The Panthers officially named Norv Turner their new offensive coordinator on Friday morning and coach Ron Rivera said the move was a long time in coming.
Rivera said he first wanted to hire Turner when Rob Chudzinski left to coach the Browns in 2013 because “the offense we’ve run was basically born from what Norv has been doing for years.” Turner had already signed on with Cleveland, however, and the move had to wait until now.
Rivera said the offense is “pretty much going to continue with what we do” because of the ties to Turner that were already in place, but added that Turner’s experience will be “invaluable” to getting more out of the unit. That includes quarterback Cam Newton, who Rivera believes will be taken “to another level” under Turner’s tutelage.
“Looking at what they had done with Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota, there are some similar styles in terms of the zone-read action, and then the prolific [passing] style going to three, five and seven-step drops,” Rivera said, via the team’s website. “But Cam is unique. He is his own player. I know he’ll have Cam do what he does best, but I think his skill set will fit very nicely with what Coach Turner wants.”
Rivera was Turner’s defensive coordinator in San Diego before moving to Carolina and said working for Turner was “terrific for my career.” Now he’s hoping that the same will be true while Turner is working for him.