I don't think Norv made this decision without a push. Minnesota was growing quite frustrated with his refusal to accept that his OL couldn't block well enough for Norv to run his vertically-oriented Air Coryell. Minnesota had the same issues the year before with Norv. I think it was a mutual parting of ways.
Look at who they hired to replace him. An OC known for the short passing game.
Of all of the potential OC's listed here, Turner is the one I would want, and Shanahan is one I definitely don't want.
First of all, Shanahan - I certainly respect his body of work, and he's an excellent coach. But there are two things that could come with him, one almost certainly and one possible, and those things would push the Rams playoff chances down the road a couple of years. First of all, Shanahan is a proponent of the zone blocking scheme and one-cut runing game. The Rams have tried that this year, and you've seen the results. We have big maulers, not the agile linemen required for the zone blocking scheme, and the results (miserable) are speaking for themselves. That's also why Gurley has regressed, as that scheme doesn't give him options - he makes his one cut and runs. We've seen him time and time again run right into a place where there is no hole, but he's probably doing that according to the design of the play. With the phyiscal type of lineman that we have, we are much better suited for a power blocking scheme. A coordinator that doesn't bring that means we have to rebuild the entire OL instead of simply shifting the scheme to play to their strengths.
The second thing Shanahan could bring with him is a 3-4 defense, which he's taken pretty much everywhere he's gone. Who here is ready to rebiuld our defense? Anyone? .... Anyone? I didn't think so.
Shanahan would be OC. He'd have no say over the defense.
That's the opposite of how the Shanahan-Gibbs ZBS works. The Shanahan-Gibbs ZBS isn't designed to go through a specific gap. It's designed for the HB to determine the gap based on his vision and ability to press the LOS.
And Shanahan and his cohorts are known for being OL gurus.
Turner on the other hand brings a power blocking scheme combined with a modern passing attack. Turner has always done well with big, mauling offensive linemen instead of the type that are best suited for zone blocking. Thus, Turner is a better fit for what we already have on the roster. It's also a better fit for Gurley, as it allows him more freedom to read the blocks and to pick and choose his holes. He had that freedom last year and it worked out pretty good. He doesn't have that freedom this year. Turner's system, the Coryell system, is also easier to learn. Martz installed his version in one offseason with the Rams, and Bradford learned Turner's system pretty quickly. Norv is a good teacher as well.
Another plus with Turner is his use of TE's ... if he comes in, Tyler Higbee becomes a big time weapon. In the past, guys like Jay Novecek and Antonio Gates evolved into some of the best TE's in the game in a Turner offense.
I would also think that Turner would have a clue how to utilize Tavon to his maximum effectiveness in both the running and passing games. Nobody here has ever fully been able to utilize Austin in the passing game, and Cignetti (believe it or not) seemed to use him the best of anybody in the running game (and it's an indictment of Boras that he hasn't been able to duplicate that success after having been shown how it can be done).
It's the opposite, my friend. The power blocking scheme tells the HB which hole to run through. The HB can choose not to run through that hole. But it's designed to go through a certain hole.
And our blocking scheme hasn't changed over the past two years. It's been the same scheme for Gurley. We're a hybrid scheme. We run both power and zone blocking. Gurley doesn't lack freedom this year. Our OL just sucks at run blocking.
As for Norv's modern passing game, I have to disagree with that. Vikings fans have wanted Norv gone for years because he refused to adapt his passing scheme to what they had on offense. He continued to run deep drops and vertical passing concepts with a bad OL and a QB who didn't throw vertically well (Bridgewater).
Norv was a brilliant offensive mind. He still likely is. But he refuses to adapt to the modern game. He's actually a lot like Fisher. He's stuck in his ways.
I understand the hesitation based on the red-flag of Turner resigning from Minnesota mid-season, and agree that's a concern. But don't forget that Zimmerman is an uber-douche, so that probably had something to do with it as well.
I'm really not keen on Fisher staying, but if he is going to, I could be on board if Turner was brought in.
Zimmer really isn't an uber-douche. We don't like him because of last year, but he's actually incredibly well-liked around the NFL by coaches and players alike.
Norv Turner is an upgrade over what we currently have. And Fisher being completely hands off with the offense would be an upgrade. However, Norv Turner isn't what I want in an OC if Fisher stays on.
If there is a genuine fear of losing Williams, and the future of the team hangs in the balance of hiring an OC and giving him free reign, why not just give Williams the HC job and keep Fassel as st coach?
No. Williams isn't HC material imo.