People will say the Chicago Bears have to hire the best football coach once Matt Nagy is out this offseason. Somebody who can coach the entire team. While this is true, the reality is a bit more simple. What this team needs is to find somebody that can mesh with Justin Fields. A coach that can get the best out of his unique talents. When people talk about marrying a system to a player, this is it.
That begs the question. Is there a coach out there running the type of offense that can turn Fields into the player everybody believes he can be? Yes, there is. Some may think it’s Brian Daboll, Kellen Moore, or Greg Roman. While all are deserving candidates, the actual name that should be getting more attention is Scott Turner. For those who don’t know him, he is the offensive coordinator for the Washington Football Team.
Don’t laugh. This is 100% serious.
What Turner has done this season can’t be appreciated enough. Despite losing starting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in the first game of the season and dropping six of their first eight games, Washington has somehow battled back with four straight wins. Much of this should be credited to the work Turner has done on offense with backup QB Taylor Heinicke. A former undrafted free agent who has a 92.1 passer rating. The Football Team offense ranks a respectable 20th in scoring and 19th in total yards.
The mark of any good coach is getting the most out of the players he has and Turner has done that. So what’s his secret? Washington runs a variation of the Air Coryell offense. A scheme concocted by NFL legend Don Coryell in the 1970s and ’80s. The purpose of this offense was built around one thing above all. The deep shot. It requires a quarterback that can attack down the field. Perhaps like a certain someone in Chicago. Not only that, but it also can take full advantage of QB mobility too.
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“Every offensive coordinator has his sets of play-action passes and Turner is no different, using multiple schemes seen around the league weekly. Turner used bootleg schemes to get his quarterbacks on the move and half the field to simplify the read while also using drop back play-actions to get the linebackers to bite up and open up the middle of the field for the quarterback. He also included various shots and common passing schemes like sail and dagger off of play-action. But most impressively, Turner also had subtle transitions from run to pass through sequential play-calling, where he got creative with his personnel groups, formations, shifts, and motions.”
Justin Fields would fit Turner’s offense like a glove
Now some people will immediately cry out that Turner isn’t head coaching material. They would be wrong. First of all, his father is Norv Turner. The same man who had coached in the NFL for 15 seasons between Washington, San Diego, and Oakland. In that time he won at least eight games in eight of those seasons and reached the AFC championship in 2007. If that isn’t enough to convince people?
Turner worked with Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, spent a season at Michigan with Jim Harbaugh, and has learned at the knee of Ron Rivera for several years. This guy has been around some truly good coaches. He understands what it means to be the general of a football organization. Not just a coordinator with the fancier title. This man is doing some impressive work. Sure it isn’t filling up stat sheets but it’s winning football games. Imagine what that offense could do with Justin Fields running it instead of Heinicke.
That is the sort of big picture thinking the Bears need.
Scott Turner has quietly been groomed to be a future head coach in this league. First by his father and now by a Bears legend in Rivera. He turns 40-years old next year and has worked in the NFL for a decade. If the organization is looking for a fit with their young quarterback? This is the guy they need to call.
