ChiefsPlanet - Norv Turner hired as Chargers new head coach

<A name=376163>http://www.kffl.com/images/hot_sign.jpgChargers | Turner hired as new head coach
Mon, 19 Feb 2007 08:12:02 -0800Jay Glazer, of FOXSports.com, reports the San Diego Chargers have hired Norv Turner as their new head coach. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Turner had been serving as the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

Updated: Feb. 19, 2007, 11:34 AM ET
Sources: Chargers will hire Turner as next head coach

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Norv Turner has agreed in principle to become the San Diego Chargers' next coach, sources told ESPN.com.

In addition to the Turner hiring, longtime league assistant coach Ted Cottrell will meet early this week with San Diego officials which should result in the Chargers hiring Cottrell as the club's new defensive coordinator.

Cottrell, who worked in the NFL office in 2006, has extensive experience with the 3-4 defense that San Diego used last season.

Turner is one of six candidates to have interviewed for the position. The other known head coach candidates -- Gary Gibbs (New Orleans), Mike Zimmer (Atlanta), Mike Singletary (San Francisco), Ron Rivera (Chicago) and Rex Ryan (Baltimore) -- are all coaches whose expertise is on the defensive side. All but Singletary are current coordinators.

Turner has twice previously been a head coach in the league. Cottrell has interviewed in the past for head coach positions, and came very close to landing the top job in San Francisco four years ago, but the meeting with Chargers officials is strictly an interview for the team's defensive coordinator spot, several sources said.

San Diego officials prefer to retain a 3-4 defense, the scheme for which the personnel is best suited, and hiring Cottrell would permit that. Cottrell was actually recommended to Schottenheimer by Smith when then-Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as their new head coach.

Marty Schottenheimer instead leaned toward hiring his younger brother, Kurt Schottenheimer, as the replacement for Phillips. In addition to Marty Schottenheimer, the Chargers, who posted an NFL-best 14-2 record in 2006 but were ousted in the divisional round of the playoffs, have lost five assistant coaches since the end of the season. That includes both coordinators.

Cottrell, 59, possesses 22 seasons of NFL experience as an assistant coach, including three stints as a defensive coordinator. He most recently worked as coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings (2004-2005). Cottrell lost his job when the Vikings fired coach Mike Tice after the 2005 season.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.