Former Oregon State GA now on Panthers’ staff

By Kevin Hampton
Gazette-Times reporter

Scott Turner is only a graduate assistant coach for the University of Pittsburgh football team, but he probably knows more about Oregon State than any member of the coaching staff.

Oh, head coach Dave Wannstedt, his coordinators and assistants have studied film on the Beavers to prepare for the Sun Bowl and probably know Lyle Moevao’s tendencies in different situations, but Turner is familiar with the program from the inside.

Turner was a graduate assistant for the Beavers during the 2005 season. He broke down the opponent’s defense, helped put together scouting reports, worked with the OSU scout team and assisted offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf with in-office recruiting.

It was the first stop for Turner in his coaching career.

Turner was a backup quarterback for UNLV and knew a career in the NFL was not going to pan out, so he started looking for a GA spot.

“I kind of realized I had kind of taken that as far as I could and I wanted to get into coaching,” he said.

Turner’s father, Norv, coaches the San Diego Chargers and worked with OSU coach Mike Riley. Turner began talking to former OSU offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and then continued to talk to Riley once Chryst left for a similar job at the University of Wisconsin.

Riley eventually gave Turner the job.

“I always knew that I wanted to be a coach,” Turner said. “I knew I wanted to play as long as I could and I knew football would always be part of my life.”

Not surprising, because Turner grew up around football. When he was born, his father was coaching at the University of Southern California.

Norv Turner then spent three years with the Dallas Cowboys before moving to the Washington Redskins. The family lived in northern Virginia, where Scott grew from an 11-year-old to a senior in high school.

“It was good,” he said. “We got to see different parts of the country. I basically grew up in the D.C. area. I got to meet a lot of people and go to a lot of football games.”

After his time in Corvallis, Turner returned to Virginia to coach high school football. It wasn’t long before he was looking to return to college coaching.

Wannstedt had also worked with Norv Turner in the NFL and had joked about getting Scott to Pittsburgh.

Scott Turner asked if there was anything open and there was a spot. He interviewed and joined the Pitt staff in February as the offense’s GA.

“I do a lot of the same responsibilities I had before at Oregon State,” he said. “I run the scout team, do video breakdown, work with the offensive line and assist with in-office recruiting.”

On Dec. 31, he’ll get to see some of his old friends at Oregon State when the teams meet in El Paso.

“I was excited,” he said. “I called Keith Heyward, he was the defensive GA when I was there, and talked to him a little bit. It’ll be good to see guys I was with — Langsdorf, Mike Cavanaugh, Riley. It will be good to see those guys.”