Ron Turner (football coach)
Encyclopedia
Ron Turner (born December 5, 1953) is an American football coach. He is currently the quarterbacks coach
for the Indianapolis Colts
. He was previously the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini football
team from 1997 to 2004. He has also had two separate stints as the offensive coordinator
of the Chicago Bears
, the first from 1993–1996, and most recently from 2005–2009. Turner's offensive philosophy blends with elements of the Air Coryell system.
(1978–1980). He moved on to be an assistant at Northwestern University
(1981–1982), the University of Pittsburgh
(1983–1984), the University of Southern California
(1985–1987), Texas A&M University
(1988), and Stanford University
(1989–1991), before earning his first head coaching job at San Jose State University
in 1992. Turner was the head coach at San Jose State for one season before being hired by Dave Wannstedt
in the first of his two stints as the Bears offensive coordinator
.
Between his two stints with the Bears, Turner spent eight years as head coach at the University of Illinois
. His overall record at Illinois was 35 wins and 57 losses, for a winning percentage
of .380. The highlight of his tenure came in 2001 when he guided the Illini to a 10–2 record, the Big Ten Conference
title, and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl
, which Illinois lost to LSU
. That season, Turner was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Turner followed up the successful 2001 campaign with three consecutive losing seasons and was fired. Two of his teams were winless in the Big Ten, going 0–8 in 1997 and again in 2003. Turner is the only coach in the more than one hundred year history of Illinois football to lose eleven games in a season, which he also accomplished in those same two seasons. Turner presided over three of the top six offenses in Illini history in terms of total yards, while four of his eight Illinois squads currently rank in the school's top 11 for scoring, including the 2001 team that scored a school-record 390 points. Three of the top six all-time leading rushers at Illinois and three of the school's top ten all-time leading receivers played during the Turner era. There were over 20 former Illini who played under Turner on NFL rosters at the end of the 2007 season.
at quarterback in 1995, the Bears set a team record for passing yards per game with 233.9 while compiling the fifth-most points in team history with 392. Kramer set club records with 29 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions (least among 16-game starters). The 1995 squad produced the third-most total net yards (5,673) and the second-most first downs (340) in team history. The offense also featured a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in 1995, the only such season in team history. During his earlier four years with the Bears as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under head coach Dave Wannstedt
, Turner guided some of the most prolific offenses in club history.
Turner was hired for his second stint with Chicago on January 9, 2005, replacing Terry Shea
as Bears offensive coordinator. In 2005 season, Chicago started a rookie a quarterback, Kyle Orton
, who was a fourth-round draft pick, and compiled a 10–5 record. Chicago featured the eighth-ranked running game in the NFL in 2005. The 2,099 rushing yards totaled by the Bears were the franchise's most in a season since 1990 when the team rushed for 2,436 yards. Chicago also tied for the NFL-lead with 19 runs of 20 or more yards in 2005 after recording just seven such rushing gains in 2004. On the season, the Bears rushed for over 100 yards in 13 of 16 regular season games featuring six individual 100-yard rushing performances.
Turner contributed to Chicago’s appearance in Super Bowl XLI
by coordinating an offense that ranked 15th in the NFL in total yards in 2006. He has coordinated the team’s offense in each of its last six playoff games with Chicago owning a 3–3 record in those contests while averaging 25.7 points per game. Turner also holds the distinction of being the offensive coordinator for each of the top two quarterbacks in Bears history in single-season gross passing yardage. Erik Kramer
set the franchise record with 3,838 passing yards under Turner in 1995 while Rex Grossman
finished 2006 as the runner-up in that category with 3,193 yards. The Bears were the only NFL team with six players with five or more touchdowns in 2006. Chicago’s 38 offensive touchdowns (24 passing, 14 rushing) in 2006 were the unit's highest single-season total since scoring 44 in 1995. In 2006, the Bears led the NFC while tying for second in the NFL with 427 points, the second-highest single-season scoring total in team annals.
