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Rice University Athletics
Zaunbrecher Named Owls' Offensive Coordinator
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 23, 2009
Rice head football coach David Bailiff announced Friday that he has hired Ed Zaunbrecher as the Owls new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
"Ed is exactly what we were looking for in an offensive coordinator," Bailiff said. "He brings a tremendous amount of experience to our staff and a reputation for developing your quarterbacks into productive players. He is an exciting addition to our staff and what we are building at Rice," Bailiff added.
Zaunbrecher, 58, comes to Rice from Purdue University where he spent three years as the Boilermakers' quarterbacks coach. In his first two seasons, he served as co-offensive coordinator before assuming the coordinator duties on his own this past year.
Zaunbrecher helped Curtis Painter break Drew Brees' Big Ten season passing yards record with 3,985 and lead the conference in total offense (292.3 yards per game) in 2006, while Purdue led the Big Ten in passing offense (291.6 yards per game) and total offense (415.7), ranking sixth and 13th nationally. Painter finished his career with 11,167 yards passing, second only to Brees in Big Ten history.
Over the course of his career, Zaunbrecher has mentored 42 National Football League draft picks, including six first-round selections. Ten of his quarterbacks, including Painter, have set school passing records. His list of signal-callers includes three currently playing in the NFL: Rex Grossman of the Chicago Bears, Byron Leftwich of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chad Pennington of the Miami Dolphins.
While this will be his first experience in Conference USA, Zaunbrecher knows one of the member schools very well.
From 1999 to 2001, he was quarterbacks coach at Marshall. He also filled the role of offensive coordinator in 2000 and 2001. Marshall ranked third nationally both in passing offense and total offense in 2001, averaging 350.1 and 505 yards per game. Prior to his stint with Purdue, Zaunbrecher coached from 2002-05 on the staff of Ron Zook, first at Florida (2002-04) and at Illinois (2005). He coached the Gators quarterbacks from 2002-04 and was the offensive coordinator from 2002-03. He was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Illinois.
Zaunbrecher was head coach at Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana Monroe) from 1994 to 1998, compiling a 20-36 record. The Indians moved to NCAA Division I-A status in 1994 and went on to win five games each of his last three seasons.
Zaunbrecher's other experience includes stops at Michigan State (1991-93 - linebackers and kickers); LSU (1984-90 - offensive coordinator and quarterbacks); Wake Forest (1980-83 - offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and wide receivers); and Arizona (1973-74 - graduate assistant, 1975-76 - offensive line).
During Zaunbrecher's first tenure at Purdue, he coached the running backs (1977-78) and receivers (1979) under head coach Jim Young. One of his pupils, Dave Young, concluded his career as the Big Ten all-time receptions leader. The Boilermakers won the 1978 Peach Bowl and the 1979 Bluebonnet Bowl.
A native of Rayne, La., Zaunbrecher (born March 1, 1950) earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Middle Tennessee State in 1972 and a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Arizona in 1974. At Middle Tennessee State, Zaunbrecher was a three-year starter at center, earned the team's Scholar-Athlete Award and received the 1972 NCAA Postgraduate Award Scholarship. He has three children: Ann Lindsay, Emily and Zack.
