After firing former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the Raiders made it a family affair on their offensive staff by bringing in Norv Turner to help advise his son, new interim OC Scott Turner.
The Turners have worked together before at multiple stops — first in Cleveland in 2013 before heading to Minnesota and subsequently Carolina. But in those places, Norv hired Scott.
This time, the tables turned when head coach Antonio Pierce wanted to promote Scott to play-caller.
“The only thing I really asked for was if we could have my dad come just for some help, And he was good about that,” Scott Turner said in his Thursday press conference. “When AP was a player, he played against my dad when he was a coach. So, he thought it was a good idea, and that’s pretty much it. I mean we had some other conversations that I’ll leave [in-house].”
While Norv hasn’t called plays since 2019, Scott said his father has stayed watching football. The Raiders can’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to their offense at Week 11, so Norv isn’t as familiar with the team’s current language. But Scott anticipates Norv being able to offer his expertise in all areas.
“He has such a wealth of knowledge,” Scott Turner said. “We were joking about it and I was telling the guys that he was calling offensive plays in the NFL from 1991 to 2019, and he only missed one year. He missed 2017. So, you have somebody that has done that. He had the No. 1 offenses in three different decades. And he’s my dad, so we like being around each other. We lost some coaches on offense, so just another set of eyes. He knows how I see football because I learned most of it from him. So, being able to have him at practice every day, not just watching the games from afar or whatever, and helping just with input is invaluable.
“And then, for a personal note, obviously it’s good to have him around. And my kids are fired up to have their grandfather around.”
That family aspect of things is a nice personal touch for the Turners, though Norv was apparently a little apprehensive about telling his wife he was going back to work.
“He said, ‘Don’t tell your mom.’ I’ve got to find out how I’m going to break it,’” Scott Turner said. “She was good. She was like, ‘I don’t know why he was so nervous.’ I was like, ‘Come on.’ He’s living with me, so my kids are enjoying that. I mean, they don’t see him much, but they will as we get to the end of the week, and my mom will be out here in about a week or so.
“I mean, I coached with my dad before and he was the coordinator and I was the quarterback coach. So, being able to live close to him was great. Now my kids are older, 10 and eight, so they’re like super fired up about having Papa around. So, that part of it on a personal note is really cool.”
Norv previously served as Raiders head coach from 2004-2005, with the team going 9-23 in those two seasons.
