Coaching in his sixth NFL season, by now Scott Turner has handled a couple curveballs thrown his way.
None likely compared to the Vikings quarterbacks coach losing his starting quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, just days before the regular season opener; not even his father, Norv Turner, resigning midseason from his post as Vikings offensive coordinator last week.
Scott Turner said he wasn't completely caught off guard when his father handed in his resignation to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer five days before they'd kickoff against the Detroit Lions last Sunday.
"I knew that it was a possibility," Scott Turner said Friday. "I didn't think he'd actually ever go through with it, but he did. I kind of just let him know I was there for him, basically. I still talk to him pretty much every day.
"I think he felt like it wasn't going in the right direction and the best thing for him to do was to move on. And I think he felt strongly about it, obviously, and that's the decision he's made."
Turner, 34, said he didn't "have time to feel awkward" with his father's resignation knowing he'd stay and coach the Vikings quarterbacks. Scott Turner coached a combined six seasons in the high school and college ranks on his own before the father-son duo coached together for the first time with the 2013 Browns.
"Obviously, there were a lot of ups and downs," Scott Turner said. "We spent a year in Cleveland, so you can just imagine what that was like. And then we we've been here and we had a lot of fun doing it. We had a lot of fun spending together, too, not just the work part of it. I was obviously 18, went to college and I went into coaching, so we weren't really around each other other than holidays, birthdays or summer. So to spend every day together working was a great experience."
Norv Turner is already back in sunny San Diego. Explaining his resignation to the Star Tribune last week, Norv Turner said he felt like the Vikings "got a chance to get on the same page now." Turner said it's too early to say if he'll continue coaching.
