New Play Caller in Town: Former Vikings Assistant Coach Joins Raiders Staff

There is no doubt that Kevin O’Connell is fully entrenched as the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings. His assistants, however, will be plucked just about every offseason, as long as he is considered one of the top offensive minds in the NFL.

But as he makes his coaching tree, there are already other former Viking assistants from past regimes, who are now getting bigger and better opportunities around the NFL. Just to name a few: Kevin Stefanski (HC – Browns), Scott Turner (Pass Game Coordinator – Raiders), Klint Kubiak (OC – Saints) .

Raiders thinking about Scott Turner as new play caller

Two of the names listed were assistants in Minnesota when the offense was being run by their legendary fathers, something that is very common within NFL coaching ranks. The aforementioned Scott Turner worked for the Vikings, under his dad Norv Turner, when Mike Zimmer was head coach.

A couple of stops later, he landed in Las Vegas, where head coach, Antonio Pierce, is now thinking about handing him the playbook on offense. Why? The Raiders have not been good this year. After the 41-24 drubbing on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Raiders now sit at just 2-7 on the season.

Of course when your starting quarterback options are Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell ( who is now hurt ) expectations are going to be low. Still, Davante Adams forced his way out and Brock Bowers is being wasted, despite an impressive rookie season. The hope in Vegas is that Scott Turner can the offense moving.

Las Vegas quarterbacks combined to throw the ball 33 times on Sunday but averaged just six yards per attempt for a total of 157 yards. They found the end zone only a single time, and the running game turned in just 60 yards on 21 carries. No matter how you look at it, the performance was awful.

Raiders hope former Minnesota Vikings assistant can turn things around

The Raiders have little to lose the rest of the way, and they don’t have much in the form of more talented personnel to implement. Head coach Antonio Pierce may be looking to Turner in hopes of seeing what he has be more aggressively utilized.

If Scott Turner is able to secure the nod as play-caller, he could parlay the opportunity into a more high profile assistant job, whether that is with the Raiders, or elsewhere.