Norv Turner Norval Eugene Turner ( born May 17 , 1952 ) 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 . His explosive offense , built around a strong ground attack and the ability to strike fast via the deep pass , is referred to as " Norv - West Air " , a play on the name of an airline with a similar name . He is the brother of former University of Illinois head football coach and former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner . Turner has coached the most games in NFL history among head coaches with an overall losing record . Biography . Early career . Turner was a student at Alhambra High School in Martinez , California . In football , he played quarterback and safety . He graduated from Alhambra in 1970 and then attended the University of Oregon , where he was a back - up quarterback to future San Diego Charger and Hall of Famer Dan Fouts . Coaching career . After serving as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon , Turner was an assistant coach for the USC Trojans from 1976 to 1984 . From 1985 to 1990 , he was an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams . Dallas Cowboys . Turner was the offensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys on Jimmy Johnson ' s staff when Dallas won back to back Super Bowl s in 1992 and 1993 . Turner got much of the credit for not only their success , but for helping shape quarterback Troy Aikman into a Hall of Fame player . After Barry Switzer ' s firing following the unsuccessful 1997 campaign , QB Troy Aikman made many urgent demands that Turner be named head coach . When Chan Gailey was named coach , Aikman was famously unhappy , stating " They ' re screwing this team up . " Washington Redskins . In 1994 , following his success with the Cowboys , Turner was hired as the head coach of the Washington Redskins . In seven seasons with the Redskins , he went 49 – 59 – 1 . In 1996 Turner led the Redskins to a 7 – 1 start but finished the season 9 – 7 . They made the playoffs only once , in 1999 , where they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round . He was released during the 2000 season of the Washington Redskins on December 4 , 2000 following a 9 – 7 loss to the New York Giants where this dropped them to 7 – 6 on the year despite starting off with a 6 – 2 record , leaving Turner with the distinction of being the only NFL head coach in the post - merger era to be fired midway through a season with a winning record . Turner was replaced for the final 3 regular season games by Interim Head Coach Terry Robiskie . The Redskins finished 8 – 8 that made them ineligible for the postseason . Following his tenure with the Redskins , Turner went on to serve as offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers in 2001 and for the Miami Dolphins in 2002 and 2003 . Oakland Raiders . When the Oakland Raiders fired head coach Bill Callahan following the 2003 season , owner Al Davis hired Turner to replace him . Turner went 5 – 11 in 2004 , followed by a 4 – 12 record in 2005 , and was fired on January 3 , 2006 . During Turner ' s two years with the Raiders , he managed only one win against his division , the AFC West . In addition , Turner was unable to jump start an offense that , in 2005 , included All - Pro wide receiver Randy Moss . San Francisco 49ers . On January 17 , 2006 , Turner was named offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers , a reversal of roles of sorts : former 49ers head coach Mike Nolan served as Turner ' s defensive coordinator from 1997 to 1999 with the Washington Redskins . San Diego Chargers . On February 19 , 2007 , Turner was hired to coach the San Diego Chargers . Though he had been a finalist to assume the same position with the Dallas Cowboys , a team for which he had been the Offensive Coordinator during the first two of three Championship seasons in the 1990s , he eventually lost out to Wade Phillips , defensive coordinator of the Chargers at the end of the 2006 – 2007 season . He took the reins of an NFL - best 14 – 2 record squad in the 2006 regular season with San Diego . Despite promising a strong start to the season and downplaying the effects of a major coaching turnover , Turner began the 2007 NFL season by losing 3 of his first 4 games . Subsequently , he was thought to be redeeming himself by helping the team to a 41 – 3 victory over the Denver Broncos on the road , a win against arch - rival Oakland , and a third consecutive win coming out of the bye week against the Houston Texans . The euphoria in San Diego was short - lived , however , after a road loss to the then 2 – 5 Minnesota Vikings . By midseason , San Diego , a franchise thought to be a serious Super Bowl contender , had not won a single game against a team with a winning record . The first such win came in Week 10 , when the team upset the Indianapolis Colts . This win was followed by another road loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars . After losing to yet another winning team , running back LaDainian Tomlinson called a players only meeting to discuss the season and the coaching changes . Following this , the Chargers won 6 straight regular season games , including a come - from - behind , overtime victory versus the Tennessee Titans . The next week , the Chargers managed to clinch their second straight AFC West Division title by beating the Detroit Lions in a lopsided game at home . The win against the Broncos on Monday Night Football gave Norv Turner 10 wins on the season – matching his best regular season record as a head coach . Turner led the Chargers to their first playoff victory since 1994 with a victory over the Tennessee Titans , followed by a second playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts . The Chargers lost the AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots , 21 – 12 . In the 2008 season , he led the team to an improbable comeback in the AFC West starting the season at 4 – 8 but winning the final 4 games to finish ahead of the Denver Broncos . His Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts for the second year in a row in the playoffs , but fell short to the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round game where his star running back LaDainian Tomlinson was out with a groin injury . Turner ' s third season in 2009 saw the Chargers continue their trend of a weak start to the season followed by a strong finish . After needing a last - minute rally to beat the Oakland Raiders in the opening week , the Chargers lost 3 of their next four games . The last loss in this stretch was at home to Denver , leaving San Diego at 2 – 3 and chasing the 6 – 0 Broncos . After easily defeating divisional opponents Kansas City and Oakland , the Chargers faced a daunting stretch that included games against the Giants , Eagles , Cowboys , & Bengals , plus traveling to Denver . Turner ' s team swept through them all , winning nine straight games while the Broncos entered into a midseason slump . After the ninth consecutive win , a 27 – 24 victory against Cincinnati on December 20 , San Diego captured their third straight divisional title under Turner . After a blowout win at Tennessee and a last minute victory vs . Washington , they extended their regular season win streak to 11 games , tying a franchise record from 1961 . With a 13 – 3 record , San Diego claimed the 2nd seed in the AFC playoffs and a first round bye . The Chargers were eliminated from the playoffs in their first playoff game of 2010 with a 17 – 14 home upset against the New York Jets . On January 19 , 2010 , Norv Turner signed a three - year contract extension through 2013 . This is quite ironic considering that he had just come off a 13 - 3 record and then were eliminated in a second round playoff game . His predecessor , on the other hand , was given the boot after a 14 - 2 season that ended in a second round playoff game . On October 4 , 2009 , Turner recorded his 100th career loss as an NFL head coach . The Chargers started the 2010 season with a 2 – 3 record for the fourth consecutive year , before dropping to 2 – 5 . On November 28 , 2010 , Turner recorded his 100th win as an NFL head coach . On September 11 , 2011 , Turner recorded his 100th regular season win as an NFL head coach with a 24 - 17 opening game victory at home , over the Vikings . He proceeded to coach the team to a 4 - 1 record before the team began a 6 game losing streak , their longest such streak since 2001 . Coaching tree . NFL head coaches under whom Norv Turner served : " Following first head - coaching job " Assistant coaches under Norv Turner who have become NFL head coaches :