Norv Turner's bonehead move(s)..

[kemper5]

Someone tell me why Norv passed the ball on 1st down with 6 min left in the 4th and 2 Time outs and the Chargers were nearly approaching mid field at that point with the lead? That of course was the int that almost changed the face of the game and gave Indy life again. It seems he is not using LT to his full potential. I mean would you have not just run LT, run LT, run LT get a 1st down by running and get the clock down to march in FG range? It's just fustrating how he's utilizing LT

[skibrett15]

yes. Only the colts were playing to win in that game. Norv Turner is a complete idiot. Fortunately for him, the colts played worse than I have ever seen them play in recent years. Some of that may have been the decimation to the o-line due to injuries, the loss of 3/4 of manning's top targets, but still, manning layed a goose egg and so did vinatieri.

[SniperShot]

Norv Turner is one of the best O-Coordinators in the game and one of the worst head coaches. I was watching him last night, he basically seems to "hope" he doesn't lose the game. Facial expressions alone were giving it away nevermind the play on the field. for some reason NBC seemed to be focused on him every other play and he was basically standing there like the kid who got a lucky punch on the big bully and was just waiting for the bully to retaliate. When you land the lucky punch GO WITH IT. Go for the knockout! Don't sit there and go "oh crap they're all mad now I need to run and hide!!!!!"

Boring play calling, conservative crap every other play, Rivers looks anything but comfortable in the pocket, Norv took a really, really good team and flushed it down the toilet. I love Norv, he's a great offensive mind in the game. But he cannot be the head coach. CANNOT. Didn't anyone learn anything from his days with the Redskins and Raiders? UGH. If I'm building a team this is one of the top OC's I want, and easily one of the last head coaches I'd consider.

[JasonSeahorn]

he had no problem pounding the ball with gore last year, i don't understand why he's not doing the same with LT

[Metroid]

Norv Turner is a turd.

[mattp987]

I don't understand why anyone credits Turner has a "good offensive coordinator"...check out this blog. I don't take credit for any of the following:

I agree with you about Norv Turner being a proven loser. To go from having:

HEAD COACH - Marty Shottenheimer (the 5th winning-est head coach in NFL history)
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR - Cam Cameron (new head coach at Miami now)
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR - Wade Philips (new head coach at Dallas now)

To:

HEAD COACH - Norv Turner (losing-est active head coach)
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR - Clarence Shelmon/Norv Turner (First-year coordinator and Norv calling plays)
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR - Ted Cottrell (fired by Vikings and out of the league since 2005, his last 2 defenses ranked 28th and 21st in the league)

That EASILY makes you a WORSE TEAM than you were last season.

Now A.J. Smith can do whatever he wants, but the simple fact is that he made his team worse because of his own decisions and his big ego. He’ll get his when the Chargers struggle all year under Norv and go 9-7 and miss the playoffs.

AJ Smith (Chargers General Manager) thought he was soooo good at assembling a team, that he thought any idiot could coach them to a title. So why not get someone who will be your “Yes man” and not fight you on any one detail? AJ already ran out some great players who he didn’t like, and for no reason other than that…i.e. Drew Brees, Donnie Edwards, Keenan McCardell, Rodney Harrison, John Carney…etc. etc., so why not do the same to the coaching staff?

You hire a loser coach, you’re going to be loser team. Norv Turner has been a loser for a long time. Hell, the Chargers hired him to be their offensive coordinator in 2001 and fired him after ONE season. He’s had 6 NFL coaching jobs in the last 7 years. That does NOT mean you’re good.

AJ Smith was quoted as saying that “We’ve made a change at the head coaching position, and we feel that we now are prepared to have Norv take us to the ‘next level’ and get us to the Super Bowl.” Norv’s been to the playoffs in one season in his coaching career, where he lost in the second round. His NFL head coaching record overall is 59-83-1. How is that an upgrade from Marty Schottenhemier, who has the 5th most wins for a coach in NFL history? (Marty is 200-126-1, 5-13 in the playoffs.)

Some people (including AJ) will tell you that Norv is a good offensive coordinator. The numbers sure don’t say so. Here are the numbers on where his team’s offenses have ranked in the league over the years (total offense):
2000 – 24th
2001 – 11th
2002 – 15th
2003 – 24th
2004 – 17th
2005 – 21st
2006 – 26th

Those numbers suck. Want more proof that Norv’s not a good offensive coordinator/coach? This year, the Chargers have failed to score ANY points in the first half of either game they’ve played. The last time that happened was back in 2001…when Norv was our offensive coordinator. That means the Chargers have played 48 regular-season games and 2 playoff games after Norv was fired in 2001 and not ONCE have they failed to score in a half during that span. 50 games…and then he’s head coach for 2 games and it happens twice.

How can so many people ignore the MOUNTAIN of negative information and keep giving this guy a job? Especially a head coaching job?

Now don’t get me started on Ted Cottrell, the Chargers new defensive coordinator…there’s a reason he’s been out of the league recently and working in the NFL front offices. Hey Ted, there’s a new concept people have been playing with in the NFL for a while…it’s called A BLITZ! Look into it.

This was posted about a month ago...

[bagobonez]

I never understood why they fired Schottenheimer. People who are bums as coaches don't go 14-2, I don't care how much talent the players have. And if you fire someone like Schottenheimer you'd by God better have a replacement in mind that is going to be at least AS GOOD if not better than Schottenheimer. And what do they do? They go out and hire a head coach with a proven record of LOSING. Makes no sense.

I remember when Bill Parcells retired and Jerry Jones was talking about hiring Turner. Oh I'm so glad they didn't! I knew it would be disastrous if they did. Turner's good at creating a good running game, but he has no clue about the passing game or defense. He needs to be an Offensive coordinator at best, or maybe an OL or RB coach.

[V-unit]

Turner is a freaking bum they need to go after Bill Cowherd.Turner almost lost last nights game because his playcalling is way to conservative and stupid at times.Im a big SD fan and ive always said to get rid of Marty but last year was the first year i saw Marty taking alot of deep play calls and using LT to the max.I think if Marty would have stayed one more year SD would have been a real contender for the superbowl.

[DraftDodger]

Smith has done a great job of dismantling the Chargers. As a Patriots fan, I'd like to see him get a job in Indy next

[davidmarver]

Smith has done a great job of dismantling the Chargers. As a Patriots fan, I'd like to see him get a job in Indy next

If by 'dismantling' you mean 'building', then I agree. And while Norv has certainly had his downfalls (no one pointed out that the timeouts he used with 2:50 remaining led to the Colts getting the ball back with 20 seconds and, had they scored, would have restricted to our two-minute drill to plays near the sidelines, instead of over the middle with those two extra timeouts), the Chargers weren't going to win a playoff game with Marty as their head coach; no team is. He's proven time, and time again that he's not able to; so even if we don't win this season, it's no loss compared to the result if Marty was coaching.

That said, no team has ever had a better record the season after Norv left.