Former Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who abruptly quit as the team began to struggle this season, says he and head coach Mike Zimmer had opposing points of view that couldn’t be bridged.
“Mike and I just had different ideas about what we needed to do and how we needed to do it,” Turner told Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. “It wasn’t going to work, so I removed myself from it.”
Although Turner did not say exactly what those different ideas were, the combination of those comments with Zimmer’s past statement that he needed to get back to doing things “my way” suggests that both men saw the differences between them as significant.
Once among the most respected offensive coaches in the NFL, Turner indicated that he is not retired and isn’t done coaching. He’s just done coaching for Zimmer.
“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.”
So don’t be surprised if Turner is back in the NFL next year, on some other staff, where he and the head coach agree on the right way to do things.
