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Originally published Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM

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Turner's tenure at a glance

A look at some of Todd Turner's memorable moments as athletic director at Washington: Hired Tyrone Willingham as football coach Turner fired...

Seattle Times staff reporter

A look at some of Todd Turner's memorable moments as athletic director at Washington:

Hired Tyrone Willingham as football coach

Turner fired Keith Gilbertson and hired Willingham during his first fall on the job. Turner expressed no doubt on Tuesday he will be proven right eventually. "In time, Coach will be extremely successful and everyone will say, 'Oh, I knew that was going to happen.' "

Gave men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar a 10-year contract

Romar had just begun to have success when Turner arrived, and the AD was quick to lock up Romar, giving him an eight-year deal in 2005, then turning it into a 10-year deal last fall.

Fired women's basketball coach June Daugherty

In one of his most controversial moves, Turner fired Daugherty, who had a 191-136 record in 11 seasons and was coming off an NCAA tournament appearance, saying he wanted "more buzz" from the program. Daugherty was hired at Washington State and the Huskies brought in first-time coach Tia Jackson, whose team is off to a 4-6 start.

Raised ticket prices for football and men's basketball

Turner raised ticket prices for football roughly 31 percent after the team went 1-10 in 2004, explaining the funds were needed to get the program back on track. But some fans complained of being gouged to watch a losing team.

Spearheaded planning of the renovation of Husky Stadium

Turner helped form an advisory committee, but it was forced to delay a planned November presentation to the Board of Regents amid concerns over a lack of any funding strategy. Turner said that was due to complications brought on by a Sound Transit project.

Said UW should try to field a football team that looks like Oregon

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In stating his support for Willingham, Turner said in October the Huskies need to try to "field teams that look like Southern Cal or Cal or Oregon or Ohio State." The allusion to Oregon, one of UW's most heated rivals, in a week when the teams were playing each other, struck some fans the wrong way.

Resigned Tuesday

While pressured to quit, Turner said, "I just came to the realization that there is too much controversy in the air. It's taken a lot of the fun out of it for me and made it very difficult on the president, and I'm at a point in my career where I don't have to be an athletic director to be happy or be successful."

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

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