Chicago topped the 30-point plateau twice in 2008, four times in 2007 and accomplished the feat seven times during the 2006 season, the team's most 30-point games in one campaign since registering eight in 1956. The Bears scored 48 points against the Vikings on October 19, 2008, the most for the club since tallying 48 on December 7, 1986 versus Tampa Bay. The offense has compiled more than 300 total net yards in 25 of their last 48 games after doing so just three times in 2005; the third season of Turner's first stint with the team. The last time Chicago had six players combine for at least five touchdowns was 1948.
In 2008, the Bears passing offense continued to develop under Turner. Bears quarterbacks threw for over 3,000 net passing yards for the third straight season, a first for the franchise since the 1997-99 campaigns. Chicago has passed for over 3,000 net yards in six of the previous eight seasons under Turner’s direction. In 2008, Turner helped oversee the development of rookie running back Matt Forte
. Forte set Bears rookie records for rushing yards (1,238), yards from scrimmage (1,715) and receptions (63). The passing game was led by quarterback Kyle Orton
in 2008. In 2008, Orton recorded the sixth-most passing yards in team history (2,972), fourth-most completions (272), the fifth-highest completion percentage (58.5) and 13th-highest passer rating (79.6) in 15 starts. Orton’s nine starts without an interception in 2008 were tied for fourth-most in the NFL and most by a Bears quarterback since 1995. Orton also threw a team-record 205 consecutive pass attempts without an interception last season. Chicago scored 375 total points in 2008, tied for seventh-most in franchise history. In 2009, Bears acquired Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler
. After throwing 19 TD passes and 25 interceptions in the first 14 games, Cutler passed for eight TDs and one pick in season's last two games against the Vikings and Lions, giving him more TDs (27) than interceptions (26) this season. The Bears offense generated season-highs vs. Detroit with 418 total yards and 22 first downs, giving the unit 718 yards and 41 first downs in its final two games. On January 5, 2010, he and several of his assistants were fired. The Bears qualified for the postseason in three of Turner’s eight seasons with the team.
after the Bears poor 2009 season, Turner was hired as offensive coordinator
by Stanford. However, four weeks later he became wide receivers coach for the Indianapolis Colts
.
, the head coach of the San Diego Chargers
. Ron and his wife, Wendy, have two sons, Morgan and Cameron, and two daughters, Cally and Madison. Cameron is currently the receivers coach at The Citadel. Morgan, is currently the offensive intern at Stanford University.
Quarterbacks coach
A quarterbacks coach is a coach in charge of the quarterbacks in gridiron football. The quarterbacks coach typically operates under the offensive coordinator on a team's coaching staff....
for the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
. He was previously the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini football
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
team from 1997 to 2004. He has also had two separate stints as the offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the first from 1993–1996, and most recently from 2005–2009. Turner's offensive philosophy blends with elements of the Air Coryell system.
College career
Turner played college football as a wide receiver for Diablo Valley Community College from 1973–1974, and the University of the Pacific from 1975–1976. He was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. He earned a scholarship to the University of the Pacific, where he led the Tigers in receiving in 1975 and 1976 and totaled 40 receptions for 666 yards with three touchdowns.College coaching career
Turner began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Pacific before earning his first full-time college job coaching running backs and receivers at University of ArizonaUniversity of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
(1978–1980). He moved on to be an assistant at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
(1981–1982), the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
(1983–1984), the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(1985–1987), Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
(1988), and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(1989–1991), before earning his first head coaching job at San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
in 1992. Turner was the head coach at San Jose State for one season before being hired by Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt is current Assistant Head Coach/Inside Linebackers Coach for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He was most recently head coach of the University of Pittsburgh football team, a position he held for six seasons. Wannstedt is also the former head coach of the Miami...
in the first of his two stints as the Bears offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
.
