Saturday, May 25, 2002
Dolphins excited about Turner's offense
By CARL KOTALA
FLORIDA TODAY
DAVIE, Fla. — When Ricky Williams thinks about playing in Norv Turner's offense, he thinks about the success the guys who have preceded him have had.
Emmitt Smith in Dallas. Stephen Davis in Washington. Even LaDainian Tomlinson, who was the AFC's top rookie in San Diego last season.
Williams thinks. And he smiles.
“I'm extremely excited,” the new Miami Dolphins running back said. “It's going to give us a chance to win, give me a chance to run for a lot of yards and score a lot of touchdowns, especially.
“Everybody who has played in this offense has done well at the running-back position. I'm excited to see how I match up against the other great names.”
While Williams' acquisition from the New Orleans Saints may have drawn more attention, the addition of Turner as the Dolphins offensive coordinator/assistant head coach may have been the team's biggest pickup.
“This will be one of the great offseason moves,” ESPN football analyst Sean Salisbury said. “As a matter of fact, some of the best offseason moves, in my opinion, have been with coaches - (Jon) Gruden to Tampa, Norv to Miami, John Fox to Carolina - and Norv is at the top of that list.”
Turner, who was the offensive coordinator for San Diego last season, interviewed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coaching job. But when the process began to drag on, he jumped at the chance to work with his old friend, Dave Wannstedt, who was looking to fill the position vacated when Chan Gailey left to become the head coach at Georgia Tech.
“I think if you took a poll around the NFL before Chan left a year ago and said list the top five coordinators in the league, Norv and Chan would both be on that list,” Wannstedt said. “We're fortunate to have had them both here. They've got different styles. They're different people.
“Norv has done a fantastic job of taking what fits into his system and what's been good and implementing it and adding to it and juggling some things around to make us better. That's what we're all trying to get done here.”
In San Diego, Turner turned the Chargers' offense from the 28th-ranked unit in the NFL to No. 11 in his only season there.
During his seven seasons as head coach of the Washington Redskins, Turner had a record of 49-59-1, including a 10-6 mark in 1999, when the Skins won their first NFC East title since '91.
Washington also had a 1,000-yard rusher four times and a 1,000-yard receiver on five occasions. Three different quarterbacks threw for more than 3,000 yards - including current Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson, who threw for 4,005 yard in 1999.
But Turner may be best known for his stint as the offensive coordinator in Dallas from 1991-93, where he worked with Troy Aikman, Smith and Michael Irvin. The Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls under head coach Jimmy Johnson. Wannstedt - the defensive coordinator - and Turner both became big names.
Now, Wannstedt and Turner are working together for the third time. They were both assistants under John Robinson at USC from 1983-84.
The past few years, Wannstedt and Turner would talk once a week or so during the season.
When Gailey left, those talks went from “Hey, how's it going?” to “Hey, want a job?”
“It's amazing in this profession, how things happen,” Turner said.
“Timing's everything. This was great for me to get a chance to be here with Dave, be in the organization and be with a real good team.”
Considering the Dolphins' offense was ranked 21st in the NFL - including 23rd in rushing - last season, Turner will definitely have some work to do this season.
But it's not like some pieces aren't in place, especially with the addition of a young power running back like Williams.
Turner learned much of his offensive philosophy while working under Robinson at the University of Oregon, USC and the Los Angeles Rams. His education was furthered in Dallas, watching not only how Johnson motivated the Cowboys, but also how he managed games.
In Dallas, Smith led the NFL in rushing all three years Turner was the offensive coordinator and Aikman and Irvin finished in the top three in passing and receiving twice.
“We want to be a power running football team,” Turner said. “That's the starting point. After that, we would like to be multiple in terms of our utilization of personnel and formations. I think if you're going to be multiple, you've got to use the guys you've got.
“I'd like all of our guys to contribute, especially in the passing game.
Nobody better
The fullback and the tight end - everybody's made a big deal out of that - but the tailback should be able to contribute in the passing game. If you have balance there, you usually end up finding ways to get big plays to the wideouts.”
Salisbury, who had Turner for an offensive coordinator at USC, said Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler will soon find out he has never been around anybody better. Ask Aikman, Salisbury said, and he'd tell you the same thing.
“Norv was always the kind of guy that, he would coach you for six days, but he let you play,” Salisbury said. “On Saturday, he let me play. I know he let Troy play on Sunday and he'll let Jay play.
“Norv doesn't feel the need to be in your head for four straight quarters. No quarterback likes that. If you do, then you're playing like a robot and Norv never wanted that.”
What also makes Turner so good, Salisbury said, is his attention to the small details, his extreme competitiveness and his ability to put his players in a position to succeed. All they have to do is make the plays.
“I've been on some teams where somebody will force you to do something that you're not good at,” Salisbury said. “Now, if he's not good at it, Norv will make sure that on the practice field, they'll work on it. But if it doesn't work in practice, I can assure you Norv's not going to call it in the game.
“He's not going to put you in a position where you're not comfortable. Tom Moore at Indianapolis is the same way with Peyton (Manning). The good ones have empowered their quarterbacks to make decisions. That's why Norv, along with the Tom Moore, are at the top of their profession.”
Salisbury said Turner will also be good for Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers, who ranked third on the team with 48 catches and first in yardage (883) and touchdowns (seven).
“You watch Norv take him to another level, just with the way he'll put Chambers in position,” Salisbury said. “It's not just the quarterbacks. That's just it. He will put players in position to be successful.”
Fiedler, who has had a chance to test drive Turner's system during the team's post-draft mini-camp and last week's Quarterback School, said he loves the unpredictability of the system.
“I think the best thing is you get rid of the ball quickly,” Fiedler said.
“You get back, you set up and you throw the ball. There are lots of options to get to, lots of breaks for the receivers to make. We're not predictable with our splits and alignments and what kinds of breaks they're making off their routes.”
Even defensive end Jason Taylor seemed excited about having Turner on board.
“I've liked Norv since '97. He was my coach at the Senior Bowl,” Taylor said. “I thought he was good back then and was hoping he'd pick me in Washington, but he didn't. We're here together now and hopefully, he can continue the success he's had coordinating offenses and putting points on the board and controlling the football.
“We've got the talent here now. We've got Ricky Williams. We've got a good quarterback. We've got good receivers in Chris Chambers and Oronde (Gadsden). He likes to use his fullback and tight end and we've got Rob Konrad, Jed Weaver and those guys. If it was me, I'd wear Ricky out and Jed and Rob's hands would be bleeding because I'd be throwing so many balls at them.”
Although Turner has had some success at making an immediate impact, Salisbury said it may take a while before the Dolphins become fully comfortable in his system.
But when they do, Miami's offense could become as explosive as it was when a guy named Dan Marino was in town.
“It may take six games, it may take a year,” Salisbury said. “Whenever a new coach comes in, there's an adjustment period. But I can assure you this, you're going to see things you haven't seen in Miami in a while.”
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Dolphins excited about Turner's offense
