Former Vikings Coach Lands Job with Raiders
Dustin Baker
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The Las Vegas Raiders produced a 6-11 record in Josh McDaniels’ first year as head coach, finished in third place in the AFC West, missed the postseason, and made plans to end the Derek Carr era.
It was a busy and underwhelming rookie season for McDaniels in Sin City, and now Las Vegas will try to rejuvenate in 2023.
Former Vikings Coach Lands Job with Raiders
And when Week 1 hits in September, the Raiders will have former Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Scott Turner in the saddle, manning a new role in McDaniels’ offense. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted Friday evening, “Former Commanders OC Scott Turner is set to join Josh McDaniels’ staff with the Raiders with an elevated pass-game role, sources say. A key hire in Las Vegas.”
The Raiders official website lists Turner as the passing game coordinator, so Turner will be accountable for life after Carr. Las Vegas will likely draft the quarterback of the future in April or win the Aaron Rodgers Sweepstakes. Because otherwise — not too many options are wiser than Carr, who generally plays a Kirk Cousins level.
Turner last worked for the Washington Commanders in 2022 but didn’t survive head coach Ron Rivera’s January coaching staff overhaul. The Commanders maintained a reasonable chance of making the playoffs until the final week of the regular season. Ron Rivera switched to Taylor Heinicke after an injury to Carson Wentz in October, and the move worked — for a while.
Heinicke’s magic dissipated, prompting Rivera to give Wentz one more look with playoff hopes on the line in Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns. The substitution flopped, Wentz wasn’t any good, the Browns won, and the Commanders missed the postseason.
Son of Norv Turner, the Vikings offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016, Scott Turner was Minnesota’s quarterbacks coach while his father ran the Vikings offense. It was the start of the Mike Zimmer era, Vikings football was turning around from a mostly-bad four consecutive seasons, and Turner was nurturing young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
After the 2016 campaign, Turner latched onto the Michigan Wolverines in 2017 as an offensive analyst, followed by a stint as the Carolina Panthers quarterbacks coach in 2018 and 2019. Then, Turner took over the Commanders offense in 2020 and reigned for three seasons.
The Commanders offense ranked 25th leaguewide in 2022 per offensive EPA/Play and 28th in offensive DVOA. Not ideal. Washington also ranked 27th in the NFL in points scored from 2020 to 2022 on Turner’s watch.
In Las Vegas, Turner’s passing game will benefit from the 2022 addition of phenom wideout Davante Adams. It’s just unclear as of early February who will toss Adams the ball every Sunday.
The Raiders ranked 15th in the NFL per offensive EPA/Play in McDaniels’ first year, a decent building block if McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler find the right Carr replacement.
The Vikings play the Raiders in Las Vegas next season.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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