me as their head coach. Thats right MR IGGLES!!!!! Just kidding, the chargers have hired Norv Turner as their head coach. Talk about stepping into a good situation!!!!

Wow, what a stupid choice that is.

Wow, what a stupid choice that is.


I have always said that guy can't coach & this year will be the proof. That team is loaded & should be in the superbowl!!!

What the heck is people's fascination with this guy? He sucked with both the Raiders and the Redskins.

What the heck is people's fascination with this guy? He sucked with both the Raiders and the Redskins.


I have no idea, its right up there with the TAYLOR HICKS SOUL PATROL CRAP!!!!! What the heck is that all about!! He just like turner has no skills...LOL

The Chargers are definitely not getting into the postseason next year. Even before Schottenheimer was fired (when Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron left) I said that they wouldn't make it and this only solidifies my belief.

The Chargers are definitely not getting into the postseason next year. Even before Schottenheimer was fired (when Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron left) I said that they wouldn't make it and this only solidifies my belief.


I wouldn't go as far as saying they won't make the playoffs. They are just too dang talented not to.

Norv is 24 games under .500 as a NFL coach

Norv is 24 games under .500 as a NFL coach


They would be better hiring MR IGGLES as the coach...LOL

They would be better hiring MR IGGLES as the coach...LOL


Maybe he was the best guy AVAILABLE-lol

The Chargers were better off with Marty Schottenheimer than with Norv. In Washington and in Oakland, Norv didn't have the talent to make him a good coach. Now he's got the talent, let's see how he does. I still think he's a better Offensive Coodinator than a head coach. It just amazes me how people like Norv keep getting jobs. This just proves he got hired because of someone in the Chargers organization likes him, not because he's qualified.

Maybe he was the best guy AVAILABLE-lol


Huh? You are kidding right? Why not take a chance on a hot coordinator like Ron Rivera or Rex Ryan?

Norv is 24 games under .500 as a NFL coach
analysts keep on saying that they got him because of his expirence. But being 24 games under .500 with one playoff appearence isen't much experience to me unless they are talking about losing experience

The Chargers hired him because of the same reason the 76ers hired Jim Obrien in 2003, he was the best Guy AVAILABLE-lol

Huh? You are kidding right? Why not take a chance on a hot coordinator like Ron Rivera or Rex Ryan?


Now the owner has someone who he can control, thats what this was all about. He could nto control marty, he will have total control over norv turner.

The Chargers hired him because of the same reason the 76ers hired Jim Obrien in 2003, he was the best Guy AVAILABLE-lol


Wrong Solomon, he wasn't the best available.

Wrong Solomon, he wasn't the best available.


Who else was avialable that you felt was BETTER?

I named them already.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/chargers/20070220-9999-1n20chargers.html

Bolts go with the guy who built the offense


To the consternation of football fans around the county – and even the country – the Chargers replaced one of the most successful regular-season head coaches in NFL history with a man who has a .415 career winning percentage. Why? Because they were looking for one thing.

Continuity.

The Chargers hired Norv Turner yesterday as their 14th head coach, entrusting the team's former offensive coordinator with their considerable talent.

“When you look at the experience and you look at maybe the ability to maintain the continuity that we think is very important here, I think Norv gave us the best chance to do that,” team President Dean Spanos said after an afternoon news conference to introduce Turner, 54.

As it was when they initially kept Marty Schottenheimer after the season, preserving the same offensive and defensive systems was the top priority for Spanos and General Manager A.J. Smith as they went through the weeklong process of finding Schottenheimer's successor.

The Chargers were a league-best 14-2 in 2006. They return 10 players who went to the Pro Bowl plus a quarterback who didn't go because of injury. They have 19 core players signed to long-term contracts, including 17 who are 27 or younger.

“It was the most important factor to all of us,” Smith said in reference to continuity. “We think we're a great football team. We're so close. . . . I think it's very important to leave the players that are in place in a comfort zone so that they know that nothing has changed, go play football.”

