The comments that Norv Turner made upon his resignation as Vikings offensive coordinator last week indicated that his decision was wholly voluntary and that he truly believed he was preventing Minnesota from realizing its full potential on the offensive side of the ball. But one always wonders if those types of decisions are truly voluntary, or if the club is simply allowing a respected coach to depart without the ignominy of being fired.
That does not seem to be the case with Turner, as both Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com write. Per La Canfora, the decision took the entire Vikings organization by surprise, and Turner was not pressured to step down in any way. La Canfora adds that Turner and newly-promoted OC Pat Shurmur–who was serving as the tight ends coach prior to Turner’s resignation–had a strong working relationship, but it became clear during a full staff meeting Tuesday afternoon that Turner and head coach Mike Zimmer had incompatible opinions on how to spark the Vikings’ stagnant offense. The personal relationship between the two men remained strong, but their differing professional viewpoints triggered the split.
Rapoport’s piece is largely consistent with La Canfora, though Rapoport does add that Shurmur was a “huge proponent” of the Sam Bradford acquisition and that Shurmur and Bradford “speak the same language,” whereas Turner was a bit of an outsider when it came to his newly-acquired quarterback.
Both Rapoport and La Canfora indicate that Turner has not ruled out resuming his coaching career, although Turner himself said that any new job would “need to be a right place and with the right people.”
Who would hire Turner again? His offense was terrible and instead of fixing it he quit. It’s hard to respect the man after this without there being some sort of legitimate reason for quitting on your guys.
It’s the NFL. They recycle coaches like it’s nothing. Turner has a good coaching history. He’ll have opportunities
There’s a difference between doing a bad job and abandoning your guys. I have a hard time believing another NFL team will give him another chance to give up on his guys.
Yeah not like a guy like Nick Saban didn’t give up on his guys. And it’s your point of view that he gave up on his guys.
Not Lovie. He had to settle for Illinois.
I’m disappointed in Norv Turner and My Minnesota Vikings. This is a horrible time to quit on the team and it a horrible time for both the offense and defense to go through losses like this.