Turner Interview Part 2: Talking about McCaffrey and General Philosophy

[Mr. Scot]

Changes Norv Turner may or may not make

Excerpts:

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When Ron Rivera decided to make a switch at offensive coordinator earlier this month, a section of the fan base had a fleeting hope for a major change.
That’s not how the NFL works.

Rivera wasn’t going to bring in a guy who’d blow things up. Like it or not, NFL head coaches almost always opt for familiarity.

The base philosophy isn't changing.  You've just got someone who's expected to be better at implementing it.

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“To be successful in this league, I think it’s proven that you have to be able to run the ball,” Turner said Monday. “Whether it’s a power run or a finesse run, you need to be able to run the football. If you can do that, it makes life a lot easier on the quarterback; it helps your defense, it helps your team.”

You don’t need to take a deep dive into Turner’s past to know his units have traditionally used a power run game to set up play-action passes and deep shots. That’ll continue in Carolina, as will Rivera’s goal to control the clock.

Some won't want to hear that, but it's not as bad as you think.

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Another thing that will stay the same for both Turner and the Panthers – a reliance on an ultra-productive tight end.

“He’s important to Cam,” Turner said of Greg Olsen. “I think every quarterback has a security guy that they trust and they know where they’re going to be when they get in trouble, that’s the guy they go to. I had a chance to say hello to Greg, and I’m sure that he’s politicked for the ball a few times in his stay here, but he’s really important, and he’s a talented player.”

No shock there, but an interesting take. More on that later...

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So what could look different?

That could be influenced by personnel moves this offseason. As Turner said Monday, one of the fastest ways to help Newton is to improve parts around him. But some of those pieces are already in place.

While there's not much change needed with a Pro Bowler like Olsen, there’s still wrinkles to iron out with a guy like Christian McCaffrey.

“He had an unbelievable rookie year and did a lot more than a lot of people would be asked to do and handled them all,” Turner said. “He lined up everywhere you could line up, which is hard for a rookie.

Turner is clearly high on McCaffrey, but read further on how he feels he should be used.

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"He's got such talent, you're just going to keep finding ways to get him the ball and try to create more space for him. That hard-nosed running between the tackles he can certainly do, but I don't know that's what you want to lead with him.”

Because McCaffrey was a top-10 pick, many were expecting an average higher than 3.7 yards per carry. As a receiver, though, he set a franchise rookie record with 80 catches while averaging a healthy 8.1 yards per reception. He also showed a nose for the end zone with eight total scores.

After McCaffrey was drafted last spring, some folks compared him to Darren Sproles, Turner’s multi-dimensional spark plug in San Diego. From 2008-12, Sproles averaged 127 touches under Turner. But in 2007, their first year together, Sproles had just 47 chances.

“Christian is ahead of (where Sproles was), and there are some things we can do that he did, but Christian can run wide receiver routes,” Turner said. “So yeah, there’s a lot of things we did with Darren that apply, and there are some things that I think we can do differently with Christian.”

"Creating space" is what a lot of people wanted (and felt wasn't being done well) last year.  Turner also says that while he's capable of "hard nosed running between the tackles" he doesn't want them to lead with that.  McCaffrey himself may not like hearing that, but I still believe turner will make him more productive overall. 

I'd add though that it sounds like Turner will also want a bruiser runningback added to the stable.
 

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Turner is also inheriting last year's second-round pick, a player we still don’t know much about. After injuries put a dent in wide receiver Curtis Samuel's spring and summer, he began flashing his potential midway through the year - right before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 10. But even those brief flashes showed that Samuel could provide the offense something it desperately needs.

“When you put the tape on him you can see he has the speed,” Turner said. “Our job is to get him to use it better, to play faster.

“All these receivers can play faster and come off the ball quicker. Make their speed more of a threat to the defense. All of these guys can run. When you’re (Devin) Funchess and you’re a big man, the speed of your routes is different than the little guys, but when you’re that big, you cover a lot of ground.”

Turner has said before that he felt our offense didn't play fast enough in general, even the guys who actually do have natural speed.  That's clearly something he looks to change.

It's clear that in Turner's mind, team speed isn't as simple as having fast players.  It's also about the pace of the game and how well the players who have speed use it.  Also interesting that he says Funchess as having a different sort of speed because a big guy can "cover a lot of ground".
 

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So, yes, in many ways the offense under Turner won’t look much different. The past seven years were basically built on his philosophies, anyway. But even minor changes could help jumpstart a unit that needed some tinkering.

“I think there are things that will look different and I think there are things that will look very similar,” Turner said.

