No one here wants to be ageist. Age is, truly, just a number and we want to applaud anyone who can find ways to continue to do what they love for as long as they like. But with that said, theres's something about the latest rumors coming out of Las Vegas that... well, we just can't help but laugh (or to keep laughing, really) at the Raiders.
In case you missed the latest Raiders updates, the team decided to fire several offensive coaches following another loss in Week 9. The list included offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and each coach was hired before the season began, meaning no one had more than a half-season to do his job. Three coaches were fired in all, and head coach Antonio Pierce said it was his decision.
So where will the Raiders turn for their offensive leadership? We'll turn to NFL reporter Jonathan Jones for the news:
Following the three offensive firings last night, the Raiders are considering bringing on veteran NFL coach Norv Turner in some role with the offense, source says. Scott Turner, his son, remains the leading candidate to be offensive coordinator.
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) November 4, 2024
Yeah, that's Norv Turner in case something went wrong with the embedded post above. If that makes you shake your head in wonder, you're not alone. Turner hasn't been a coach in the NFL (or even anywhere else for that matter) since 2019. Yeah, that's before COVID.
Now, Turner is not going to be a head coach or anything, and other teams have brought in older coaches as consultants before, so that's not a big deal in and of itself. But the move by the Raiders shows that they believe they're still something to salvage this season, a year in which they're clearly the bottom of the division. And that's wonky.
Deon Yelder and Morris Claiborne were members of the Chiefs back when Norv Turner was still around the league. Turner was already a former head coach for the Raiders back in 2004 and he also spent some time with the L.A. Chargers as head coach from 2007-12. In that span of time, Turner's offenses finished in the NFL's top 10 on seven separate occasions.
The NFL's recycling odds is impressive, to say the least here. Instead of taking their time to get various candidates and solidify a long-term strategy, the Raiders continue to turn over the next piece on the board—even if it's leftovers from a previous game. Josh McDaniels was a retreat who gave way to an interim who is now firing his staff—maybe because the job is too big for him.
Look, no team knows better the value of thoughtfully adding experience to the sidelines. The Chiefs went for Andy Reid after he'd been run out of Philly and they're the team du jour. But there's a difference between a still-effective leader of men in need of a change of scenery and one who got his start coaching as a graduate assistant the year the Vietnam War officially ended.
But hey, we're here for any way the Raiders want to fail and if they want to do so with Norv Turner, we're all for it. At the very least, he'll be able to rely on first-hand experiencedsfsnnnf to handle it all.