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June 19, 2004

Press Conference Comments from Todd Turner's Announcement

Todd Turner, Washington Athletic Director

On the search committee: "It's a thrill and a pleasure to be here today. I want to say a special word of thanks to several folks who did a fine job of representing the values, commitments and visions of the University of Washington. That is, of course, the search committee, headed by chairman Michael Eisenberg. What a fantastic job of leadership he has done in guiding this process through. I'm grateful to him, as well as those who worked with him, in particular Governor Dan Evans, who represents all the things I hope that we can represent in the athletic department at the University of Washington. Ron Crockett is also here; he is a devoted supporter of the University of Washington, and his guidance and counsel was very valuable. Thank you to all of you."

On President Mark Emmert: "To those who do not know Mark Emmert well, I can tell you from having served alongside him in the Southeastern Conference, he is an exceptional leader with incredible vision not only for the University of Washington, but for higher education. He is the reason, primarily, that my family has decided that this is the very best fit for us, professionally and personally. When I read that Mark Emmert had been selected as the new president, I sent a one-sentence e-mail. It said, 'Dr. Emmert, if I can be helpful to you, please let me know.'"

On his previous work experiences: "I also want to say a special thank you to several people who are not here. I was prepared for this position by many people in my past, in particular the leadership of three Universities - the University of Connecticut, North Carolina State, and the University of Virginia, where I got my training. The most recent group, at Vanderbilt, was very special. I would like in some way to acknowledge the contribution that they've made in my professional life."

On why he picked Washington: "That's a very easy question to answer, and it starts with Dr. Emmert. His passion for quality and excellence is known worldwide. The thing that convinced me that this was the best opportunity I could possibly have in my professional career was the fact that when I walked on the campus, the passion to be not just good, but to be the very best was shared by everyone that I met. That convinced me that we could something very special at the University of Washington. The second reason had to do with a lifelong goal that I've had, which is to be in a position to help define, in possible, the proper balance between intercollegiate athletics at the highest level, and higher education. There are only a few schools nationally that are in a position to do that. Those schools have to have exemplary academic reputations - and Washington certainly stands tall in that area - and also a demonstrated tradition of success competitively. Thirdly, you need to have leadership that is committed to the development of the student-athlete in athletics, where they are the focus. That is something that I feel deeply at this great University."

On the department staff: "I did a lot of research before coming here, and discovered that this athletic department was peopled with some of the best, most knowledgeable, most successful, patient administrators in intercollegiate athletics in the United States. A lot of the credit for assembling that group should go to Barbara Hedges. She's a good friend of mine, and I think she's left me with a very able, talented staff. They all share one vision that is incredibly important - they are dedicated to young people. They're here to help the young men and women who represent us on the field to do more than win games, to be leaders in our society."

On pending NCAA litigation: "I'm not really concerned about the past; I'm more focused on what lies ahead. I can't really predict the outcome of that, but it's part of a process that the NCAA will handle. I'm truly confident that the circumstances existing in the athletic department at Washington are exemplary in every way. I don't think that will be a setback for us at all. It was good to meet with the people here and get to know their commitment and integrity and the depth of their character. So, regardless of what the outcome may be, that was a non-factor for me."

On his first priorities: "I feel very strongly that the first effort should be to make sure that the staff is fully aware of what our goals and objectives are, and what the parameters for achieving those objectives should be. We'll spend quite a bit of time making sure that everyone has a clear understanding of our vision. Aside from that, I'll spend some time really assessing our long-term needs."

On previous experience in Seattle: "When my wife and I were newly married, we spent a few weeks camping in the area. I had been working at Glacier Park when we came over. At that time, we said, 'Isn't this just the most spectacular place you've ever seen? Wouldn't it be great if someday we were able to live in this kind of environment?' Now, here we are."

On his opinion of the restructuring of athletics at Vanderbilt: I get that question a lot. The fact of the matter is that Vanderbilt is a very different type of university than, certainly that was ever put in the Southeastern Conference, it's the only private school. And it must do what it thinks is best for Vanderbilt. I respect their decision to reorganize the way athletics is managed at that university, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that it will be enormously successful because there are a lot of wonderful people there who have their life's work at stake. But I have confidence that that university is strong enough to make it work. Is the model that they selected appropriate for the University of Washington or other universities? Time will tell. I think that the traditional model that Dr. Emmert envisions really fits well in today's marketplace. Maybe marketplace is not the right word, but it really fits well in higher education. I fully believe that the athletics director should be very much in tune with everything that happens at the university, and a supporter of it, knowledgeable about it, and also a person that can bring a perspective that he might gain from the very public enterprise of intercollegiate athletics back to the university in general. So that the quality of the experience of the students and for the university community can be enhanced.

