Thad Turner was the head wrestling coach at Lehigh University from 1970 to 1988. Without the benefit of athletic scholarships, Turner coached seven wrestlers to 10 national titles, including Hall of Fame Distinguished Members Darryl Burley and Mark Lieberman, and had 43 All-Americans, including Hall of Fame Outstanding American honoree Colin Kilrain.

Under Turner's tutelage, the Mountain Hawks finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA tournament 14 times, including a third-place finish in 1979 and four fifth-place finishes. Lehigh never finished below third in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, winning eight championships and finishing second three times. His wrestlers combined to win 62 EIWA titles and six outstanding wrestler awards, and in 1975 captured seven of the 10 weight classes at the conference tournament.

Turner was named EIWA Coach of the Year in 1975 and National Coach of the Year in 1979. In nine seasons as head wrestling coach at Phillipsburg High School, Turner had a 98-14-4 dual meet record, including wins in the last 51 matches in a row, and led his teams to the East Penn League championship in six of his last seven seasons.

Lehigh's wrestling facility is named Leeman-Turner Arena in honor of Turner and his predecessor Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Gerald Leeman.

Turner was instrumental in establishing and helping to grow youth wrestling throughout the Lehigh Valley and western New Jersey, which became and remains one of America's premier wrestling regions.

Turner served 14 years as associate director of the Lehigh University Alumni Association. Turner was a finalist at the 1960 NCAA tournament and an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion in 1960 and 1961, when he was named outstanding wrestler. Competing at five different weight classes during his career, he had a career dual meet record of 31-1-2 and an overall record of 49-6-2 while also being team captain for two seasons.

Turner is a member of the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame and the EIWA Hall of Fame, and was a member of the Charter Class of the Phillipsburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Turner is also a Lifetime Service to Wrestling award recipient from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.