OT: Norv is resigning from the Vikes....

[Mister Hoarse]

So there's the Bradford to Vikings connection. I'm guessing as they lost offensive stars NOrv came under pressure to adapt the offense to what they had left and keep Bradford safe to last the whole season, but as usual he wanted to "stick with what he knows works" and Shurmer's influence increased to where Zimmer had to make a choice on best chances of success for the entire year. I think he made the right choice.

I'm betting that's a dead on assessment.

[6025]

I'm betting that's a dead on assessment.

Agreed. And since Zimmer is such good friends with Norv he allowed Norv the option to "resign", "blindsiding" Zimmer so Norv could save face.

[BlazingBolt]

You guys still don't see Norv AJ as the good years?

Best stretch I have seen out of this team since 91

[vinabolt]

I think it was more of a Marty-AJ-Norv years. We had success for a while because the John Butler's staff, including AJ, was very good. Together they drafted well. And AJ was brilliant early. The thing that was underrated and overlooked that it was Marty and the staff that coached up these talented players and motivated them, teach them sound fundamentals and hold on to the ball, play 60 minutes and "1 play at a time". Fans was all over AJ and too busy singing "in AJ I trust" because of that 2004 draft, and forgot who coached these players up.

Norv had early success here because of that. He was the beneficial of a talented, stacked roster that Butler/AJ built up and was coached up by Marty.

Later, with the combination of AJ losing his touch, and Norv couldn't coach up anybody, everything went south.

[Boltergeist]

I was in a restaurant and they were showing ESPN or NFLNetwork with the sound off but the captions on. I don't know who was talking because I was far from the TV but it looked like a coach. He was talking about the problems of the 31st ranked Viking's scoring offense. Among the things he mentioned were not giving overmatched tackles any help and insisting on seven-step drops. Glad to see Norv sticking to what works.

[richpjr]

You guys still don't see Norv AJ as the good years?

Best stretch I have seen out of this team since 91

Nope. The Norv teams had a ton of talent, but we all knew he wasn't the answer at head coach and AJ was failing at the end. It's just a shame it took Spanos as long as it did to get rid of them.

[BlazingBolt]

Nope. The Norv teams had a ton of talent, but we all knew he wasn't the answer at head coach and AJ was failing at the end. It's just a shame it took Spanos as long as it did to get rid of them.

Because things have gotten so much better?

[6025]

Because things have gotten so much better?

That's neither here nor there, Norv was the beneficiary of some stacked teams and when it came time to coach some guys up he failed miserably, coupled with his stubborn insistence of sticking to what he knew (probably because he's incapable of adapting - the Minnesota firing pretty much confirms this).

Norv was lucky to get hired here, it somewhat bolsters his extremely mediocre head coaching career.

[SDFan]

I think it was more of a Marty-AJ-Norv years. We had success for a while because the John Butler's staff, including AJ, was very good. Together they drafted well. And AJ was brilliant early. The thing that was underrated and overlooked that it was Marty and the staff that coached up these talented players and motivated them, teach them sound fundamentals and hold on to the ball, play 60 minutes and "1 play at a time". Fans was all over AJ and too busy singing "in AJ I trust" because of that 2004 draft, and forgot who coached these players up.

Norv had early success here because of that. He was the beneficial of a talented, stacked roster that Butler/AJ built up and was coached up by Marty.

Later, with the combination of AJ losing his touch, and Norv couldn't coach up anybody, everything went south.

^THIS^

[SDFan]

Because things have gotten so much better?

uh, they didn't get better under NOrv either did they? Great 1st year and less wins every year after that?

[vinabolt]

Because things have gotten so much better?

Well, the system/scheme and roster did get better. The roster took a bit of time due to the fact that they took over a lackluster team with a bunch of bad contracts, dead caps, leaving them very little room to to anything, while Norv took over a stacked and talented team. So, it takes some time. But we can see the roster gradually improves over time.

Coaching wise, it's pretty much the same, as both Norv and McCoy are too much of people pleasers. But McCoy did install an offense that fit Rivers the best. He has more time to read the defense and call protections. He pass the ball out quicker. The system is able to help out the "caliber" and the injuries of our OL. So, Rivers doesn't get hit/sack as much.

Norv Turner offense is based on the Air Coryell offense, it's all about the deep ball. When Rivers still have some offensive linemens from the Marty years, he did well, because they blocked well so he could wait for Jackson, Floyd to go deep. When the OL began to declined, everything went down hill.

The way that AJ evaluating talents and Norv's system was basically outdated. McCoy installed a more QB friendly and modern offense. I think if they ever change the head coach they will hire a defensive mind coach and try to keep this offense intact, at least until Rivers retired.

[oneinchpunch]

Hopefully this was a football decision.