On similarities and differences between the SEC and Pac-10: They share some wonderful similarities. Both of them are unbelievably competitive at the highest level. I think if you took all sports, across the board, from the Pac-10 and compared them with the Southeastern Conference you'd find a lot of similarities. That's fierce, that's motivating to be able to achieve competitive success and the academic balance at the University of Washington just adds to the complexity of that and makes it attractive from my view. If I had to compare and contrast, I may be the only sitting athletic director who's been at four BCS conferences. I guess the only other one I can think of that comes close is Lou Perkins, who was in the ACC and the Big East and is now in the Big 12. But it seems to me that a lot of the values, a lot of the focus and the emphasis are more similar in the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Pac-10 than anywhere else. I don't know why that is, maybe the institutions are more similar in some way. There's a fairly broad mix of public and private in both of those leagues, and a lot of AAU universities involved. So that may have more to do with their similarity than anything else.

On the tasks he faces as Athletic Director: I think the most important thing that I can do in a position of leadership is make sure that all the teams are all on the same page. That we're all focused on the right things. So I'm going to spend quite a bit of time helping our coaches and our support staff to get our heads back in the game. And to understand a clear vision and have some excitement about that. The other thing that I think is important that we do, is that we reach out to the community and give them confidence that the integrity and the competitiveness at the University of Washington is stronger than ever. Because we're going to need their help as time progresses to remain the top athletic program on the West Coast, and possibly one of the top ones in the nation, if not the top by the time we finish with it. So we'll do some external things as well. One of the things I'm really looking forward to, and Mike and I talked quite a bit about this during the process, is interacting with some of the faculty and the academic leadership on campus. There are some wonderfully collaborative concepts that can help the athletic department, help the students that play athletics, and likewise bring some unique feature to the university community in general.

On his role with regard to the NCAA investigations: We've not discussed that.

On when he'll be in the Graves Building: I have some things that I'm already committed to, but I hope to be over there in early August.

On the Athletic Department's focus: I'm not as concerned about the emphasis and focus inside the athletic department, because I can tell you, based on what I know about the University of Washington, I did my homework on this, there is a commitment to integrity and doing things in an exemplary way inside the athletic department. We will continue to re-emphasize that and try to make sure that our systems are implemented in such a way that it catches inadvertent mistakes. Any that happen outside we'll deal with those, straight up. The fact that you ask the question re-enforces the thought that there may be a perception publicly that things need to change at the University of Washington. And if that perception exists, we need to deal with that. So we'll spend some time making sure folks know what we're doing, how we're going to do it, and if the results prove to be positive, which I'm confident they will, I will make sure that the media, the public has first-hand knowledge of that.

On what needs to be done with regard to NCAA violations: I'm not making any judgement about that. That's being dealt with through the NCAA process and I'm confident that it'll be handled appropriately. I'm mostly saying that if the perception exists out there that there are things that need to be done differently, then we need to address that and convince folks that in fact we've got it handled, and our staff is committed to it. Some of them are in this room and I see them nodding their heads. I'm not really concerned that they don't know what we should be doing. They do know.

On handling possible future violations: I think a couple things about that. There will always be issues at every program. From programs in the Ivy League to programs in the other conferences across the country. Because people make mistakes. They're not perfect. So there are two things that you want to try and do about that: you want to make sure people understand what we're trying to accomplish and the way we're trying to accomplish it, and that they are knowledgeable about rules and processes. Secondly, when things happen you deal with them immediately. You be certain that your systems identify those things and they handle them in a forthright, up-front, straight-up matter. And the fact that schools report violations to me indicates that they are vigilant. It's those that don't that make you wonder. Because at all the universities at which I've worked there have been things that have happened, some of which are incredibly silly, but they're technically violations of NCAA rules and if you're systems are efficient, they identify those and they respond to them. You can't oftentimes control what happens, but you can surely control how you respond. So we'll try to do both, but the response will be consistent.

