Robert Turner Jr. (born May 6, 1949) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

coach who was most recently a Senior offensive assistant for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Since 1995, he has worked exclusively on the staffs of

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led ...

during his time with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and then his son Kyle with the Atlanta Falcons and

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Early in his coaching days, Turner worked as an assistant football and basketball coach at

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, the Kokomo-Peru CSA, which includ ...

's Haworth High School from 1972–74.

College coaching

He moved to the college ranks in 1975, working for the

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

football program in various roles until 1982. In 1983, he went to

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bac ...

, where he was the team's running backs coach through 1988. One of the players he coached was future coach

Kelly Skipper Kelly Demetrius Skipper (born July 25, 1967) is an American football coach who is the running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he was the running backs coach under head coach Dennis Allen ...

. In his final collegiate coaching stop before moving to the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

, Turner served as assistant

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

, offensive coordinator and running backs coach at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

from 1991 to 1994. While at Purdue, he would coach RB

Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue a ...

. Turner was the running backs coach at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

from 1989 to 1990; in this period, the Buckeyes reached bowl games in both seasons and had the top rushing game in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

in 1989. In 1990, he would coach running backs

Robert Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...

Butler By'not'e Butler B'ynote' (born September 29, 1972) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League. He played college football at Ohio State University, and professionally for the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, ...

, and Raymont Harris.

Broncos

From 1995–2009 Turner worked as the running backs coach for the Denver Broncos. This was after over 20 years as a college assistant.

Redskins

In 2010, he was hired to be the running backs coach by his former colleague,

, after Mike was selected to be the new head coach of the

Falcons

On February 3, 2015, Dan Quinn announced that Turner would be his Running Backs coach. In the 2016 season, Turner and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Ne ...

, where they faced the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

on February 5, 2017. In the Super Bowl, the Falcons fell in a 34–28 overtime defeat.

49ers

In 2017 Turner became the running backs coach for the 49ers. On March 1, 2022, it was reported that Turner was not returning to the

for the season to rehab from two surgeries. On September 30, 2022, it was announced that Turner would return for the 2022 season.

Personal life

Turner grew up in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

, and attended EC's Washington High School, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He played basketball for

Johnnie Baratto Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

. He graduated from

References

1949 births Living people Atlanta Falcons coaches Denver Broncos coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Indiana State Sycamores football coaches Indiana State Sycamores football players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Washington Redskins coaches High school football coaches in Indiana Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana People from Midway, Alabama Sportspeople from Kokomo, Indiana {{Amfoot-coach-stub