Turner was the Chargers offensive coordinator in 2001 and is credited with installing the offense the team has run ever since.

“When the players come in for that first minicamp, they're going to line up and run the same things they've been doing,” Turner said. “Talking to some of the players this morning, there is certainly a comfort level and a relief in that manner.”

Turner was one of three finalists to be the Chargers head coach in 2002.

Instead, Schottenheimer was hired then. He was fired eight days ago amid a power struggle with Spanos and Smith over whom to hire as defensive coordinator.

Yesterday, the Chargers also announced the hiring of Ted Cottrell as defensive coordinator. Cottrell was Smith's preference for the coordinator's post last week while Schottenheimer was insisting on his right to hire his brother, Kurt.

Also last night, the Chargers hired Ron Rivera as linebackers coach. Rivera, the Chicago Bears defensive coordinator for the past three seasons, interviewed last week for the position that went to Turner.

Turner knows what he walks into as he takes over a team that went 35-13 over the past three seasons and is roundly considered a favorite to contend for the Super Bowl next season.

Despite the sterling regular-season mark over the past three years, the 0-2 mark in the postseason was extremely disappointing and laid in part at Schottenheimer's feet. Schottenheimer has 200 regular-season victories, fifth-most all-time, but he is forever haunted by his 13 playoff losses, including the two first-round flops in San Diego.

Now, it's Turner's job.

Despite the rants of disappointed fans who e-mailed newspapers and called radio talk shows yesterday, saying the choice of Turner is a mistake, the Chargers are convinced they have the right man. Turner, too, believes he will win.

“It's obvious to me the expectations for this football team – it's obvious to everyone – they are very, very high,” said Turner, who received a four-year contract. “I prefer great expectations with great talent as compared with great expectation with average talent. I've been in those situations.”

Turner spent the past season as the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

Before that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the second of his two stints as a head coach.

Having worked with two notoriously meddling owners, Turner is 58-82-1 (.415) as a head coach. He was 9-23 with Al Davis' Raiders and 49-59-1 in seven-plus seasons with the Washington Redskins.

With a 10-6 record, his Redskins went to the playoffs after the 1999 season. They beat Detroit in the wild-card round before losing 14-13 to Tampa Bay the next week.

The Redskins were 7-6 when he was fired in December 2000, ending a short, tumultuous relationship with Redskins owner Dan Snyder.

Snyder bought the Redskins before the '99 season and almost immediately began to interfere with Turner's duties. The coach Snyder hired to replace Turner was Marty Schottenheimer, who lasted just one 8-8 season.

In a further stunning bit of circular irony, Turner's time in Washington was also marked by an uneasy relationship with general manager Charley Casserly.

Snyder fired Casserly before the 1999 season, choosing to retain Turner. Snyder said at the time he made the decision because he believed Turner and Casserly could not work together based on their deep personal and philosophical differences.

Schottenheimer was let go last Monday in part because Spanos determined a rift between Smith and Schottenheimer had become an impediment to constructively working together.

As hard as Smith tried to be his staid self yesterday, he was clearly excited.

“I'm ready to cast my lot in a day-to-day working relationship to build a championship together,” Smith said. “I need to be able to tell somebody my inner thoughts – what I'm thinking about trades, draft picks, our own players.”

Smith and Spanos had Turner on the phone Sunday afternoon just minutes after Gary Gibbs, the sixth candidate to interview in five days. Spanos said Turner's hiring was not a done deal when he arrived at the complex about 6 p.m.

At that point, the pair of decision-makers had one other finalist in mind, a man they declined to identify. But after getting into further detail with Turner over what he would do as head coach, they were certain they had their man. Among those details was the hiring of Rivera. But there was an underlying philosophy that ultimately secured the job for Turner.

“After listening to Norv and what was important to him, it kept coming back to him thinking it was important to maintain the continuity,” Spanos said. “It was the way he expressed that to me.”