SEATTLE – Todd Turner said all the right things, stressed integrity and was careful to mention his affection for the student-athlete.
The University of Washington, alums, student-athletes and the general public will see soon enough how much weight his actions carry.
“He will earn every penny (of his salary),” UW president Mark Emmert said.
Announced Saturday as the 15th athletic director at the University of Washington, chosen as the man to lead a program lathered in scandal, Turner has his work cut out for him.
Turner takes over in August from interim AD Dick Thompson. Thompson took over in January from Barbara Hedges, who retired amid investigations into gambling on college basketball pools, the firings of football coach Rick Neuheisel and softball coach Teresa Wilson, a drug scandal involving former softball team doctor William Scheyer, as well as NCAA investigations into Neuheisel’s gambling issue and possible recruiting violations.
Turner must lead Washington through all of the above, plus rebuild the department’s compliance department, hire a new softball coach and show an increasingly doubting public he is righting the ship.
“If the perception exists out there that there are things that need to be done differently, we need to address that and convince folks that we’ve got it handled,” Turner said.
The hiring will not be official until the UW Board of Regents gives official approval. Former Gov. Dan Evans, who heads the board, said he expects Turner to be approved when the board meets next month.
Turner will be paid a base salary of $325,000, plus incentives that may boost the pay to as much as $425,000, Emmert said. Turner also will receive a low-interest home loan of about $475,000.
Turner, former athletic director at Vanderbilt University, was one of four known finalist for the Washington job. Utah AD Chris Hill, turned down the job June 8. Others were Debi Gore-Mann, senior associate AD for finances and operations at Stanford and Jim Phillips, a senior associate AD at Notre Dame.
Turner, 53, has 17 years of experience as an athletic director. He held the post for eight years at Vanderbilt, six at North Carolina State and three at UConn.
At Vanderbilt, Turner was known as an innovative fundraiser and one who ran a clean program. He oversaw 14 varsity sports that included about 300 student-athletes. Twice in the last eight years, the Vanderbilt football program earned national recognition by the American College Football Association by achieving 100-percent graduation rates.
However, Turner left Vanderbilt in 2003 when University Chancellor Gordon Gee restructured the athletic department, moving athletics into the general university administration under a category referred to as “Student Life and Recreation.”
Gee said he offered Turner a position at the university, but that Turner wanted to be an athletic director.
“He must do what is best for Vanderbilt,” Turner said. “I respect their decision to reorganize the way athletics is managed at that university. I hope from the bottom of my heart that that they will be enormously successful. There are a lot of wonderful people there.”
Turner takes over a program that includes 23 sports programs with a $39.5 million annual budget. Last year, about 650 student-athletes competed on UW athletic teams.
In addition to getting the program through the scandals, Turner said he was curious as to why the running track is within Husky Stadium and said he would look into a possible change and modernization. He also termed the Hec Edmundson Pavilion renovation “spectacular.”
“I love the setting,” Turner said of the athletic campus. “I think it has great collegiate quality to it that is uniquely Washington and uniquely the Huskies. We want to preserve that.”
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