Ron Turner was named FIU’s head football coach on January 4, 2013, bringing with him an outstanding resume from coaching at the collegiate and professional levels.
Entering his fourth season with the Panthers, Turner’s 39 years in coaching have included 12 as a head coach with FIU, Illinois and San Jose State.
Since arriving at FIU, Turner has laid the foundation for a championship program. The Panthers have continued to build off of their success each year under Turner and are focused to be winners on and off the field. His success with the Panthers has been recognized by Conference USA as Turner has coached 18 all-conference, five all-freshman and 40 academic honor roll selections in his three years at the helm.
Last season, FIU’s offense had some of its most-impressive numbers in recent years. The Panthers gained 4,173 yards (fifth-most in school history), including 2,854 yards through the air (second-most in school history). FIU averaged 25.5 points-per-game (third-most in school history), posting 306 points in 2015, including a record-setting first half versus UTEP (10/10), where the Panthers scored 42 points in the first two quarters en route to a 52-12 win over the Miners – fourth-largest margin of victory in FIU’s 14-year history.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers were second in the conference in passing defense and No. 16 in the nation in red zone defense.
Eight Panthers garnered All-Conference USA honors for their play in 2015.
During the 2014 season, FIU finished ranked No. 35 in the nation in total defense. Holding teams to 20-or-fewer points six times that past season (zero in 2013), the Panthers were No. 5 in the nation in turnovers forced (33), including 19 fumble recoveries. FIU’s red zone defense was one of the best in the country as opponents had a 69.2 percent success rate (No. 4 in the nation). On third downs, FIU held its opponents 35.9 percent of the time, good for No. 28 nationally.
Offensively, the Panthers threw for 2,016 yards and 15 touchdowns opposed to 1,713 yards and eight touchdowns in 2013. FIU rushed for 1,502 yards (No. 4 all-time at FIU in a single season), finding the endzone 11 times; an improvement from the 2013 season (5).
For the team’s performance on the field in 2014, FIU had seven All-C-USA selections and three C-USA All-Freshman honorees.
Following Turner’s first season with FIU in which the then-first-year coach instilled the core values expected of the football program, the Panthers nearly doubled the amount of community service hours from the previous season and finished the year with the highest team GPA in program history.
During his 24 previous seasons in college football, Turner’s career was highlighted with participation in eight bowl games: Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Aloha, Citrus and Micron PC.
After he led an impressive turnaround at the University of Illinois, which resulted in the school’s 2001 Big Ten championship, the league unanimously voted him that season’s Big Ten Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award.
In 12 seasons coaching in the National Football League, Turner spent the majority of those seasons with the Chicago Bears, in addition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts.
His NFL resume includes being named the 1995 Pro Football Weekly Assistant Coach of the Year; four playoff appearances; Offensive Coordinator during the Bears’ 2006 NFC Championship and Super Bowl season; an assistant with the Colts’ 2010 AFC South title team; quarterbacks coach with a 2012 Tampa Bay squad that netted team records for total yards, passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Prior to becoming FIU’s third all-time head football coach, Turner spent the previous season with the Buccaneers where he coached quarterback Josh Freeman to franchise records in passing yards (4,065) and passing touchdowns (27). In just one season with the Bucs, Turner helped Tampa Bay amass team records in total yards (5,820) and total points scored (389).
Turner spent the two previous seasons with the Colts coaching quarterbacks in 2011 and wide receivers in 2010.
In 2010, Reggie Wayne produced his seventh-consecutive 1,000-plus yard season, a third 100-plus reception season and a career season-best reception total. With expected starter Anthony Gonzalez out with an injury, Turner mentored young receivers Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon each to 55-plus receptions, 600-plus yards and five-plus touchdown catches.
Overall, Turner coached for nine seasons in Chicago. For five years, 2005-09, he was Lovie Smith’s offensive coordinator. From 1993-96, four seasons, Turner was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Dave Wannstedt.
