Thursday’s report that the Chargers will fire head coach Norv Turner at the end of the season hasn’t affected his team’s preparation for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, Turner says.
Turner said that he was back at the office early this morning, about 12 hours after the report surfaced that his goose was cooked. And Turner said he was pleased to see that plenty of his players and coaches are putting in just as much time as he is.
“The one thing I always feel good about, I got here at 5:30 in the morning and there were guys in the weight room, there were guys in the training room, there were guys already in meeting rooms watching tape,” Turner told reporters today. “Our meeting started yesterday at 7, everyone was here. At 8, we had a team meeting, started our normal Thursday work, and our guys were here until 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. Any of the reports haven’t affected them, and that’s what I care about. They’re getting ready to go and play their best and give themselves a chance to win in Pittsburgh.”
Turner also credited his assistants for working hard until the end.
“It’s an outstanding staff, and I think they’ve done an outstanding job for this football team,” Turner said.
That may be true. But next year, those coaches will be doing an outstanding job for some other football team. Turner may be continuing to prepare, and Chargers owner Dean Spanos may deny that he has already decided to fire Turner and General Manager A.J. Smith, but no one seriously believes there’s a chance that Turner will be back in San Diego beyond the final four games of the season.