Former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner opened up just recently for the first time since he shockingly resigned from that post earlier in the season.
Turner, who spent two-plus seasons as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator before calling it quits in early November, was pretty candid about the reasoning behind his departure from the Vikings.
“Mike (Zimmer) and I just had different ideas about what we needed to do and how we needed to do it,” Turner said, via the Los Angeles Times. “It wasn’t going to work, so I removed myself from it.”
It’s definitely an interesting quote from the long-time NFL coach. Whether these different ideas included Turner’s insistence that the Vikings don’t change their game plan to make up for horrible pass protection remains to be seen.
Now under interim offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the Vikings have gone to a lot more quick hitters and intermediate routes with Sam Bradford under center. That’s the one dramatic change we have seen since Turner resigned.
Though, it hasn’t necessarily added a bunch to what the Vikings are doing on that side of the ball.
Take Thanksgiving as an example. Bradford relied on quick passes that primarily traveled less than five yards down the field. While Bradford did complete 31-of-37 passes, he only threw for 224 yards in a 16-13 loss to the Detroit Lions.
As the Vikings look to move on from their recent struggles, Turner himself isn’t ready to call it quits on his coaching career.
“I got fired with three games to go in Washington [at the end of the 2000 season], and that was weird,” he said. “But this is totally different. I’ve talked to some of my friends who have retired, and they say, ‘Retirement’s not that bad. You should make sure you give it a real good look.’ But no.”
This is a clear indication that the primary motivation regarding Turner’s resignation from the Vikings was his relationship and the differences that existed between himself and head coach Mike Zimmer.