Turner Reflects on Coaching Redskins

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Turner Reflects on Coaching Redskins

By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

(03-22) 15:51 PST KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) --

Norv Turner thought the Washington Redskins were heading toward the Super Bowl after he coached them to the NFC East title in 1999. Instead, it turned out to be their last winning record and Turner was fired late in the 2000 season.

"I thought we had a bright future," Turner, now the coach of the Oakland Raiders, said Tuesday at the NFL meetings. "We had a good young nucleus that we were building on. It's kind of how Philadelphia has been building their team. Instead they decided to go in a different direction, signing older players for big money."

"They" in this case was Daniel Snyder, who bought the team in 1999, fired general manager Charley Casserly, then canned Turner. His direction was obvious: sign aging stars such as Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders to try and win quickly.

Turner was asked if he was talking directly about Snyder, although the questioner added: "You don't have to bite."

"I won't bite," the coach replied with a smile.
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Interesting.