On the facilities at Washington: I love the setting. I love what's here. I think it's got great collegiate quality to it that's uniquely Washington, uniquely the Huskies, and we want to preserve that. The gymnasium renovation is spectacular, the indoor practice facility. The new facilities are just wonderful. Every program in America faces the dilemma of making sure that you stay on top of that pro-actively. When you have aging facilities you need to do things with them before they become problems. There are some opportunities in this stadium. As I walked through I saw some things that I'm sure you've thought about that could make this even better. So we will try to do that. We'll assess what the needs may be, work with the coaching staff, work with our university leadership to assess priorities. Then we're going to need some help from our good friends like Ron Crockett and his friends to help us find ways to do it.

On possible renovations for Husky Stadium: I think today's venues have some modernizations that don't appear to be here. Suites might be one thing. It's interesting that we've got a track inside the stadium. I'm sure it works well for track meets. And I'm sure the community enjoys having a track in here. We need to evaluate whether that's the best place for it, and we'll do that. I haven't pulled the blueprints out and studied all the various venues, but I like where we're beginning. I really do. I would complement the university's leadership for the setting that they've put here. It's just great.

On his relationship with Mark Emmert: We've had some common experiences in our past. At the University of Connecticut, and both of us have a relationship with Gordon Gee, who's the Chancellor at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Mark Emmert, University President

On the search committee: "The search committee that was put together was a cross-section of this University community, both on-campus and off-campus. It included both leaders of the University, leaders of the Board, and supporters of the University community. They spent a great deal of time talking to the Husky faithful about what they wanted to see from the next athletic director at the University of Washington. They then launched into an exhaustive search and came up with a very, very strong pool of candidates; the strongest pool that I've ever seen from an athletic director search. Then, we were able to have the committee narrow that group down to a strong collection of folks, and then that passed that short list over to me."

On his involvement in the process: "I spent a good bit of time researching the candidates. I spent a lot of time talking to them, and brought a couple of them in for more than one visit. We wound up with absolutely the right person for this job, and I couldn't be happier about the whole process and its conclusion."

On Todd Turner: "What the committee was looking for - and what the University needs - was someone who would be an exemplar of what it is to be an athletic director. Somebody who will lead this program to be one of the finest athletic programs in the United States. That is what we aspire to in everything we do at the University of Washington. We found in Todd Turner just that kind of person. He is someone who has experience at three different Universities, at the highest level of competition and some of the finest academic institutions in the country; someone who is a national leader in the NCAA; someone who is respected for his integrity, for his commitment to excellence in both athletics and academics; and someone who knows what it's like to lead a great program. A seasoned pro with the values we want to see here at the University of Washington. With that, it is my great pleasure to introduce the new athletic director at the University of Washington, Mr. Todd Turner."

On Todd Turner's contract: "We haven't finalized a contract, because of course the Board has to ratify the appointment, though I'm certain that will occur. What we are talking about is a base salary of $325,000, with incentives and deferred compensation that will probably take that package to about $425,000. We also very much want to try and help his family relocate in this difficult housing market. When his family does relocate in about a year - as soon as Sara decides she's tired of not living with Todd - we're going to help them out with a low-interest loan, probably around $475,000. That's the broad strokes of the package. This is clearly one of the best athletic director's jobs in the country, and we need to make sure that if we are going to have people of Todd's caliber here, we are going to be competitive in the marketplace. That salary is competitive. It's certainly not the highest, not by a longshot, but it's a very competitive package. This man will earn every penny of it, I promise you. We've been talking about a five-year contract."

On Turner being his first hire as President at Washington: Of course the fact that it was the first hire was marginally happenstance. It happened to be the first major position that was opened and needed to be addressed. But the importance of it I think is fairly self-evident. The Athletic Director will be an integral part of my senior management team. Someone that I will rely on, obviously, for the running of the program, but as importantly a part of that leadership team and everything that we do. That's what I did at Louisiana State University and that's what I'll do at the University of Washington. So as I looked for someone that I wanted to be athletic director, it wasn't simply someone who I knew could run the department. As Mike pointed out, the committee did a splendid job, and the inherent attractiveness of this position brought forward a number of candidates, all of whom could have done the job and done fine. But I wanted somebody who fit in with the culture here, who fit into my leadership style, and someone I knew would contribute to the overall progress of the whole university. And that's what we got with Todd.

