Norv Turner Has Ruined Everything

Maybe next time Norv Turner will listen when someone, in a roundabout way, suggests that he shouldn't chase that head-coaching-gig pipe dream. It always ends badly.

When Norv Turner's name first surfaced as a head-coaching candidate last winter, Frank Gore called and asked him to stick around. "We need him to stay," Gore said in February. "With the young team that we have, we could keep getting better and better. Last year from the first week to the last week we kept improving every game. You could see it."

And now look at the mess Norvell's created: the Chargers, a 14-win team last year, are in last place in the division, the 49ers' offense has regressed, Gore is strugglin', and Alex Smith might be done for the year. Thanks, Norv.

Hashmarks' Mark Matt Mosely, tongue in cheek, asks if there is anything else we can blame on Turner ("Would the Cowboys be winless under Norv?"). Mosely's joking (I think), but he raises an interesting point: When Wade Phillips and Turner were hired, the consensus was that both guys were great coordinators but not so great head coaches.

Actually, Phillips is 52-39 in his head coaching career (0-3 in the playoffs, including the inexplicable decision to start Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie -- that still boggles the mind). Turner, on the other hand, is 59-85-1 (1-1 in the postseason). Too bad the Chargers didn't have a chance to hire Phillips. Oh, wait.