Norv Turner bristles at the suggestion he is a good offensive coordinator who’s just not cut out to be a head coach. But while his head-coaching qualifications are up for debate, there is no denying the fact he is one of the best play-callers in NFL history.

He is respected by coaches around the league, including Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

“We’ve played against Norv a number of times, and I have the ultimate respect for Norv and the job that he does,” Belichick said. “I think his offense has core fundamentals that he sticks by, whether it was at Dallas, Washington, Oakland, San Diego, Miami, Cleveland — you name it. There are core principles in offense, core plays, things that he’s very good at, that complement each other, that you know he’s going to do.”

Turner brought those core principles with him to Minnesota when he took over as the team’s offensive coordinator prior to last season. Unfortunately, the offense he spent months planning to direct quickly evaporated.

Adrian Peterson, the centerpiece of Minnesota’s offense, was active for just one game before spending the rest of the season on the commissioner’s exempt list thanks to his excessive discipline of his 4-year-old son. In Week 3, starting QB Matt Cassel broke several bones in his foot and was lost for the rest of the year.

Cassel’s injury opened the door for rookie first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, who made incredible progress as the season wore on. But things were rough in the early going and Turner was not comfortable turning things over to such a young quarterback, especially without a dominant running game to protect him.

“We’re asking him to carry this group,” Turner said. “I’ve never had to do that with a young guy. When I had [Troy] Aikman in his third year he had Emmitt Smith, who led the league in rushing. When I had Alex Smith in his second year he had Frank Gore, who ran for over 1,700 yards. And when I had Philip Rivers in his second year starting he had LaDainian Tomlinson, who led the league in rushing.”

Turner has coached three players who led the league in rushing (Smith, Tomlinson and Ricky Williams). He very well could have coached a fourth if not for Peterson’s stunning fall from grace. Turner may get another shot this season if the Vikings hang on to Peterson, who was reinstated on Thursday after he won his appeal of a league suspension that would have kept him out until at least April 15.

The running game is critical in Turner’s offense. Because his schemes involve so many vertical routes, his offenses must run the ball well and execute play-action passes perfectly to keep quarterbacks upright despite frequent five- and seven-step drops.

Peterson’s return is not the only wild-card for the Vikings offense. Minnesota also has to figure out what it can get from 2013 first-round pick Cordarrelle Patterson. The speedster from Tennessee suffered through a serious sophomore slump and essentially played his way out of the rotation. It wasn’t until the arrival of Charles Johnson, who was signed off Cleveland’s practice squad in late September, that Turner felt he had enough weapons to execute his offense effectively.

“I really think when Charles Johnson started playing, it gave us another weapon and forced defenses to play us a little differently,” Turner said. “They had to respect his big-play ability and I think it opened some things up for everybody else. As a young player, I think Teddy just got a comfort level with the system and with the players he was playing with. He started to get a chemistry with [Greg] Jennings and, as I said, Charles Johnson, and certainly with Jarius Wright.”

When all the pieces fell into place, Turner had the Vikings offense humming. Bridgewater finished the season strong; he threw 10 touchdowns against just six interceptions over the final six games, with the Vikings scoring 30 or more points in three of those contests.

And just think: there will be a whole other dimension to this offense if Kyle Rudolph stays healthy. The injury-prone tight end from Notre Dame has played just two full seasons over the last six years, missing seven more games in 2014 while being limited in several others. Turner loves to use his tight ends, especially in the red zone, as evidenced by his work over the last few seasons with Antonio Gates (San Diego) and Jordan Cameron (Cleveland).

There is a palpable excitement amongst Minnesota sports fans right now and it involves more than the nostalgic returns of Kevin Garnett and Torii Hunter. The Wild are pushing for a playoff spot (yes, hockey still matters in Minnesota) and the Vikings look primed for a similar pursuit in 2015.

And give this to the polarizing Turner (“Norv” is still a four-letter word in San Diego, Oakland and Washington): the Vikings would not be this close to contention without him.