Truth & Rumors > NFL

Niners to replace Martz with Turner?

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The most important decision of the 49ers' future should have been made already. The York family can't help but be smitten with Mike Singletary's work in relief of Mike Nolan, and determined to lock him in as full-time head coach as soon as possible. What happens in the season finale at Candlestick on Sunday should be irrelevant. But what happens 500 miles to the south, where San Diego meets Denver for a playoff spot, could set up the second most important decision. If the Chargers lose, finishing an uninspired 7-9, Norv Turner should be fired as head coach, giving the 49ers a chance to bring him back as their offensive coordinator. That Mike Martz will depart after one season in the job, based on a report in the Sacramento Bee that also said the Niners will offer Mike Singletary a multi-year contract on Sunday, makes sense. Singletary has always been respectful of Martz publicly, but the two have very different sensibilities about building an offense. They have worked together remarkably well under the circumstances, avoiding an ego clash that could have kept the 49ers firmly planted under the pillow that suffocated them during Nolan's tenure.

San Francisco Chronicle

Norv Turner, AP Norv Turner, AP
Comment #1 has been removed
December 26, 2008  07:21 AM ET

i see martz hitting the bricks, but even if they bolts dont make the playoffs, i dont know if they let turner go. turner is a great offensive mind and one of the better OC's in the league

December 26, 2008  07:59 AM ET

and last night ESPN reports that the niners are going to offer Singletary a contract extension ... come on SI .... catch up to the rumor mill

December 26, 2008  09:07 AM ET

This would probably work out well if Turner can get it in his head that he is not a good head coach. He has always had success as a coordinater. Its when he tries to be a head coach that he has always failed.

December 26, 2008  11:07 AM ET

I HOPE THEY PASS ON BOTH AND GET SOMEONE ELSE ANYONE ELSE OR NO ONE

December 26, 2008  11:26 AM ET

They need to try some thing new and different.Turner is neither,come on SF use you imagination and find real offensive coordinater like you did for your head coach I think you did a great job there.

December 26, 2008  11:37 AM ET

Jctoo, cult elitist... Singletary they are going to offer the head coaching job and turner they are going to offer the offensive coordinater job...you need to catch up on your sports knowledge.

December 26, 2008  11:39 AM ET

Actually Norv Turner is a very good choice for OC. Because that is what he is, he not a head coach. For all you young NFL fans or generation fantasy footballers, Norv Turner was the archietect for the Dallas Cowboys offense in the 90's, this is what he does best. And when he was the OC at SF a few years ago it was the only time Alex Smith looked like he had what it took to become a NFL QB. I still think Smith could be good, its not his fault he had 4 OC in 4 years, no one could thrive in that environment.
It really depends on who Coach Singletary wants....

December 26, 2008  11:51 AM ET

That's a HUGE upgrade! Turner is AWFUL as a head coach anywhere, but he is great as a coordinator.

December 26, 2008  11:56 AM ET

San Diego wins, goes deep into Playoffs..............loses by 1 point. Norv retires

December 26, 2008  12:22 PM ET

Even if the friggin chargers win on Sunday... Norv Turner should be fired... No way in hell should the chargers have only 8 wins all year... Turner has shown he is one of the best coordinators around... As a head coach???... Not so much

December 26, 2008  12:52 PM ET

Norv wil be fired even if the Chargers win the SB. He sucks and the team has only begun to play well because they have tuned him out.

December 26, 2008  01:17 PM ET

i don't like hypothetical calculus and it's that time of the year

December 26, 2008  01:27 PM ET

OK, Norv gets fired. Becomes Ambassador to Iran.........

December 26, 2008  04:12 PM ET

Are there Coordinators that stick around for more than a year anymore? How they hell is an offense supposed to click if the schemes keep changing every year?

December 26, 2008  04:13 PM ET

Regardless of what happens, Norv Turner should never, ever be an NFL head coach again.

December 26, 2008  06:21 PM ET

Norv maybe a BETTER offensive coordinator he STINKS as a COACH everywhere he has GONE

December 26, 2008  07:50 PM ET

Martz went to the Super Bowl as a head coach, Turner went as a coordinator and Singletary as a player. Who can say if Turner is a better offensive mind than Martz? In any case, the Bolts might make the tournament--it's too early to start worrying about his next job, especially when I'm worried about mine...

December 26, 2008  10:00 PM ET

Norv is one of those guys that seems to be in that "no-mans land" between being too good to be just a coordinator and underwhelming to god-awful as a head coach. You can stick Cam Cameron, Martz, Crennel, Weis, and possibly Marvin Lewis and Wade Phillips (and several others) that I can't think of right now in that group, too. At some point, you have to realize that it's the person and not the circumstances that are the issue.

 
December 26, 2008  10:35 PM ET

martz has it in his head that he should be the head coach of an NFL team.

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