Norv Turner hired as Chargers new head coach

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Chargers | 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.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Chief Faithful

You are right in saying Marty's strength is defense, but he has never drafted anyone he is a coach not a GM. What Marty does as well as anyone is recognize the good football player from the bad and gets them ready to play.

It's true that Marty hasn't been/is not the GM.
However, as has been noted over and over again, Carl almost always drafts the players that his coach is asking for, so Marty gets some of the credit/blame for the successes/failures of those drafts.

Those drafts included some pretty shitty offensive skill position players.
And he sure as hell didn't recognize and get ready to play one Joe Horn.

You say he has never drafted anyone of note on offense. If you mean to say he has never developed good offensive talent then you must have your eyes closed. He completely rebuilt the entire Chargers offensive line. In KC there have been a number of good offensive players most notibly Shields and Gonzo. Antonio Gates and Drew Brees are prime examples of players that went from nothing to All Star under Marty.

Again, that team was assembled by John Butler and AJ Smith.
As for Brees, Marty, like the rest of the Charger organization, was ready to give up on Brees after the '03 season, but Brees worked hard in that offseason, and spent a lot of time with his OC looking at film and working on mechanics.
Marty gets no credit for that, and neither does AJ Smith.
Brees is a testament to hard work and desire.

I'll give you Gates.

It is no accident that Marty develops top talent teams everywhere he goes. It may be Smith that found many of those talented players, but it was Schottenhiemer who developed them. Maybe it is also no accident that Norv Turner has failed everywhere he went, but you appear to me to be one who is betting against history in this case.

Marty is only adequate, at best, at developing offensive skill position players, with the exception of TE apparently.
What Marty does better than most coaches is get his players to play hard for him, and that is an admirable quality.

As for Turner, I am not betting that he will succeed.
I am only suggesting that the chance exists that he can in this situation.

[Deberg_1990]

IM no Marty lover...but hes worlds better than Norv Loser. Dude probably got a raw deal in Oakland but he had 8 or 9 years in Washington and was never anything but awful to mediocre.

Its s shame AJ Smith couldnt get over his juvenille hatred of Marty.

It will come back to bite him in the butt no doubt.

I would seriously bet good money that Norv Turner will never win a SB as a head coach. write it down.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

IM no Marty lover...but hes worlds better than Norv Loser.

Its s shame AJ Smith couldnt get over his juvenille hatred of Marty.

It will come back to bite him in the butt no doubt.

I would seriously bet good money that Norv Turner will never win a SB as a head coach. write it down.

All true, Norv couldnt sniff Martys jock as far as being a head coach.

[CHIEF4EVER]

Norv Turner is another example of a Good Coordinator who is a shitty Head Coach.

[DaWolf]

When Raider fans (2-14) are laughing at the fact that the Chargers hired Norv Turner, I'd say that's as good an indication that he hasn't been a good head coach as his career record is.

One brought up a good point. With some of the turds on that team, and combining it with the Norv Turner who allows the players and front office to walk all over him, that team is gonna fall apart at the first sign of trouble...

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

IM no Marty lover....

Likely story! Didn't Marty leave KC under scandalous circumstances?

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by scott free

All true, Norv couldnt sniff Martys jock as far as being a head coach.

Not true. Word around the street is he has sniffed Marty's jock a couple of times.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Frankie

Not true. Word around the street is he has sniffed Marty's jock a couple of times.

Well, that certainly explains what happened to his face...

[Chiefs Pantalones]

I'll believe it when I see it. The Chargers are too talented.

Chiefs fans are hoping that they'll fall flat on their faces, I am too, but I think they'll win the AFC West next year.

[Rooster]

Is this Norv Turner or Al Gore??

[Chief Faithful]

Originally Posted by milkman

It's true that Marty hasn't been/is not the GM.
However, as has been noted over and over again, Carl almost always drafts the players that his coach is asking for, so Marty gets some of the credit/blame for the successes/failures of those drafts.

Those drafts included some pretty shitty offensive skill position players.
And he sure as hell didn't recognize and get ready to play one Joe Horn.

Again, that team was assembled by John Butler and AJ Smith.
As for Brees, Marty, like the rest of the Charger organization, was ready to give up on Brees after the '03 season, but Brees worked hard in that offseason, and spent a lot of time with his OC looking at film and working on mechanics.
Marty gets no credit for that, and neither does AJ Smith.
Brees is a testament to hard work and desire.

I'll give you Gates.

Marty is only adequate, at best, at developing offensive skill position players, with the exception of TE apparently.
What Marty does better than most coaches is get his players to play hard for him, and that is an admirable quality.

I think we agree more than we disagree, but I still believe Marty is one of the best coaches in the NFL at turning around a floundering organization and building talented teams.

For example, the only position on offense that Marty has not repeatedly developed is WR and still there are some exceptions such as Webster Slaughter and Joe Horn. In KC they did not develop a young QB, but he still gets credit for getting the most out of players like Bono, Gannon, and Deberg. During his time on other teams we saw the rise of Brees, Phillips and Kosar.

As for the offensive line how can you not give credit to Schottenhiemer? Every place he has coached he rebuilt the OL and left it better than when he arrived. He developed three of my all time favorites in Dave Szott, John Alt and Will Shields.

Almost everyone on this board knows what you get with Marty; a talented team that fails in the playoffs. We also know what you get with Turner, which is less than what he receives.

Smith developed the Charger's team you see with Marty not without him. The organization was in disarray before Schottenhiemer arrived and I believe Turner will pull a Switzer and have that organization sucking wind in two years.

[Buck]

I have a wait and see mentality because Norv has never had a team like he has now in San Diego.

[El Jefe]

Who cares who the coach is when you have LT, Gates, Merriman and Rivers, with those guys you have a shot anyway.

[Redrum_69]

Originally Posted by kcchiefsfanGoLJ

Who cares who the coach is when you have LT, Gates, Merriman and Rivers, with those guys you have a shot anyway.

I'm sure that Jesus is watching everything you post and shaking his head..sinner...

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Redrum_69

I'm sure that Jesus is watching everything you post and shaking his head..sinner...

Ok...Believer.