Between his two stints with the Bears, Turner spent eight years as head coach at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. His overall record at Illinois was 35 wins and 57 losses, for a winning percentage
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...
of .380. The highlight of his tenure came in 2001 when he guided the Illini to a 10–2 record, the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
title, and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl
2002 Sugar Bowl
The 2002 Sugar Bowl a 2001–2002 BCS game was played on January 1, 2002. This 68th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Illinois Fighting Illini, and the LSU Tigers...
, which Illinois lost to LSU
2001 LSU Tigers football team
The 2001 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the college football season of 2001–2002. Coached by Nick Saban, the Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU went 10–3 and won the SEC West and represented the division in the 2001...
. That season, Turner was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Turner followed up the successful 2001 campaign with three consecutive losing seasons and was fired. Two of his teams were winless in the Big Ten, going 0–8 in 1997 and again in 2003. Turner is the only coach in the more than one hundred year history of Illinois football to lose eleven games in a season, which he also accomplished in those same two seasons. Turner presided over three of the top six offenses in Illini history in terms of total yards, while four of his eight Illinois squads currently rank in the school's top 11 for scoring, including the 2001 team that scored a school-record 390 points. Three of the top six all-time leading rushers at Illinois and three of the school's top ten all-time leading receivers played during the Turner era. There were over 20 former Illini who played under Turner on NFL rosters at the end of the 2007 season.
Chicago Bears
The Bears team completion percentages in 1994 (61.4%) and 1995 (60.2%) rank as the highest in team history. Chicago’s net passing yard total of 3,743 in 1995 ranks second in team annals while the total of 3,185 in 1996 was pushed to sixth in team history by the team’s totals from 2006 and 2007. With Erik KramerErik Kramer
William Erik Kramer , is a former American football quarterback. He attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, CA. After attending Los Angeles Pierce College and playing as their quarterback, Kramer transferred to North Carolina State University where he finished a successful college football...
at quarterback in 1995, the Bears set a team record for passing yards per game with 233.9 while compiling the fifth-most points in team history with 392. Kramer set club records with 29 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions (least among 16-game starters). The 1995 squad produced the third-most total net yards (5,673) and the second-most first downs (340) in team history. The offense also featured a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in 1995, the only such season in team history. During his earlier four years with the Bears as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under head coach Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt is current Assistant Head Coach/Inside Linebackers Coach for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He was most recently head coach of the University of Pittsburgh football team, a position he held for six seasons. Wannstedt is also the former head coach of the Miami...
, Turner guided some of the most prolific offenses in club history.
Turner was hired for his second stint with Chicago on January 9, 2005, replacing Terry Shea
Terry Shea
Terry Shea is a former college and NFL football coach. Currently, Shea does quarterback consulting work for future NFL draft prospects. Most recently he worked with Sam Bradford , Matthew Stafford and Josh Freeman . From 1964 to 1967, he was one of the quarterbacks on the University of Oregon's...
as Bears offensive coordinator. In 2005 season, Chicago started a rookie a quarterback, Kyle Orton
Kyle Orton
Kyle Orton is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played college football at Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
, who was a fourth-round draft pick, and compiled a 10–5 record. Chicago featured the eighth-ranked running game in the NFL in 2005. The 2,099 rushing yards totaled by the Bears were the franchise's most in a season since 1990 when the team rushed for 2,436 yards. Chicago also tied for the NFL-lead with 19 runs of 20 or more yards in 2005 after recording just seven such rushing gains in 2004. On the season, the Bears rushed for over 100 yards in 13 of 16 regular season games featuring six individual 100-yard rushing performances.