In his second stint with the Bears, Turner directed quarterback Jay Cutler to a record-setting season in 2009, with the most completions (336) and attempts (555) in team history. As a team, Chicago had 3,473 net passing yards in 2009, the third-best passing total in team history.
Under Turner, the Bears also had top-ranked passing seasons in 2007 (3,362) and 1995 (3,743). In all, Turner’s offenses produced four of the top-five and seven of the top-17 passing attacks in club history, topping 3,000 net passing yards in seven of his nine seasons.
The rushing attack produced 8,512 yards in Turner’s last five seasons, including the second- and third-best club totals in a 19-season span (2,099 in 2005; 1,918 in 2006).
In 2008, Turner helped quarterback Kyle Orton set a record streak with 205 attempts without an interception. Running back Matt Forte also had success, rushing 316 times for 1,238 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 63 receptions for 477 yards and four touchdowns, setting club rookie marks in yards, scrimmage yards (1,715) and receptions. The team’s 375 points tied the seventh-best seasonal mark in club history.
Turner and the 2006 Bears went 13-3 and won the NFC North. They earned home-field advantage in the playoffs en route to an NFC title and a trip to Super Bowl XLI. During the season, the team topped 30-plus points seven times, the best seasonal total since 1956, and produced 5,199 net yards.
The club’s 38 offensive touchdowns were the most since 44 in 1995 under Turner. The Bears were the only NFL team with six players scoring five-plus touchdowns, with the last time the club achieving that mark being in 1948.
In 2005, with Orton as a rookie, Turner helped coach the team to an 11-5 record. The club rushed for 2,099 yards – the first 2,000-plus yard season by Chicago since 1990. Chicago ranked eighth in rushing offense (131.2), topped 100-plus yards 13 times and tied for the league lead with 19 rushes of 20 or more yards.
From 1993-96, Turner would seemingly coach a different starter in each of those seasons. The club would go 33-33 overall, however, the completion percentages in 1994 (61.4%) and 1995 (60.2%) ranked among the highest in team history.
Chicago’s net passing total of 3,743 yards in 1995 ranked second in team history. With Erik Kramer at quarterback in 1995, the Bears set a team record for passing offense (233.9 yards per game) and scored the fifth-most points (392) in club history.
Kramer set a club record with 29 touchdown passes. The 1995 squad had the third-most net yards (5,673) and second-most first downs (340) in team history. The offense also featured a 1,000-plus yard rusher (Rashaan Salaam, 1,074 yards) and two 1,000-plus yard receivers (Jeff Graham, 1,301 yards and Curtis Conway, 1,037 yards) for the first time in team history.
In between his time with the Bears, Turner spent eight seasons as head coach at the University of Illinois (1997-2004), where he is the fourth-winningest coach in school history. Turner guided the Illini to two bowl bids, the Big Ten Championship in 2001 and a BCS Bowl bid to the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
In 2001, Turner was the unanimous selection for Big Ten Coach of the Year. He would preside over three of the top-six offenses in Illini history in terms of total yards, while four of his eight squads ranked in the school’s top-11 for scoring. The 2001 unit had a school-record 390 points. Three of the top-six all-time leading rushers at Illinois and three of the school’s top-10 all-time leading receivers played under Turner, as he helped place more than 20 players on NFL rosters.
The championship run in 2001 marked many firsts for the Illini. It was the first outright Big Ten title for Illinois in 18 years and the teams’ first-ever berth in the Bowl Championship Series. The 10-win season was only the fourth for an Illini squad in its storied history.
For his efforts, Turner was unanimously named the 2001 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He also was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson, Bear Bryant and the AFCA Coach of the Year awards. Illinois’ No. 7 ranking in both the Associated Press and coaches’ poll at the end of the regular season was the highest for an Illini squad since 1990. The team finished No. 12 in both final polls.
Aside from mentoring several notable quarterbacks at the NFL level, Turner is also known for his development of college quarterbacks. ‘
At Illinois, Turner tutored Kurt Kittner, who was a Johnny Unitas Award finalist and a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist.
