Saints promote Sheppart to off. coordinator, hire Schonert

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints promoted Mike Sheppard from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator on Saturday.

"Mike is experienced, organized and he has worked with some of the best offensive coaches in the game," Saints coach Jim Haslett said.

Sheppard joined Haslett's staff in 2002. He has two previous stints as an offensive coordinator -- he ran the Buffalo Bills' offense in 2001 and worked with the San Diego Chargers during 1997-98. He has also coached with Seattle, Baltimore and Cleveland.

The Saints added former NFL quarterback Turk Schonert to replace Sheppard as quarterbacks coach. Schonert's last NFL job was with the New York Giants in 2003. He has also worked with Carolina, Buffalo and Tampa Bay.

"Turk has played the position and spent years refining the skills of quarterbacks within West Coast offenses similar to what we have had the last five years," Haslett said.

In 10 seasons with Cincinnati and Atlanta, Schonert completed 311 of 504 passes for 3,788 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was 7-5 in 12 career starts.