Andrew Janocko | Meet the 2024 New Orleans Saints Coaches

Janocko has 13 years of coaching experience, including 11 in the NFL. He joins the Saints after spending the last two years as the Chicago Bears’ quarterbacks coach. In addition to his time in Chicago, Janocko also played multiple offensive positions during his time with the Minnesota Vikings (2015-21), coached quarterbacks at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa. (2014), spent two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-13) and was a graduate assistant at Rutgers University in 2011.

Over the past two seasons, Janocko has been instrumental in the development of Bears signal-caller Justin Fields, who has completed 419 of 688 passes (60.9 percent) for 4,804 yards with 33 touchdowns while carrying 284 times for 1,800 yards (6.3 average) with 12 touchdowns in 28 starts. In Week 14 of the 2023 season, Fields became the second-fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in just 36 games and just the third signal-caller to reach at least 2,000 rushing yards in his first three seasons. In 2023, despite playing two fewer games than in 2022 due to injuries, Fields improved in most major passing categories, completing 227-of-370 passes (61.4 percent) for 2,562 yards with 16 touchdowns and an 86.3 passer rating, while carrying 124 times for 657 yards with four touchdowns. The Bears improved their win total from three in 2022 to seven in 2023, with Fields winning four of his last six starts.

Fields finished the 2022 season with eight rushing touchdowns and 1,143 rushing yards in 15 starts, becoming one of three quarterbacks in NFL history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season, joining Lamar Jackson and Michael Vick. Fields also completed 192-of-318 passes (60.4 percent) for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season, while posting a passer rating of at least 92.0 in five of eight starts from Weeks 8-17.

Janocko spent seven seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, gaining experience as an offensive line coach (2017-19), wide receivers coach (2020) and quarterbacks coach (2021).

In 2021, Janocko helped veteran QB Kirk Cousins ​​throw for 4,221 yards with 33 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 103.1, earning him his third Pro Bowl nomination. Cousins’ passer rating was the fourth-best in the NFL and he was one of only two quarterbacks in 2021 to throw for 30+ touchdowns with fewer than ten interceptions.

With Janocko as his position coach in 2020, first-round draft pick Justin Jefferson had one of the best seasons by a rookie receiver in NFL history. Jefferson set a league rookie receiving record with 1,400 yards and became the first NFL rookie receiver to win AP He was named an All-Pro by Randy Moss in 1998 and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. Additionally, Adam Thielen set a career-high 14 touchdown receptions.

In 2019, while helping the offensive line, the Vikings allowed just 28 sacks, which ranked fifth in the NFL. That record also tied for the eighth-fewest sacks allowed in franchise history. The offensive line led the way for Dalvin Cook, who ran for 1,135 yards, the Vikings’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Adrian Peterson in 2015.

In 2018, as the offensive line coach with Saints tight ends coach Clancy Barone, the Vikings line protected Cousins ​​as he set a team record for completions (425), posted the second-best completion percentage in team history (70.1%) and threw for the second-most yards (4,298) in franchise history.

As an assistant offensive line coach in 2017, the Vikings’ line played a critical role in the team’s performance as it won the NFC North title and advanced to the NFC Championship Game. The line paved the way for several offensive players who had career years, including QB Case Keenum. Cook set a rookie record with 288 yards in the first three games of the season, but suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the fourth game. The Vikings went from last in the NFL in rushing in 2016 to seventh in 2017 and moved from 28th to 11th in total offense. Janocko began his tenure with the Vikings as an offensive assistant from 2015 to 2016.

Janocko came to Minnesota after coaching quarterbacks at Division II Mercyhurst for one season in 2014. He got his start as a coach in 2011, when he was a graduate assistant at Rutgers, working with quarterbacks under Greg Schiano. After impressing Schiano, Janocko got his first NFL coaching opportunity in 2012 when then-Tampa Bay head coach Schiano offered him a two-season offensive assistant position (2012-13).

Janocko was a three-year player at Pitt and served as a backup quarterback and special teams starter. Janocko spent his first two seasons as a walk-on before earning a scholarship for his final two seasons. A three-time Big East Conference All-Academic Team member, he graduated from Pitt in 2010 with a degree in history and a minor in political science.

A native of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, Janocko was the starting quarterback at Clearfield Area High School, where his father, Tim, was head coach for 38 years. He led the school to two district championships and was a two-time Pennsylvania Football News All-State honoree.

Janocko and his wife, Natalie, have a son, Noah, and a daughter, Isabella.

PLAYING CAREER: Pittsburgh, 2007-10.

COACHING CAREER: Rutgers, 2011; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2012-13; Mercyhurst University, 2014; Minnesota Vikings, 2015-21; Chicago Bears, 2022-23; New Orleans Saints, 2024-.