Trai Turner unfazed by Steelers losing position coach with 2 games left in season

NFL players come and go on a weekly basis, so why not coaches?

That is the philosophy Pittsburgh Steelers right guard Trai Turner is taking about the departure of position coach Adrian Klemm with two games left in the season.

A week after accepting a job at Oregon, Klemm was let out of his contract Monday. He will be replaced by assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan for the rest of the year.

“It’s just kind of the way the business is run,” Turner said Wednesday, a day the Steelers spent conditioning and conducting film review. “It’s not different than when players come in each week. It’s one of those things you have to deal with. You have to adjust and know it’s part of the cycle that we are in. It’s part of the business, and you can’t let it be a distraction.”

The difference is, players are signed or claimed off waivers each week to fill vacancies on the back end of the roster. Coaches aren’t expected to leave with time remaining in the season. But wanting to avoid what he called the “perception” of a distraction, coach Mike Tomlin let Klemm depart Monday, a week after he accepted the Oregon job.

Turner, 28, signed a one-year contract with the Steelers in June and spent six months being instructed by Klemm. He doesn’t feel betrayed that his position coach isn’t here to finish what he started. This stint with the Steelers was the first time Klemm was in charge of a position group. He spent two years as an assistant line coach before he was promoted in February.

“I’m just happy for him,” Turner said. “Whatever decision was made, I’m happy for coach Klemm. I appreciate the energy he pulled into the room, that he pulled from the guys. I know he’s going to do good things where he’s going. Now, it’s time to focus on who we have in the room and what coach C-Mo has to offer.”

Turner thinks the Steelers are in good hands with Morgan, who was hired as Klemm’s assistant after spending the previous six years as the offensive line coach with the Atlanta Falcons. Turner began his NFL career with Carolina Panthers, who faced the division rival Falcons twice a season.

“I like the way he coaches. He brings a lot of energy,” Turner said. “I’m excited to work with him. It’s not like he’s a new face or a fresh face. I’ve seen him since we’ve started. I already had a good rapport with him. I don’t expect it to be too much of a new thing.”

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, will Morgan have enough time to implement any schematic changes on an offensive line that has struggled for much of the season? Turner hasn’t seen what Morgan has in store this week, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he adds wrinkles.

“Let’s put it all out there, whatever it is,” he said. “Let’s do it. We have two opportunities to get wins. No matter what happens after that, you want to end the season on as high of a note as you can. To go out there and play as hard as we can and see what happens after that, we owe that to ourselves.

“Whatever tricks, let’s pull it out.”

The composition of the offensive line hasn’t changed much this season aside from left guard. Since Kevin Dotson sustained an ankle injury against Detroit, the Steelers have started J.C. Hassenauer, B.J. Finney and John Leglue there and also used Joe Haeg and Rashaad Coward at the position. Turner, plus rookies Dan Moore Jr. and Kendrick Green, have started every game. Chuks Okorafor has started all but one.

“Continuity isn’t something you find, it’s something you work toward,” Turner said. “It would be nice if you could have all five guys continue to work, continue to build, but that’s not the way the business is operated. It’s not the way it’s set up. We have to continue to work through whatever it is, whatever the (issue) is of the week, there’s always going to be something that you didn’t know about whether it’s injuries or covid or things like the coaching situation.

“It would be nice if you could have everybody in place for so many years and build up this continuity and everybody knows everybody’s wife, kids, aunts and uncles. But that’s just not how it is.”

On the contrary, it was precisely that way on the Steelers until this season when they had the likes of Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, Alejandro Villanueva and David DeCastro starting up front. But age caught up to the Steelers, requiring them to bring in younger, unproven players to play alongside Turner, who was brought on board after DeCastro’s release.

“If you can have it like that, it’s phenomenal,” Turner said. “That’s awesome. I will say roughly 90% of the league is not like that.”