Chargers to Hire Turner - Era of Mediocrity to Begin

Given all the drama and upheaval in their coaching staff this offseason I think it's going to take a toll on them come the regular season. Add in the fact they now have Norv I'll give them 10 wins at the most, and that's only due to the fact they are loaded talent wise. Even Norv couldn't mess things up too bad... or could he?

Did anyone hear Jerry Rice's comments yesterday on Norv? He said when he played for him in Oakland Norv had "no control" over his players.

That's exactly how it was when he was with the Redskins

My point is simply that, based on my own observations of Turner's Skins' teams, his teams lacked the discipline to do the little things right consistently.

He has great schemes and can generally run up a score. Consistently, on Norv coached teams, the inmates were running the prison. Jerry Rice's comment is similar to a comment made by either Wilbon or Kornheiser during Turner's tenure with the Skins that the locker room seemed like club med. When that happens, even if they have heightened attention during the playoffs, they simply will make costly errors at crucial times. Teams have to practice focus and concentration. At the highest level, these are not skills that can be simply put in effect for a game or two and they are the skills that separate really good teams.

In an otherwise evenly matched game talent-wise, which team do you think is more likely to make a silly mistake at the wrong time? A Norv Turner coached team or a team coached by Bellicheck or Dungy?

Yeah it only took 6 years for that pendulum to swing.

Norv was the one that made the call on the drafting of Shuler and Westbrook. Here's a good summary of his tenure here

What do you mean in "only took 6 years for the pendulum to swing" ??

The cycle started the moment Gibbs left and the roster was purged due to the advancing age of many of the players that had been with the team since 1980, and the impending change in free agency. The strategy, which was in place before Turner was named head coach, was to literally blow the team up and start over.

Sure, there were mistakes in the draft. And the Wonderlic is as highly regarded as it is discarded by many throughout the league. Like I said, the word on Shuler and Dilfer was the same as it was Leaf and Manning, Rick Mirer and Drew Bledsoe -- 1 and 1a. Flip the coin, they said. The Redskins did and they missed.

Look, I’m not going to spend all day defending Norv – the man had some serious flaws, I don’t think anyone denies that. You say he’ll crash and burn in San Diego despite enormous talent all over that roster. Fine. He just might do that. All I’m saying is that the state the Redskins were in during his time would have been enough to destroy ANY head coach. Look what we’re seeing that now with The Sainted One who has a roster that is light years away from anything Norv had.

Funny how quickly we forget just how awful those Redskins teams were in the early to mid ‘90's.

Did anyone hear Jerry Rice's comments yesterday on Norv? He said when he played for him in Oakland Norv had "no control" over his players.

Yeah, Al Davis has the control. Everybody knows that.

Yeah, Al Davis has the control. Everybody knows that.

A coach still has to have some level of control and authority. Do you think Gruden was completely powerless over his locker room in Oakland too just because of Davis??

What was Norv's excuse here then?

What do you mean in "only took 6 years for the pendulum to swing" ??

The cycle started the moment Gibbs left and the roster was purged due to the advancing age of many of the players that had been with the team since 1980, and the impending change in free agency. The strategy, which was in place before Turner was named head coach, was to literally blow the team up and start over.

Sure, there were mistakes in the draft. And the Wonderlic is as highly regarded as it is discarded by many throughout the league. Like I said, the word on Shuler and Dilfer was the same as it was Leaf and Manning, Rick Mirer and Drew Bledsoe -- 1 and 1a. Flip the coin, they said. The Redskins did and they missed.

Look, I’m not going to spend all day defending Norv – the man had some serious flaws, I don’t think anyone denies that. You say he’ll crash and burn in San Diego despite enormous talent all over that roster. Fine. He just might do that. All I’m saying is that the state the Redskins were in during his time would have been enough to destroy ANY head coach. Look what we’re seeing that now with The Sainted One who has a roster that is light years away from anything Norv had.

Funny how quickly we forget just how awful those Redskins teams were in the early to mid ‘90's.

I just think you're cutting him way too much slack is all. He's a nice guy and a good offensive coordinator. That doesn't change the fact he's proven to be a sub-par head coach in this league.

If anything we gave him too many chances here, he should have been canned after that monumental collapse in '96.

Norv's time in oakland can be thrown out the window. Not a good fit, but hey i don't recall the diciplinarian, Art Shell, doing so well there either. He "lost" the team too and won less games. The raiders are a lost cause. I think the coach before Norv "lost" the team too.

Norv is going to be calling the shots personell wise. So even though he had many busts in DC he's not going to have the same role in SD. He's got his D set and he started that system that Cam C ran for a few years, so who knows.

He's a nice guy and yea i'm hoping they do well.

A coach still has to have some level of control and authority. Do you think Gruden was completely powerless over his locker room in Oakland too just because of Davis??

What was Norv's excuse here then?

Not saying Norv is totally blameless but Art Shell "lost" the team, Norv "lost" the team, and the coach before Norv "lost" the team (i can't recall his name). There's a trend. They are the raiders. Let's pretend his year there didn't exist. They're hopeless.

A coach still has to have some level of control and authority. Do you think Gruden was completely powerless over his locker room in Oakland too just because of Davis??

What was Norv's excuse here then?


Gruden was the exception to the rule.

Honestly, the Raiders are a grease-fire. Anyone who had the misfortune of being associated with that franchise deserves at least one shot with the 'get of jail free card'.