Tom Pelissero

USA TODAY Sports

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — There was a sense within the Minnesota Vikings organization dating back to at least January that this might be Norv Turner’s final season in coaching.

That was around the same time the Vikings hired Pat Shurmur to coach tight ends, giving the appearance — and there was a lot of truth to it — that Shurmur was the likely offensive coordinator in waiting whenever Turner, 64, or the team moved on.

What nobody anticipated was the succession plan would take hold now, with the Vikings coming off consecutive ugly losses, but still owning the NFC’s second-best record at 5-2 as they prepare on a short week for Sunday’s divisional home game against the Detroit Lions.

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Turner’s resignation — not a retirement, at least not yet — early Wednesday morning was a shock to everybody, including Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, Shurmur and players, most of whom found out about the move from media reports before they arrived at the facility.

Know this about Zimmer: He’s a defensive-minded coach who’s as hands-off with his offense as anybody. Every head coach makes recommendations during the week, as they should, but Zimmer stays out of it on game day, doesn’t overrule play calls, etc.

“I would say that since Norv has been here, I've given him almost 100%, total free will in everything that they've done offensively,” Zimmer told reporters.

It’s clear there were differences of opinion about how the Vikings offense could get back to playing the way it was before duds the past two weeks at Philadelphia and Chicago. Injuries have decimated the O-line, leaving little way to solve the problems through lineup changes.

But differences aren’t unusual in the NFL, especially when things aren’t going well. It’s just rare they run off a coach as accomplished as Turner, who told NFL Media: “I don’t want anyone to think I am bailing. It just wasn’t working.”

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Frankly, the whole thing is bizarre. But if Turner reached a point he didn’t feel he could be all-in on the Vikings’ direction, he was right when he said (in Zimmer’s recounting of their lengthy meeting) this was the best thing for both Turner and the team.

Know this about Shurmur: He was one of the key voices in the Vikings’ discussion about a potential trade for Sam Bradford, who had Shurmur as his coordinator for stretches in both St. Louis and Philadelphia, at times calling plays in place of Chip Kelly with the Eagles last season.

The Vikings watched all of Bradford’s tape after Teddy Bridgewater’s devastating knee injury late in the preseason. But it was Shurmur’s knowledge of Bradford’s strengths and weaknesses, and in turn how to tailor the offense accordingly, that buoyed the Vikings’ confidence they could make things work with virtually no preparation time.

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The Bradford trade was bizarre by NFL standards, too, but it seemed to be working pretty well until the O-line issues really caught up to the Vikings the past couple weeks. They haven’t been able to run the ball all season, even before former MVP Adrian Peterson (and, more recent, Jerick McKinnon) went down, which only exacerbates things in protection.

“I think that no matter what the scheme is, we have to go out there and we have to execute,” Bradford said. “We have to be better than what we have the last couple weeks.”

Shurmur doesn’t have time to overhaul Turner’s Air Coryell derivative offense, but he figures to put his own spin on it that reflects his roots in the short passing game of the West Coast offense and Kelly’s up-tempo, diverse run scheme.

The Vikings were probably going this direction eventually. The only difference is they’re doing it at an abnormal time, but then again, what about their season has been normal?

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