"Norv Turner has never guaranteed his team is Super Bowl bound, taken a hiatus to become a television personality or publicly embarrassed an out-of-shape player day after day.

What he does do is coach football on an almost intimate level.

"There's a lot of coaches in this league that it's about them," Antonio Gates said. "It's about their records, it's about what they need to accomplish, how many wins they need to get to increase they resume, etcetera, etcetera. One thing I feel I figured out about Norv is it's just about enjoying what he does, going out and winning and having you be the best that you can be.

"I think sometimes it's underrated when people consider somebody as a players' coach. They say, 'That coach is not tough on them.' But that ain't really the case. The case is that you just understand when it's bigger than just the person. It's about the team.""