 Strief in 2012 | |||||||||
| Denver Broncos | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive run game coordinator/assistant head coach | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1983-09-22)September 22, 1983 (age 41) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 320 lb (145 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Milford (OH) | ||||||||
| College: | Northwestern | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2006: 7th round, 210th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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As a coach: | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
As player
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Zachary David Strief (born September 22, 1983) is an American professionalfootball coach and formeroffensive tackle who is the offensive run game coordinator and assistant head coach for theDenver Broncos of theNational Football League (NFL).
Strief playedcollege football atNorthwestern and was selected by theNew Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the2006 NFL draft. He played 12 seasons for the Saints.
A native of theCincinnati suburb ofMilford,[1] Strief attendedMilford High School and earned All-Midwest Region honors with the Eagles football team.[2] Besides football he also earnedvarsity letters inbasketball andtrack and field. He was also an honor student.[3] 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.[2]
Strief attendedNorthwestern University inEvanston andredshirted his first year. By his junior season he became starting right tackle forWildcats and started in 40 straight games underMike Dunbar, who was the Wildcats'offensive coordinator.[1] He earned consensus Second-teamAll-Big Ten honors twice and was named anAll-American by theFWAA during his senior season, becoming the Wildcats' first offensive lineman to win national recognition sinceChris Hinton.[3] NFLDraftScout.com described him as a "hard worker who has no problems digesting a complicated playbook".[3] He graduated with a degree in communication studies and sociology in 2005.[4]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft7+5⁄8 in (2.02 m) | 330 lb (150 kg) | 33+1⁄4 in (0.84 m) | 9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) | 5.41 s | 1.85 s | 3.10 s | 4.83 s | 8.01 s | 21 in (0.53 m) | 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m) | 19 reps | 33[5] |
| All values fromNFL Combine[6][7] | ||||||||||||
Strief was drafted by theNew Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the2006 NFL draft.[8] After backing upJon Stinchcomb for five years, in the2011 season he became the team's starting right tackle with Stinchcomb's retirement[1] and part of the Saints' offensive line that won theMadden Most Valuable Protectors Award as the best offensive line in the NFL.[9] (He also shared in the same award as a backup in2009.)
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.[10] This is the second time he re-signed in free agency.[11][12]
Strief was elected as the Saints' representative to theNational Football League Players Association Board of Player Representatives for the 2014 season.[13] He has also served as an offensive team captain since the 2012 season.[14]
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.[15]
On March 12, 2018, Strief announced his retirement from the NFL.[16]
On March 4, 2021, Strief was hired by theNew Orleans Saints as their assistant offensive line coach under head coachSean Payton, replacingBrendan Nugent, who was promoted to offensive line coach.[17]
On February 6, 2023, it was reported that Strief would follow former coach Sean Payton to theDenver Broncos, where he would become their new offensive line coach.
On March 6, 2025, Strief was promoted to offensive run game coordinator and assistant head coach.[18]
On July 25, 2018, Strief was named as the play-by-play voice announcer for Saints radio broadcasts, replacing the retiredJim Henderson. Strief worked with color analyst and former teammateDeuce McAllister on the broadcasts.[19]
Strief was previously married to formerSaintsation Mandy Schexnaydre.[1][20][21][22]
Since moving to New Orleans, Strief has set up a foundation which organizes youth camps and aids Milford student-athletes.[2] In 2009, he produced a cookbook for charity entitledWhen You're the Biggest Guy on the Team![23]
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.