HENDERSON, Nev. – New Raiders interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner opened his news conference Thursday by expressing gratitude for longtime college and NFL coach John Robinson, who died Monday at 89.
Turner was a quarterback under Robinson at UNLV in the early 2000s. At that time, there was no thought of the Raiders one day landing in Las Vegas and not staying in Oakland.
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Robinson gave Turner a shot with the Rebels, and now Raiders coach Antonio Pierce is doing the same more than 20 years later and just 11 miles from campus.
"The only thing I really asked for was if we could have my dad come just for some help," Turner said.
Pierce agreed to the request, remembering going against Norv Turner — a former longtime NFL head coach and offensive coordinator — during this playing days with Washington and the New York Giants.
The elder Turner, who went 9-23 as the Oakland Raiders head coach in 2004-05, is a senior adviser and lives with Scott and his family. They regularly bounce ideas off each other. They have a lot to talk about.
Las Vegas' offense is 29th in yardage (280.2 per game), last in rushing (76.9) and 25th in scoring (18.7 points per game). The Raiders, who visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, are 2-7 and used the last week's bye to make major staff changes.
Gone were offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg. Scott Turner also fills the role of QBs coach and former Dolphins coach Joe Philbin oversees the offensive line.
“I’m not going to make promises,” Pierce said. “Just wanted a change, wanted a spark, wanted different ideas.”
This is Turner's second shot at offensive coordinator.
He held the same position with Washington from 2020-22, a three-year stretch in which the team ranked in the bottom third in scoring before being let go. Eight different quarterbacks received snaps during that time.
“I told the guys, ‘This league’s about adversity and you learn that,'" Turner said. "I learned that in Washington. I was coordinator for three years, and whatever, we were 8-8-1, got fired. It didn’t work out. So I’m getting an opportunity, and I’m just excited to work with our players, and just trying to make them perform at the best level they’re capable of.”
How many changes Turner can make to improve the offense is debatable. It's not a roster that screams playoff contender, and numerous injuries on the offensive line have created a major obstacle in trying to upgrade a side of the ball without a true franchise quarterback and virtually no running game.
Not that there aren't positive parts. Rookie Brock Bowers already has established himself as one of the league's top tight ends, Jakobi Meyers is a quality receiver and there has been strong play from some individual offensive lineman.
Turner has eight games to try to figure it all out.
“You keep the same verbiage, you keep the bones of the offense,” quarterback Gardner Minshew said. "I think kind of the approach for calling the game might be a little different, a little bit different flavor to it. We’ll kind of see how that develops as we move forward.”
No matter how it turns out, Turner never thought he would be back in Las Vegas as an NFL offensive coordinator when he was backing up Shane Steichen as UNLV's quarterback. The two became close and even served in each other's weddings. They each still have phone numbers with Las Vegas' 702 area code.
Steichen also rose through the coaching ranks, becoming the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles team that reached the Super Bowl two seasons ago. That led to a head coaching opportunity with the Indianapolis Colts.
Both played under Robinson, who influenced their future coaching careers. Turner said Robinson's ability to establish strong running games made an indelible impression on him, but he also saw the importance of healthy relationships from the future College Football Hall of Famer.
“I learned that from him, just like how he truly cared about all the players on the team,” Turner said. “It didn’t matter if it was a walk-on or the highest recruit that we had there at the time, he knew about them and he found time to build relationships with guys to try to help them be the best that they can be. That’s what coaching is about, and that’s why you get in this business.”
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