The Las Vegas Raiders are once again following old trends. They’ve gone back and hired former Head Coach Norv Turner. Turner was the team’s head coach between 2004-2005. They went 9-23 in his tenure. He was also the head coach for the Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers. He hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2019 when he was the Offensive Coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. His son Scott Turner is taking over as Offensive Coordinator.
The Season Is In Freefall
Turner joins a Las Vegas Raiders team that’s currently 2-7. They recently fired former Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and two other assistants after losing 41-24 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Quarterback Gardner Minshew has been benched three times and might be getting benched a fourth time. They have the worst rushing attack, the most turnovers, and the worst turnover differential in the NFL. It’s been so bad that superstar Wide Receiver Davante Adams was traded away to the New York Jets.
While Scott is going to be tasked with calling plays, it remains to be seen how much influence Norv will have. The Turner family will look to revitalize an offensive attack that has one major weapon. Brock Bowers. He leads the league in receiving, but Getsy’s game plans tended to leave him out during the middle part of games. It’s one of the reasons why the Las Vegas Raiders have been outscored 46-6 in the last two minutes of the first half this season.
Turner Brings Experience
Turner was one of the best offensive minds of the 1990s. His offensive system powered the early ’90s Dallas Cowboys when he was their Offensive Coordinator. His time in Washington led to one division title in 1999. He also coached the Chargers to three playoff appearances in six years. It also should be noted that Turner is the only NFL head coach with at least 100 career wins and a losing record.
Turner was always a better offensive coordinator than a head coach. That can’t be denied as he also coached up successful offenses in San Francisco and Miami in-between his stops with the Las Vegas Raiders and Chargers. But the game passed him by in the 2010s in Minnesota, Cleveland, and Carolina. It’s hard to see a coach who hasn’t coached in five years presenting new ideas. This also isn’t the first time that the Las Vegas Raiders decided to bring back a former head coach.
Another Former Head Coach On a Bloated Staff
The coaching staff is flushed already with former head coaches. Joe Philbin, Tom Coughlin, and Marvin Lewis were already on the coaching staff. Turner’s hire marks the fourth former head coach hired by first-year Head Coach Antonio Pierce. Adding another former head coach who hasn’t coached in five years doesn’t add any new ideas they haven’t heard already. It’s also unlikely it will fix Pierce’s repeated issues with clock management and in-game decision-making.
Why not go out and hire somebody younger with new ideas that they can bring to the table? Even the promotion of Scott to offensive coordinator is baffling given how bad Washington’s offenses were during his time there. There’s an old phrase that applies here very well. The Las Vegas Raiders might have “too many cooks in the kitchen.” At some point, recycling old ideas has to come to a stop.
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