On Wednesday, the North Carolina Tar Heels sent shockwaves throughout the sports world by hiring Bill Belichick.
It has not taken long for the legendary head coach to start assembling his staff. Just hours after Belichick’s hiring was announced, it was reported that he had brought in former NFL general manager and VSiN host Michael Lombardi to serve as general manager of the Tar Heels’ football program. From that move alone, Belichick made it clear that he was going big-game hunting in terms of who he is bringing with him to Chapel Hill.
The Las Vegas Raiders may end up being heavily impacted by Belichick’s search. According to ESPN’s Chris Low, Raiders interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner is a possibility to join Belichick in North Carolina as the Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator.
One possibility to join Bill Belichick at North Carolina as OC is Las Vegas Raiders interim OC Scott Turner, who started the season as the Raiders’ passing game coordinator and moved to interim OC when Luke Getsy was fired. Turner is the son of NFL veteran Norv Turner.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) December 12, 2024
While Turner has no direct connection to Belichick, there is still plenty of reason why he would emerge as a target. Turner was hired as passing game coordinator in February of 2023 by then-Raiders head coach and longtime Belichick assistant Josh McDaniels. Due to the close professional relationship between Belichick and McDaniels, Turner having the latter’s stamp of approval would go a long way towards getting him in the former’s good graces.
Also helping Turner’s case is the fact that he has coaching experience at the collegiate level. In 2017, he was hired by the Michigan Wolverines as an offensive analyst under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh. Working with a high-profile college football program is something that would likely appeal to Belichick, who has never coached in the NCAA before.
It is currently unclear if Turner is the top candidate for the position or, if he is offered and accepts the position, whether he would immediately leave the Raiders or stay until the end of the season.
Turner’s fate with the Raiders, like many others, is uncertain after a difficult season. The good news for him is he is in the running to serve at the right hand of arguably the greatest coach of all time.
