Norv Turner is the new Browns offensive coordinator. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Former San Diego Chargers coach Norv Turner has been named the new offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, according to a report Thursday afternoon from Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com.

It will be a bit of a role reversal for Turner as he will now report to head coach Rob Chudzinkski, who worked under Turner in San Diego. Chudzinkski hailed Turner as one of the most respected offensive coaches in the NFL in the past 25 years and said the knowledge he gained by working for him will now be put to the test as the new coach of the Browns:

“Norv has been one of the most respected offensive coaches in the NFL over the last 25-30 years, and he has had a tremendous amount of success at each one of his stops as a position coach, coordinator and head coach. I was able to learn a great deal in the time that I worked for him in San Diego, and I expect that having him as our offensive coordinator will make a big impact on that side of the ball.”

The Chargers fired Turner at the end of December after his sixth season with the team, having taken the reigns from Marty Schottenheimer in 2007. He had previously won two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys as an offensive coordinator.

The San Diego Chargers fired both head coach Norv Turner and General Manager A.J. Smith, the team announced Monday afternoon. Team President Dean Spanos said in the statement:

“I thank A.J. and Norv for the determination and integrity they brought to the Chargers each and every day,” said Spanos. “Both Norv and A.J. are consummate NFL professionals, and they understand that in this league, the bottom-line is winning.  My only goal is the Super Bowl, and that is why I have decided to move in a new direction with both our head coach and general manager positions.  I am committed to our great fans, and we will do whatever we possibly can to achieve that goal.”

Turner coached the Chargers for six seasons, taking over for Marty Schottenheimer in 2007. The team had five mediocre-to-good seasons before this one, when the Chargers finished with a 7-9 record – their worst mark since 2003 when the team went 4-12. Smith had been the team’s general manager since 2001, building teams that went to the playoffs five times through his tenure.

Norv Turner will be fired after the Chargers missed  the playoffs for the third consecutive season. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The Chargers plan to fire head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith at the end of the season, according to sources in a report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Sources said this week that Chargers President Dean Spanos essentially decided at least a month ago that Turner’s time was drawing to a rapid close. Spanos, sources said, has more recently resigned himself to the fact that Smith can’t be kept in the current environment of plummeting performance and fan unrest.

Spanos is waiting until after the season, more because that is his preferred time to make such moves than due to any faith in the Chargers’ microscopic playoff chances.

The firing of Turner and Smith are not surprising.

Jon Gruden, Chip Kelly, Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid and David Shaw are expected to be considered to coach the Chargers.

The report taps Director of Player Personnel Jimmy Raye as Smith’s replacement. Raye, a 17-year employee of the Chargers, will add the owner’s son, John Spanos, as his right-hand man.

The younger Spanos, currently the team’s Director of College Scouting, has long been in line to take over the Chargers’ football operations, but the plan was for that to not happen until the expiration of Smith’s contract after the 2014 season.

The Chargers’ failure to make the playoff for the third consecutive season, and lack of success in the postseason — they made it to the AFC Championship just once, in 2007 — are behind the owner’s moves.

The San Diego Chargers have announced that head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith will return to team next season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Chargers announced HC Norv Turner and GM A.J. Smith will return.

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Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 03, 2012

It had been widely speculated that the Chargers would fire both Turner and A.J. Smith after the Chargers failed to reach the playoffs for a second straight season. San Diego finished with an 8-8 record this season after a late season surge, the club finished with a 9-7 overall record last year.

Turner has served as the head coach of the Chargers since 2007. Since taking over in San Diego he has led the team to a 48-31 record with a 3-4 postseason mark.