nine seasons with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, including the

Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

and

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

teams, and in between his stints with the Bengals, spent one season with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. Schonert retired in 1989, finishing his career with 11 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and a 7–5 record as a starting quarterback.

Coaching career

NFL

Schonert began coaching quarterbacks in 1992 with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

under

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American professional football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As hea ...

, his former head coach with the Bengals. His quarterback coach at Stanford,

Jim Fassel James Edward Fassel (August 31, 1949 – June 7, 2021) was an American college and professional football player and coach. He was the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2003. He was offensive coo ...

, later became the head coach of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and hired Schonert, who also served with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. Schonert, who returned to the Bills in 2006 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2008, had worked with Trent Edwards, a graduate of his alma mater, since Buffalo drafted the Stanford quarterback in 2007. Schonert was fired as the

for the Bills on September 4, 2009, just before the start of the season, and replaced with

Alex Van Pelt Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who currently serves as a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He played in the NF ...

UFL

Schonert was hired as quarterbacks coach for the UFL's Hartford Colonials by head coach

Jerry Glanville Jerry Michael Glanville (born October 14, 1941) is an American football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that, was most recently the head coach of the ...

in 2011, but he was let go with the rest of the coaching staff when the franchise ceased operation prior to the 2011 season. He was then hired by Jim Fassel as an offensive assistant for the UFL's

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The team played their ...

. Prior to working in the CFL, Schonert had been the head coach for the Sacramento Mountain Lions, whose previous head coach, Dennis Green, was involved in a contract dispute with the team.

CFL

Schonert's duties as an offensive consultant for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

included helping quarterback Troy Smith, who struggled with accuracy and production early in the 2014 season. He was subsequently promoted to receivers coach in August 2014. Schonert continued coaching the Alouettes until his death from a heart attack in January 2019.

Death

Schonert died on January 17, 2019, of an apparent heart attack; just two days after his 62nd birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonert, Turk 1957 births 2019 deaths American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons players Cincinnati Bengals players Buffalo Bills coaches Hartford Colonials coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Las Vegas Locomotives coaches NFL offensive coordinators Players of American football from Torrance, California Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches Stanford Cardinal football players United Football League (2009–2012) head coaches Servite High School alumni