Ron Turner (American Football)
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Ronald David Turner (born December 5, 1953) is an American former
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach and player. He most recently served an offensive consultant with the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) in 2017. He was the
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
at FIU from 2013 to 2016.Tim Reynolds
FIU hires Ron Turner as football coach
, Associated Press, January 3, 2013.
Turner served as the head football coach at
San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
in 1992, and the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
from 1997 to 2004. He also had two separate stints as the
offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
for the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
, the first from 1993 to 1996, and most recently from 2005 to 2009.


Playing career

Turner played college football as a
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
for
Diablo Valley College Diablo Valley College (DVC) is a public community college with campuses in Pleasant Hill and San Ramon in Contra Costa County, California. DVC is one of three public community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District (along with ...
from 1973 to 1974, and the University of the Pacific from 1975 to 1976. He was inducted into Pacific'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.Chicago Bears bio
/ref>


Coaching career


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 Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
(1978–1980). He moved on to be an assistant at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
(1981–1982), the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
(1983–1984), the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
(1985–1987),
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
(1988), and
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
(1989–1991), before earning his first head coaching job at
San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
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 An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
. Between his two stints with the Bears, Turner spent eight years as head coach at the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
. His overall record at Illinois was 35 wins and 57 losses, for a
winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...
of .380. The highlight of his tenure came in 2001 when he guided the Illini to a 10–2 record, the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
title, and an appearance in the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...
, which Illinois lost to
LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
. That season, Turner was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. His only other winning season was in 1999, when he led the Illini to the
MicronPC Bowl The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. Originally commissioned as the Sunshine Classic, it has undergone many name changes due to Naming rights, sponsorship rights. ...
, which the Illini won by a 63–21 scoreline—at the time the second-highest points ever scored by a team in a collegiate bowl game. 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 100-year history of Illinois football to lose 11 games in a season, which he also accomplished in those same two seasons. His 1997 team was only the third in school history not to win a single game, going 0–11. 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. One of Turner's former players at Illinois who also went on to the NFL, Josh Whitman, was named director of athletics at the university on February 26, 2016.


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 Kramer 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. Coincidentally, Turner had also replaced Shea as head coach at
San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
in
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
. In the 2005 season, Chicago started a rookie at 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 Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...
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 franchise history. 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 Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...
. 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 Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
after the Bears poor 2009 season, Turner was hired as
offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
by Stanford. However, four weeks later he became wide receivers coach for the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
.


FIU

On January 3, 2013, Turner was hired as the head coach of FIU, becoming the young program's third coach and taking the reins as the program entered
Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...
. He led the team to a 1–11 record and a seventh-place finish in Conference USA's East Division. In his second season, Turner led the team to a 4–8 record. On September 25, 2016, Turner was relieved of his duties as head coach.


Personal life

Turner is the brother of Norv Turner, former head coach of the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
. Ron and his wife, Wendy, have two sons, Morgan and Cameron, and two daughters, Cally and Madison. "Cam" played quarterback for
The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...
and is currently in his first season as QB coach of the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
. He has also coached in offensive capacities for the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
prior to his stop in Indianapolis. This is after serving as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at FIU and working for the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
. Before that, he served as an assistant to Leslie Frazier for the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
. Morgan is currently the tight ends coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks.


Head coaching record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ron 1953 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Wildcats football coaches Chicago Bears coaches Diablo Valley Vikings football players FIU Panthers football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches NFL offensive coordinators Northwestern Wildcats football coaches USC Trojans football coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches Pacific Tigers football players Sportspeople from Martinez, California Players of American football from Contra Costa County, California Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches