Norv Turner

Norval Eugene Turner or better we known Norv Turner was born May 17, 1952 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Norv Turner is the head coach for the National Football League's San Diego Chargers. He also has served as head coach of the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and as offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers. His explosive offense, built around a strong ground attack and the ability to strike fast via the deep pass, is referred to as "Norv-West Air", a play on the name of an airline with a similar name. He is the brother of former University of Illinois head football coach and former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

After serving as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon, Norv Turner was an assistant coach for the USC Trojans from 1976 to 1984. From 1985 to 1990, he was an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams. In the January 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine he was chosen as one of the "50 People to Watch in 2008."

On February 19, 2007, Norv Turner was hired to coach the San Diego Chargers. Though he had been a finalist to assume the same position with the Dallas Cowboys, a team for which he had been the Offensive Coordinator during the first two of three Championship seasons in the 1990s, he eventually lost out to Wade Phillips, defensive coordinator of the Chargers at the end of the 2006–2007 season. He took the reins of an NFL-best 14–2 record squad in the 2006 regular season with San Diego. Despite promising a strong start to the season and downplaying the effects of a major coaching turnover, Turner began the 2007 NFL season by losing 3 of his first 4 games. Subsequently, he was thought to be redeeming himself by helping the team to a 41–3 victory over the Denver Broncos on the road, a win against archrival Oakland, and a third consecutive win coming out of the bye week against the Houston Texans. The euphoria in San Diego was short-lived, however, after a road loss to the then 2–5 Minnesota Vikings. By midseason, San Diego, a franchise thought to be a serious Super Bowl contender, had not won a single game against a team with a winning record. The first such win came in Week 10, when the team upset the Indianapolis Colts. This win was followed by another road loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After losing to yet another winning team, running back LaDainian Tomlinson called a players only meeting to discuss the season and the coaching changes. Following this, the Chargers won 6 straight regular season games, including a come-from-behind, overtime victory versus the Tennessee Titans. The next week, the Chargers managed to clinch their second straight AFC West Division title by beating the Detroit Lions in a lopsided game at home. The win against the Broncos on Monday Night Football gave Norv Turner 10 wins on the season – matching his best regular season record as a head coach.

Norv Turner led the Chargers to their first playoff victory since 1994 with a victory over the Tennessee Titans, followed by a second playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Chargers lost the AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots, 21–12.

In the 2008 season, Norv Turner led the team to an improbable comeback in the AFC West starting the season at 4–8 but winning the final 4 games to finish ahead of the Denver Broncos. His Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts for the second year in a row in the playoffs, but fell short to the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round game where his star running back LaDainian Tomlinson was out with a groin injury.

Norv Turner r's third season in 2009 saw the Chargers continue their trend of a weak start to the season followed by a strong finish. After needing a last-minute rally to beat the Oakland Raiders in the opening week, the Chargers lost 3 of their next four games. The last loss in this stretch was at home to Denver, leaving San Diego at 2–3 and chasing the 6–0 Broncos. After easily defeating divisional opponents Kansas City and Oakland, the Chargers faced a daunting stretch that included games against the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, & Bengals, plus traveling to Denver. Turner's team swept through them all, winning nine straight games while the Broncos entered into a midseason slump. After the ninth consecutive win, a 27–24 victory against Cincinnati on December 20th, San Diego captured their third straight divisional title under Turner. After a blowout win at Tennessee and a last minute victory vs. Washington, they extended their regular season win streak to 11 games, tying a franchise record from 1961. With a 13–3 record, San Diego claimed the 2nd seed in the AFC playoffs and a first round bye. The Chargers were eliminated from the playoffs in their first playoff game of 2010 with a 17–14 home upset against the New York Jets.

On January 19, 2010, Norv Turner signed a three-year contract extension through 2013.

On November 28, 2010, Norv Turner recorded his 100th win as an NFL head coach.