Temple University Athletics
Men's Gymnastics
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- fturoff@temple.edu
- Phone:
- 215-204-7452
- Alma Mater:
- Temple '69
A member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a coach, Fred Turoff is now enjoying his 38th season at the helm of the Owls’ program. Turoff has coached 18 EIGL/ECAC title teams and has a lifetime coaching record of 432-184 (.701).
A native Philadelphian, Turoff began his gymnastics career in the Philadelphia junior high public league and competed with the Mannettes and Philadelphia Turners. After his family moved to Connecticut, he became a two-time state high school all-around champion for Rippowam High School. As a member of Temple's gymnastics team from 1966-69, Turoff was the EIGL all-around and horizontal bar champion in 1968. He earned the ECAC Scholar-Athlete Award in his senior season and graduated cum laude with a physics degree.
In the next two years, he represented the United States at the 1969 Cup of the Americas, the 1969 Maccabiah Games, the 1970 World University Games and the 1970 World Championships. Temple's highest athletic honor was presented to Turoff in 1984, when he was inducted into the Temple University Hall of Fame. Turoff's international coaching activities began with the 1978 Golden Sands competition in Bulgaria. The next year, he was assistant coach of the World Championship team in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1991, he was assistant coach for the U.S. men's team at the World University Games held in Sheffield, England, and the Pan American Games in Santiago de Cuba. In 1992, he was an assistant on the U.S. Olympic team. In November of 1993, Turoff coached at the Nike International Invitational in Sydney, Australia. He was a member of the U.S. coaching staff for the 1994 Team World Championships in Dortmund, Germany, plus the 1995 American Cup and Visa Challenge.
He was the coach of the 1996 Pacific Alliance Championships team that competed in Malaysia, and he coached the 1997 Maccabiah team in Israel. Turoff's textbook, Artistic Gymnastics-A Comprehensive Guide to Performing and Teaching Skills for Beginners and Advanced Beginners, was released in April, 1991 by Wm. C. Brown Publishers and adopted by the U.S. Junior Boys' program as its coaching manual.
In previous writing endeavors, Turoff co-authored a rules supplement governing boys' gymnastics for 1977-80 and edited the 1981-84 rules. The current AACCA Cheerleading Safety Manual also contains a section he authored. He received the U.S. Gymnastics Federation's Frank Cumiskey Award in 1980 for contributions to the boys' Junior Olympic Program. He also received the Robert Stout Service Award in 1984 for his work in the Region Seven boys' program.
The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches honored Turoff with its Special Service Award after he served for two terms each as the association's president and secretary-treasurer. He previously served six years on the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Committee 1987-93, the last two as chair, and currently serves again. Turoff was voted NCAA Eastern Region Coach of the Year in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2012 and 2013. In 2003, the College Gymnastics Association presented Turoff with the Honor Coach Award, the highest honor given by the Association, which is composed of present and former collegiate gymnastics coaches.
He has served on the USAG Hall of Fame Selection Committee for 27 years and is its current chair. He is a past president of the United States Elite Coaches Association for Men's Gymnastics. Turoff is a nationally and internationally certified judge. He served as delegation leader and judge for the USA-Italy men's competition in Italy in 1982; he was delegation leader for the USA-Canada meet in May, 1990; he judged at the 1990 USA-DDR-Switzerland meet and the 1991 Pan American Games. In 1987-88, and again in 1991 he served on a committee to re-evaluate the international ratings of pommel horse skills and compose a new compulsory routine.
Turoff also contributed to the 1989 and 1993 international Code of Points. In both 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the committee to pick US gymnasts to compete in the World Championships. An avid scuba diver, Turoff also enjoys underwater photography. He has an instructor's license and has instructed SCUBA classes at Temple. Some of his photos can be seen in materials published by the National Association of Underwater Instructors.
The Owls' mentor completed his Master of Education in biomechanics in August, 1991, and is married to Diane Eigner, better known as "the Cat Doctor". The couple has one child, Evan, who is a sophomore on the Owls' squad this season.
