Norv Turner To Become Minnesota Vikings Offensive Coordinator

We mentioned last night that the Minnesota Vikings were interested in acquiring the services of Norv Turner as Mike Zimmer's offensive coordinator. They got permission from the Cleveland Browns to interview him, and in pretty quick fashion, a deal has been completed.

Source confirms @AdamSchefter report @Browns OC Norv Turner set to take same job with @Vikings. I hear Norv's son Scott will be QBs coach

— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) January 16, 2014

Turner has been a coach in some capacity in the National Football League since 1985, which means the 2014 season will be his 30th consecutive season in the National Football League. He's spent fifteen of those years as a head coach, but is more widely regarded for his work as an offensive coordinator. His resume looks like this:

1985 - 1990: Receivers coach, Los Angeles Rams (yes, kids, Norv Turner has been a coach since Los Angeles had a football team or two)
1991 - 1993: Offensive coordinator, Dallas Cowboys (where they won back-to-back Super Bowls)
1994 - 2000: Head coach, Washington Redskins
2001: Offensive coordinator, San Diego Chargers
2002 - 2003: Offensive coordinator, Miami Dolphins (Rick Spielman was in the Dolphins' front office during this time)
2004 - 2005: Head coach, Oakland Raiders
2006: Offensive coordinator, San Francisco 49ers
2007 - 2012: Head coach, San Diego Chargers
2013: Offensive coordinator, Cleveland Browns
2014 - ???: Offensive coordinator, Minnesota Vikings

So, what does this mean for the Vikings? Well, the National Football Post has a nice little write-up about "The Norv Turner Effect." Bottom line? The guy has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on just about every offense he's been connected with.

Our friends from Bolts from the Blue, SB Nation's site for the San Diego Chargers, put together a decent four-part retrospective on Turner a season ago. It comes in four parts, which you can find below.

The Story of Norv Turner: Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator
The Story of Norv Turner: Washington Redskins Head Coach
The Story of Norv Turner: Traveling Offensive Coordinator
The Story of Norv Turner: Oakland Raiders Head Coach

My personal favorite comes from the third link there:

When you hear people saying of Norv that the man is "a good Offensive Coordinator, but a Head Coach", they're going off of Norv's unblemished record of improving offenses (often without any real talent). He did it with the Chargers in one season, and it would've been fun to watch what he could've done as the Offensive Coordinator once Marty came in and Drew Brees took over the starting job from Flutie.

Now, there's damn sure talent to be had on the Minnesota offense. . .a solid offensive line, a couple of dynamic receivers, and that Adrian Peterson guy. . .so if NORV! can work his magic with a quarterback, be it one that's already on the roster or one that the Vikings take in the 2014 NFL Draft, this offense could be very, very good. Considering the state of the offenses across the NFC North. . .and the equally sorry state of all the defenses in the division. . .that might be the Vikings' best shot at climbing back to the top of the division while the defense rounds into shape.

Just please, for the love of everything good, don't let the man within 100 miles of the head coaching job.

Interesting that his son, Scott, will be coming aboard as the quarterbacks coach, too. He played quarterback at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and joined the Pittsburgh Panthers' coaching staff in 2008. He was there for three seasons, two as an offensive assistant and one as a wide receivers coach, before joining the Carolina Panthers' staff in 2011. After two years with Carolina as an offensive quality control coach, he united with his father in Cleveland this past season, once again coaching the wide receivers.

I think this is a pretty exciting hire, folks. Mike Zimmer needed a big-time OC, and he pretty much got one. What do you think of the hiring of Norv Turner to be the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator?