Super Bowl hopes rewrite Norv Turner story

Who is this man nobody wanted?

Who is this man who had a tarnished head coaching track record?

Who is this man they wanted to fire?

The head coach of the Chargers, Norv Turner, is poised for a realistic chance at Super Bowl Sunday and a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

He is quiet, unassuming, egoless — almost introverted.

NFL head coaches come in all sizes, shapes and styles. The great ones carry a unique aura unto themselves.
Tony Dungy, the icon from Indianapolis, was an intellect, rational in thoughts, relationships and spoken word.

New England’s Bill Belichick, is all about possession of ideas and methods, with a mix of paranoia.

Bill Parcells of Giants, Jets, Patriots and Cowboys fame, was dictatorial in style and substance.

Bill Cowher was prototype Pittsburgh — fire and ice, demanding and dedicated.

Tom Coughlin of the Giants is all about details, every minute, every day.

Jimmy Johnson was flare and fury on both sides of the ball during the early-90s Dallas Cowboys heyday.

They were all winners come Super Bowl Sunday — all with different approaches to get to the end result.

Norv Turner is wholly none of the above, yet is working on a platform in which he takes from each.

The Chargers coach is a product of a unique road travelled, one that took him from the Pac-10 to the NFL. A highway that weaved back and forth, working for genius head coaches, gurus, giant egos and oddball idiots. His learning curve to get to this point reads like a Rand McNally Atlas.

Turner cut his teeth working under USC legend John Robinson, where he learned the value of the power running game and intricacies of attacking defenses via “Student Body Right.”

His early indoctrination to the NFL passing game came under Ernie Zampese, the then offensive guru with the Los Angeles Rams. Zampese took everything he could from his days with Air Coryell in San Diego. Turner took the best pages of the Zampese playbook with him.

Turner’s learning curve grew faster as he masterminded schemes to combat the great defenses Jimmy Johnson built with the Dallas Cowboys in practice. Practicing against the best the Cowboys had to offer made his offense the best.

But Turner learned painful lessons, too, as a head coach. If the job were any good, it wouldn’t have been open in the first place.

The road travelled took him to Washington, where he learned quickly that there is a big difference between winning organizations and owners who are losers. He had the Redskins on the right track until Daniel Snyder decided he knew more about football than his football coach. The Redskins have been a miserable failure since.

And his short unhappy stay in Oakland nearly cost him his career. Two years of owner interference from Al Davis almost destroyed his reputation nationwide. He had failed in two places as a head coach, and perception almost became reality. There might never be another chance.

But win-loss records are not the only thing by which coaches are judged. The media viewed Turner, as did the fans, as a coach with a pitiful career record. Some football people, though, knew the real story, of how Turner related to players with a superior approach to Xs and Os. How Turner’s reputation in developing raw skill on offense, outweighed the career marks in unstable organizations. And how his calming approach in the pressurized frenzy of game day calmed everyone.

You knew he was something special, when he got in on the ground floor with Johnson and the Cowboys. In three seasons (1991-93), he built an offense that had been 1-15 in Troy Aikman’s rookie year and wound up with two Super Bowl rings.

The stats are there for everyone to see. Aikman threw 36 picks in two years. Under Turner he threw 49 TDs and 30 interceptions in their three-year run.

Of course Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin played huge roles in that great offense. But Turner had to groom and grow the quarterback so the others would succeed. The running back and receiver combined for 64 touchdowns during Turner’s stay in Dallas.

In Washington, Turner inherited a 3-13 team quarterbacked by journeymen like Gus Frerotte, Brad Johnson and Trent Green. When he was done, he had 3 ½ winning seasons (he was fired in the midst of his final year with a winning record) in six years, but was let go after reaching the playoffs just once.

Washington has since hired Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, brought back Joe Gibbs and now has Jim Zorn. Those coaches could only manage two winning seasons in nine years under Snyder’s watch.

Turner’s 24-month stay in the Black Hole in Oakland was marked by big statistical seasons by QB Kerry Collins, but marred with a 9-23 record as Al Davis tried to dictate everything. The Raiders are 28-81 since the day they played in the Super Bowl in San Diego in 2003. Turner became a victim like everyone else who has worked there since Jon Gruden left as head coach.

San Diego was much like Dallas. Yes, he inherited talent. Yes, he changed the playbook. Yes, he has been given a gifted quarterback and took over with the greatest talent the league had at running back. But for Turner, it has become a laboratory experiment. Grow Philip Rivers, add greatness at tight end in Antonio Gates, mix and match LaDainian Tomlinson and a host of role-playing receivers.

The end result now is a dynamic, diverse offensive team that can beat you many different ways on any given Sunday, in the regular season or postseason. Everyone, at one time or another, is involved in his 550-page playbook.

Turner is part Parcells-Belichick, paranoid; part-Coughlin-Cowher, attention to every detail; part Johnson, flair on offense and fury from his defense; and part-Dungy, smart, unassuming and ultra-confident.

No one wanted him; no one respected his record; no one wanted to keep him. San Diego does and will as the win in Dallas was reportedly followed with an offer for a contract extension.

Now Norv Turner — good man and good coach — appears ready to be something now no one ever thought possible. A true winner.

Lee Hamilton hosts “Sportswatch” (3-7 p.m.) weekdays on XX-1090, was the longtime voice of the Chargers, broadcasts NFL games for the Compass Media Networks and the San Diego Press club has honored his SDNN columns.

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