Turner contributed to Chicago’s appearance in Super Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
by coordinating an offense that ranked 15th in the NFL in total yards in 2006. He has coordinated the team’s offense in each of its last six playoff games with Chicago owning a 3–3 record in those contests while averaging 25.7 points per game. Turner also holds the distinction of being the offensive coordinator for each of the top two quarterbacks in Bears history in single-season gross passing yardage. Erik Kramer
Erik Kramer
William Erik Kramer , is a former American football quarterback. He attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, CA. After attending Los Angeles Pierce College and playing as their quarterback, Kramer transferred to North Carolina State University where he finished a successful college football...
set the franchise record with 3,838 passing yards under Turner in 1995 while Rex Grossman
Rex Grossman
Rex Daniel Grossman, III is an American football quarterback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League . Grossman played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he has played professionally for the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Washington Redskins of...
finished 2006 as the runner-up in that category with 3,193 yards. The Bears were the only NFL team with six players with five or more touchdowns in 2006. Chicago’s 38 offensive touchdowns (24 passing, 14 rushing) in 2006 were the unit's highest single-season total since scoring 44 in 1995. In 2006, the Bears led the NFC while tying for second in the NFL with 427 points, the second-highest single-season scoring total in team annals.
Chicago topped the 30-point plateau twice in 2008, four times in 2007 and accomplished the feat seven times during the 2006 season, the team's most 30-point games in one campaign since registering eight in 1956. The Bears scored 48 points against the Vikings on October 19, 2008, the most for the club since tallying 48 on December 7, 1986 versus Tampa Bay. The offense has compiled more than 300 total net yards in 25 of their last 48 games after doing so just three times in 2005; the third season of Turner's first stint with the team. The last time Chicago had six players combine for at least five touchdowns was 1948.
In 2008, the Bears passing offense continued to develop under Turner. Bears quarterbacks threw for over 3,000 net passing yards for the third straight season, a first for the franchise since the 1997-99 campaigns. Chicago has passed for over 3,000 net yards in six of the previous eight seasons under Turner’s direction. In 2008, Turner helped oversee the development of rookie running back Matt Forte
Matt Forté
Matthew Garrett Forté is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
. Forte set Bears rookie records for rushing yards (1,238), yards from scrimmage (1,715) and receptions (63). The passing game was led by quarterback Kyle Orton
Kyle Orton
Kyle Orton is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played college football at Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
in 2008. In 2008, Orton recorded the sixth-most passing yards in team history (2,972), fourth-most completions (272), the fifth-highest completion percentage (58.5) and 13th-highest passer rating (79.6) in 15 starts. Orton’s nine starts without an interception in 2008 were tied for fourth-most in the NFL and most by a Bears quarterback since 1995. Orton also threw a team-record 205 consecutive pass attempts without an interception last season. Chicago scored 375 total points in 2008, tied for seventh-most in franchise history. In 2009, Bears acquired Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler
Jay Cutler (American football)
Jay Christopher Cutler is a quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played football at Vanderbilt University. Cutler began his professional football career with the Denver Broncos, who selected him as the 11th overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft...
. After throwing 19 TD passes and 25 interceptions in the first 14 games, Cutler passed for eight TDs and one pick in season's last two games against the Vikings and Lions, giving him more TDs (27) than interceptions (26) this season. The Bears offense generated season-highs vs. Detroit with 418 total yards and 22 first downs, giving the unit 718 yards and 41 first downs in its final two games. On January 5, 2010, he and several of his assistants were fired. The Bears qualified for the postseason in three of Turner’s eight seasons with the team.
Indianapolis Colts
After being fired by the Chicago BearsChicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
after the Bears poor 2009 season, Turner was hired as offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
by Stanford. However, four weeks later he became wide receivers coach for the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
.
Personal life
Turner is the brother of Norv TurnerNorv Turner
Norval Eugene Turner is the head coach for the National Football League's San Diego Chargers. He also has served as head coach of the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and as offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers...
, the head coach of the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Ron and his wife, Wendy, have two sons, Morgan and Cameron, and two daughters, Cally and Madison. Cameron is currently the receivers coach at The Citadel. Morgan, is currently the offensive intern at Stanford University.