Kittner became only the sixth Illinois quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season and with a win over Northwestern in 2001, he became the winningest quarterback in school history (24-15). He set the school record for touchdown passes in a career with 70 and broke his own single-season record of 24 set in 1999 with 27 in 2001.
Kittner became one in a long line of successful Turner-coached quarterbacks at the college level including: John Congemi (Pittsburgh), Jeff Garcia (San Jose State), Rodney Peete (Southern California), Bucky Richardson (Texas A&M), Sean Salisbury (Southern California), Sandy Schwab (Northwestern) and Steve Stenstrom (Stanford).
Prior to the Bears, Turner coached for one season at San Jose State in 1992. In just one season at San Jose State, Turner led a remarkable turnaround, leading the Spartans to a 7-4 record and a second-place finish in the Big West Conference. Turner guided San Jose State to its best record in six years and directed a potent offense that churned out 400 yards-per-game while averaging 30 points per contest, good for 15th in the nation.
A proven offensive teacher and tenacious recruiter, Turner would earn the opportunity to coach at San Jose State after coordinating Stanford’s offense for three seasons under Dennis Green (1989-91). The Cardinal would score 23 or more points in 10 straight games on the way to earning a 1991 Aloha Bowl bid. The 351 points scored that year was the third-highest total in over a century at the school.
Prior to Stanford, Turner would spend one season in the old Southwest Conference with Texas A&M under legendary head coach Jackie Sherrill in his final season.
In 1985, Ted Tollner hired Turner to be his quarterbacks coach at Southern California before elevating him to offensive coordinator in 1986.
The Trojans would play in three bowl games during his time in Los Angeles. When Larry Smith was named head coach prior to 1987, he retained Turner as wide receivers coach, and the Trojans would go on to win the Pac 10 conference.
Peete became the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1988, First-Team All-American and the first USC quarterback to win the Johnny Unitas Award.
At Pittsburgh, 1983-84, under Foge Fazio, Turner helped mentor Congemi, who would finish his Panther career second all-time in passing yards. Congemi would lead Pittsburgh to a berth in the 1984 Fiesta Bowl, where he was game MVP, before having professional success in the Canadian Football League.
Turner’s first connection with Green came at Northwestern where he served as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach in 1981-82.
Turner helped shape the Wildcat offense into one of the most exciting in the Big Ten, coaching Northwestern quarterback Sandy Schwab to several school and league records. In his two seasons, the Wildcats set several milestones including most pass completions in a game (45).
Turner also recruited all-time Northwestern punt and kickoff return leader Steve Tasker to the program after scouting him at Dodge City Community College. Tasker, drafted by the Houston Oilers, would be claimed off waivers after two seasons by the Buffalo Bills. With the Bills, Tasker played in seven Pro Bowls (1987 and 1990-1995) and became the only special teamer ever to be named the NFL’s MVP in 1993.
Turner’s first coaching position came at Arizona from 1979-80, after his one season as a graduate assistant with his alma mater, the University of the Pacific. Turner would be one of the youngest assistant coaches in major college football and his first taste of success came when the Wildcats earned an invitation to the 1979 Fiesta Bowl against Pittsburgh.
Turner was a second-team junior college All-America wide receiver at Diablo Valley Community College and was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. He then earned a scholarship at Pacific, where he led the Tigers in receiving in 1975 and 1976.
Older brother, Norv, is one of the most respected offensive coaches in the NFL. Currently the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, Norv has been head coach for the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins and has coordinated the offenses for the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.
Turner and his wife Wendy have four children – sons Morgan (wife Melissa) and Cameron (wife Janie) and daughters Callan and Madison – and two granddaughters – Charliejane and Luella.
Turner’s sons Morgan and Cameron followed in their father’s footsteps with Morgan coaching tight ends at Stanford and Cameron is the assistant wide receivers coach with the Carolina Panthers.
