Michigan offensive analyst Scott Turner made a recent appearance on the weekly Inside Michigan Football radio show, and touched on several topics, including his time in the NFL and his tenure so far at Michigan.
He began by talking about what it was like coaching Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford in 2016.
“It was challenging, because we actually got him only eight days before the season started,” Turner explained. “We prepared him to be the backup for our first game that year, and then he took over and played a great game against Green Bay. Sam played pretty well throughout, and getting to know him as the year on was great. Like I said, working with him was very challenging, but also very rewarding.”
Even though he’s not in the NFL anymore, Turner said he still can’t watch the sport as just a casual fan.
“You make a lot of friends in the profession, and it’s a smaller fraternity than people think,” he said. “There are those folks you like and some you don’t like as much. It’s hard to not root for certain people and it's easy to root against others. You want guys you’ve worked with in the past to do well, because you know how much they put into this game.”
Jim Harbaugh has been known to run an NFL-like operation at Michigan, and Turner explained what it’s like working for the Wolverines’ head man.
“There’s a plan in place with everything from the minute I got here,” he revealed. “He knows how he wants things done. The one thing I love about working for him is you know where you stand and there are no secrets. I’ve been around people where you weren’t sure if you were doing a good job or not, because there wasn’t a lot of feedback. If you’re doing well, Coach Harbaugh will let you know, and the same can be said if you’re not — he holds people to a high standard.”
Like Turner, passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton is in his first year at Michigan, and also came from the NFL.
“When Pep was at Indianapolis, they were the best passing offense in the NFL, so he has lots of ideas,” Turner said. “You try to take all those ideas and match them up with [redshirt junior quarterback] Wilton [Speight], and the defense you’re going up against.
“Pep was a guy I had known and he kind of got me in the door here. He does a great job with the quarterbacks and receivers, and passing game in general.”
Even though Speight has started Michigan’s first three games this season, Turner said the other young quarterbacks are also doing a fine job.
“It’s a great group,” he confirmed. “They push each other, and they each have different talents — [freshman] Dylan [McCaffrey] is a natural player and understands the game, while [redshirt freshman] Brandon [Peters] is talented and can throw the ball very well.”
Whether or not Turner is still around by the time one of those two becomes the starter is yet to be determined, as he insinuated he would like to become a head coach someday.
“One thing I’ve learned is to stay focused on the job at hand, and if you do a good job, the reward will be an opportunity to do a better job. I want to help this team win as many games as possible and a championship.”
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