On his opinion of the restructuring of athletics at Vanderbilt: At the time the move left a lot of us were scratching our heads, but now that it's brought Todd Turner to the University of Washington, I think it was brilliant.

On similarities and differences between the SEC and Pac-10: There are some differences, but in my opinion they're largely at the margins. They're significant differences. Both the Pac-10 and the SEC are highly competitive conferences, they take their intercollegiate athletics seriously. It doesn't quite rise to religious fervor here that it does in the SEC, perhaps. What I like about the Pac-10 is that most of the Pac-10 schools, in fact all of the Pac-10 schools, are very careful to strike a more appropriate balance between athletics and academics. I'm a big fan of what we've done at the SEC, I'm really proud of what's going on at Louisiana State University, but you do need to work and make sure you've got everything in the appropriate balance and I think that's a little easier to do in the Pac-10.

On what he and Turner plan to accomplish: Sure I think that first and foremost we need to make sure, and that's what we're doing here today, that we have strong leadership that shares the values of the university and is intellectually attuned to my vision and the vision of the board for building the university as we go forward. And as Todd mentioned this program is not a program that is in disarray, it's sitting here ranked eighth in the Director's Cup, it's had a wonderfully competitive spring, so on the competitiveness side it's done pretty well. We didn't have as good a football season as we would have liked, but other than that it's had a good season. Yes there are NCAA issues that are out there. And there are problems that occurred and there were mistakes that were made. And the university has done a very good job, from my vantage point, of fessing up to all of that, looking it square in the eye and saying, 'these were problems, we made mistakes, we're fixing it and we're moving on. And what we need now is to do just that, look forward, as Todd said. Plan for how we build and grow and develop the program. We've got to erase some of the upper and lower campus divisions that are there. Make sure that both the academic and athletic communities feel and are in fact better integrated. And this is the man that's going to do it with me.

On how he met Todd Turner: At an SEC meeting, probably four years ago. We both served on the SEC executive committee, so we interacted both in meetings and telephonically to make decisions around SEC issues together. So several years.

Michael Eisenberg, Search Committee Chairman

On the search process: "We had a series of meeting on campus with student-athletes, members of the athletic department, and upper campus, to determine what qualities were most important in an athletic director. Those that came up were exactly those that President Emmert mentioned - integrity, someone with a passion for the academic side, and also someone that has ambitions to win within the rules. I don't think there is one potential candidate who would have been viable that we did not consider or look at. We had over 50 candidates. We also spoke to folks at the Pac-10, other athletic directors and presidents, including Ted Leland at Stanford. The committee then came up with a list of criteria, reviewed applicants, and then had an extensive series of meetings to narrow it down to a group with which we had preliminary meetings. I would say that any of the candidates in our second group, of eight or 10, would be good athletic directors. At that time, we were saying, 'We're choosing among the very best to get the very best.' Then, it did get difficult. I can honestly say that the committee was not contentious at all. There was really a consensus when we selected the four names that we presented to President Emmert. Any of those would have been very good, but among those, there is no question that Todd Turner is someone we were excited about from the very beginning. There was something special there, a real fire in the interview, which took over two hours. We walked away from our interview set exhausted and smiling, because we had done what we were charged with - to give President Emmert four terrific names from which he could choose an athletic director. It was a long process, but we're thrilled."

On whether the NCAA investigations made the job less attractive: "It's been reported in some places that the problems at Washington might have made it difficult; it didn't make it difficult at all. Not one person we contacted shied away from the University of Washington because of the current situation. This was considered the best open jobs for an athletic director in the United States."

On Todd Turner: "When we first began this process and were looking at the list of candidates from around the country, Todd Turner's name immediately leapt to the top as one of the top folks out there."

Daniel J. Evans, Former Governor of Washington and Current UW Regent

On the Board of Regents opinion of the hire: I think they have great confidence in the search committee, in the search process and in the results. Although all the members of the board have not yet had a chance to meet Todd Turner, I think they're confident that we've made the right pick and we have the right kind of a contract and I fully expect they will approve at the July meeting.