Todd Turner Steps Down as UW Athletic Director

This one is hot off the presses, Todd Turner has resigned as AD at UW. I imagine this will make a number of people happy over on the boards, but it takes me by surprise since he still had some time left to go on his contract.

We haven't heard anything but conjecture so far, but on the Softy show today they seem to think that Turner resigned under pressure. It could have to do with some of the statements he made this year. It also could be connected with the lack of fundraising. It could have been that he was resistant to changes on the current coaching staff. Tough to say until Todd Turner or President Emmert are interviewed.

How does this affect Ty Willingham? Well it really sets him up to do some things that he might not want to do. He loses his biggest supporter, and now he has to work with a stranger who probably has his own ideas of who the head football coach at UW should be.

It is definitely a victory for the boosters who will get a new guy who is going to be more football and fundraising oriented. I think whoever the new guy is he is going to jump start fund raising. Guys like Fleenor who decided to drop out may just drop back in again. It is a good compromise.

I think it was a good move by Emmert. We needed to shake things up and since they didn't fire Willingham this year why not bring in a new AD to create some spark who understands football. Turner understood football better than Hedges, but his philosophy didn't mesh with what we all wanted out of Husky football.

I will have more on this as it develops.

Some candidates that come to mind

Mike Cragg

Mike Cragg joined the Duke Athletics Department in May of 1987 as an assistant SID. He was promoted to Sports Information Director in 1990 and spent 10 years in that role before moving into the director’s position of the newly created Duke Basketball Legacy Fund during the fall of 1999. In 2004, Cragg was promoted to associate athletic director. Cragg has numerous administrative responsibilities within the basketball operation, including the coordination of the annual K Academy, the Duke Venture Capital Co-Investment Fund and the establishment of the Fuqua / Coach K Center of Leadership & Ethics. In addition he coordinates the planning and implementation of projects in and around Cameron Indoor Stadium and the study of the new Duke Basketball Training Facility.

Cragg, a native of Yakima, Wash., is a 1986 graduate of the University of Washington. He has helped coordinate media operations at numerous national events, including serving on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four Media Coordination Committee in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2000. He and his wife, Paige, live in Durham with their daughters Shelby and Michaela.

Cragg was considered for the job back when Turner was hired.

Bill Moos

The investments made by Bill Moos early in his tenure as athletics director paid off in recent years with trophies from his 2001 Pac-10 champion and Fiesta Bowl winning football team, his 2002 Pac-10 champion and NCAA Elite Eight men’s basketball team, and his 2002 WNIT champion women’s basketball team.

But while he has changed the landscape of University of Oregon athletics, both figuratively and literally, Moos certainly isn’t resting on his laurels.Merely a glance at the Autzen Stadium expansion, Ed Moshofsky Sports Center, Casanova Center, and adjacent playing fields offers the magnitude of the ever-changing facility enhancements underway in Eugene.

A driving force behind the most successful era of the University’s athletics department in recent memory, Bill Moos is in his 12th year as the ninth man to serve as Oregon’s director of athletics.

Moos has initiated more than $160 million in facility improvements at Oregon. In addition, he renewed the department’s commitment to the future by coordinating the efforts that made the $90 million Autzen Stadium renovation a reality in 2002. The project added 12,000 new seats, 32 new suites, a new Club at Autzen and a new press box to the stadium, making it an even better place to view a college football game.

Moos is currently retired and building a cattle ranch in Eastern Washington.

Andy Geiger

Andy Geiger (born March 23, 1939), was the seventh athletics director at The Ohio State University. Geiger was named athletic director on April 29, 1994. He officially took over the job on May 16, 1994 following his tenure at the University of Maryland, College Park. Geiger was also the athletic director at Stanford University from 1979 to 1990.

Geiger retired in June 2005, one year before his contract was up, saying 'the job wasn't fun anymore'. Many speculate that this decision was made because of two scandals, the first involving former Ohio State football tailback Maurice Clarett, the second involving former Ohio State men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien. Geiger is believed to have been involved in a cover up of the school's athletic department following the NCAA's indictment of Clarett.

Geiger is retired and living in Sequim, Washington.

Bob Stull

Bob Stull is the athletic director at UTEP. He has previously served as head football coach at Massachusetts, Missouri and UTEP. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Stull was a three-year letterman at Kansas State, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He began his coaching career at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa. He was the offensive line coach at Kent State from 1971 to 1974 under Don James.

He then followed James to Washington, where he was receivers coach (1975-1978) and later offensive coordinator (1979-1984).

After two seasons at Massachusetts, Stull was hired at UTEP, where he posted a 21-15 record from 1986 to 1988, culminating in a 10-2 record and an appearance in the Independence Bowl after the 1988 season. Stull didn't fare as well at Missouri, compiling a 15-38-2 record in five seasons. While at Missouri, he was involved on the losing end of the famous "Fifth Down".
After his coaching career, Stull entered administration at Washington. He rejoined UTEP as athletic director after a 10-year absence.