“One thing that hasn’t changed is the teams with the best players and those that play the best are going to win.”

Turner's not afraid to make changes when needed, and he's also not afraid of hurting anyone's feelings if they're not doing well or don't think they're getting the ball enough or whatever.

[Mr. Scot]

Here's the video...

Turner Interview: Part 2

Things not mentioned in the article that you'll hear in the video...

- Doesn't care about guys "politicking for the ball" and says players who do will find out it "makes him grumpy"

- Points out that "everything starts with the offensive line" and that if an offense struggles, that's usually where the problems begin

- Says that our line is coached by "one of the best offensive line coaches in the league" but doesn't specify whether he means Matsko or Brown

- Mentions that with teams implementing exotic blitzes and things of that sort, you have to adapt and adjust or you'll get beaten

- Speaks extensively about taking advantage of weaknesses and weaker players (something Shula was never good at doing)

- Loves the chess match of a game, and is very big on creating the right matchups and exploiting what opponents don't do well

[Udogg]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

"Creating space" is what a lot of people wanted - and felt wasn't being done - last year.
 

Turner has said before that he felt our offense didn't play fast enough in general, even the guys who actually have natural speed.  That's clearly something he looks to change.
 

 

This basically sums up everything.  Watching the Panthers play, we just overall looked like a slow team offensively.  

It wasn't the plays themselves it's just that there was no .... crispness?  Is that a word? 

Even our "speed" guys looked slow.   They ran routes slow and without the sudden quickness you would expect from faster guys. 

Our run blocking wasn't quick hitting enough.  

Everything seemed more controlled instead of sudden.  

Teams that had familiarity with us, had less trouble stopping us because they weren't getting confused.  Thus not as slow to react. 

 

Hopefully the new OC can fix this and get everything clicking like it should. 

 

 

 

[PhillyB]

get plays in before 0:12 and I’ll be happy 

[KBRed]

Norv sounds like he is going to take care of the things we've been griping about for awhile now. 

1) More urgency

2) Separation during routes

3) Utilizing matchups to expose defenses

4) Playing chess, and not checkers. 

[Mr. Scot]

I know some are gonna look at this and just say "crap, more of the same".

I can tell you if you haven't watched the two videos of this interview, you should.

I can also tell you that if you have watched the video, and you still come away feeling like that, you're not paying attention.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

16 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

- Mentions that with teams implementing exotic blitzes and things of that sort, you have to adapt and adjust or you'll get beaten

- Speaks extensively about taking advantage of weaknesses and weaker players (something Shula was never good at doing)

- Loves the chess match of a game, and is very big on creating the right matchups and exploiting what opponents don't do well

Finally!  Music to my ears!

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, NanuqoftheNorth said:

Finally!  Music to my ears!

Every time you see a defensive player go down to injury and a backup take their place, all the smart teams go straight to attacking that spot.

Likewise, if opposing teams know that a particular player is a weak link, they'll go at them repeatedly.

I can't recall a single time when I saw Mike Shula do either of those things.

I vividly recall several times when I was yelling at the TV wanting him to.

Turner gets it.

[d-dave]

Man, I have the feeling that things could be a lot better this year!  If he can help Cam improve in his some of his technical aspects, guys play faster, and we attack defenses...

I hope my off-season optimism pays off!  

And I know it's not gas.  Already took care of that =)

[frash.exe]

if turner can’t make this offense produce, can we start looking into implementing a new system? this is pretty much the logical conclusion of making air coryell work.

[frash.exe]

other than offensive philosophy, i can see the aspects of running the offense that norv can easily succeed where shula failed miserably, like not waiting until there’s 0.0003 seconds on the play clock to line up so that cam can’t make any adjustments under center, and our two minute/hurry up offense, which looks like a chinese fire drill.

[Mr. Scot]

A lot of folks are talking about the speed of the playcalling.

My take: A guy who's been a successful play caller for over 25 years is probably capable of getting a play in to Cam Newton with more than 15 seconds left on the play clock.

Norv is also big on the offense moving fast, so...

[Dunn]

I enjoyed the interview because he has already established what he WILL be doing.  No evaluating etc.  He has ideas and plans already in place for our players and its time to execute.  I hope he also plans to get us in a few more hurry up drives each game, I personally think Cam thrives on those drives and really puts the defense in a backpedal.  

[L-TownCat]

26 minutes ago, PhillyB said:

get plays in before 0:12 and I’ll be happy 

It’s to the point where I just scroll to see if you’ve posted.  Usually it’s what I was gonna say anyway.  Saves time.  Thnx bruh.