Bill Curry

Bill Curry
Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Georgia State
Conference	FCS Independent
Record	8–13
Biographical details
Born	October 21, 1942 (1942-10-21) College Park, Georgia
Playing career
1962–1964 1965–1966 1967–1972 1973 1974	Georgia Tech Green Bay Packers Baltimore Colts Houston Oilers Los Angeles Rams
Position(s)	Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1976 1977–1979 1980–1986 1987–1989 1990–1996 2008–present	Georgia Tech (assistant) Green Bay Packers (assistant) Georgia Tech Alabama Kentucky Georgia State
Head coaching record
Overall	92–118–4
Bowls	2–3
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 1 SEC Championship (1989)
Awards Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1989) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (2007) ACC Coach of the Year (1985) 2x SEC Coach of the Year (1987, 1989)

William Alexander "Bill" Curry (born October 21, 1942) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Curry formerly worked as a football analyst for ESPN.

Previously, Curry served as the head football coach at the Georgia Tech (1980–1986), the University of Alabama (1987–1989), and the University of Kentucky (1990–1996). He played football at Georgia Tech (1962–1964) and then played for ten seasons in the National Football League with four different teams: the Green Bay Packers (1965–1966), the Baltimore Colts (1967–1972), the Houston Oilers (1973), and the Los Angeles Rams (1974).

Early life and playing career

Curry was born in College Park, Georgia. A 1965 graduate from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in industrial management, Curry starred at center for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team from 1962 to 1964. Curry played professional football in the NFL from 1965 to 1974 with the Green Bay Packers, the Baltimore Colts, the Houston Oilers, and the Los Angeles Rams. He was a Pro Bowl center with the Colts in 1971 and 1972. Curry was the starting center in three Super Bowls, for the Packers in Super Bowl I and for the Colts in Super Bowl III and Super Bowl V.

Coaching career

Prior to his first head coaching assignment, Curry served as an assistant at Georgia Tech in 1976 and then for three seasons in the NFL (1977–1979) as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers.

Curry returned to Georgia Tech in 1980 as head football coach. While it has been reported that Curry's first head coaching decision was to dismiss the quarterbacks coach, Steve Spurrier, he denies this. Curry said, "I never fired Steve. Georgia Tech fired the [Pepper Rodgers] staff before I got there. Then while I was deliberating who from that staff to retain, Steve took the Duke [assistant’s] job."^{[citation needed]} Curry led his team to a 9–2–1 record in 1985 and a win in the All-American Bowl. For his efforts, he was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 1985 by the Associated Press and the Atlantic Coast Conference media. Curry posted an 34–43–4 record over seven years at his alma mater, including winning seasons in 1982 (6–5), 1984 (6–4–1), and 1985.

Curry then accepted a job as head coach at the University of Alabama. There he posted a record of 26–10, won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title in 1989, and made three bowl appearances during his three-year tenure. In September 1988, he refused to fly his Alabama team to play Texas A&M because of fears that Hurricane Gilbert would harm his players. The hurricane never reached Texas A&M at College Station, Texas, and Aggies coach Jackie Sherrill claimed Curry used the threat of weather as an excuse because his quarterback was injured.^{[citation needed]} The game was rescheduled for December 1, when Alabama routed A&M, 30–10. Curry also suspended Alabama quarterback Jeff Dunn for breaking team rules prior to the 1988 Sun Bowl against Army.

After posting a 10–1 regular season record (the only blemish being a third loss in a row to Auburn), Curry's 1989 Crimson Tide squad shared the SEC title with Auburn and Tennessee--Alabama's first SEC title since 1981--and earned the berth in the 1990 Sugar Bowl, where they lost to the Miami Hurricanes, 33–25. Curry was honored in 1989 as the SEC Coach of the Year and received the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

Curry's three-year record of 26–10 gave him the highest winning percentage among Alabama coaches since Bear Bryant. However, Curry had an 0–3 record against Alabama's arch-rival Auburn, and never once beat the Tigers in the twelve games he coached against them over his career. Perhaps his best-remembered on-field act with Alabama came during the 1990 Sugar Bowl, when he castigated receiver Prince Wimbley for celebrating a first down against Miami with a dance. Curry called Wimbley to the sideline, grabbed him by the jersey, and lectured him. As ABC game cameras showed, Wimbley turned away and Curry grabbed his face mask and brought him into eye-to-eye contact.^{[citation needed]}

In early 1990, Curry received a contract which contained provisions he disliked, including no raise and removal of his power to hire and fire assistants, . Curry was particularly upset by this since he'd led the Tide to its first SEC title since the Bryant era. He responded by accepting a job offer to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky.

In 1993, Curry's Wildcat squad posted a 6–5 regular season record and earned a spot in the Peach Bowl, Kentucky's first bowl game in nine years. The Wildcats lost that game to Clemson, 14–13. Curry never achieved a record better than 6–6 at Kentucky. The Wildcats posted six losing records in his seven years at Lexington, including a one-win season in 1994. Curry was asked to step down after the 1996 season and was succeeded by Hal Mumme.

On June 11, 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Curry had been chosen as Georgia State University's first head football coach. The Georgia State Panthers will play their first season in 2010, competing in the Colonial Athletic Association at the D-I Football Championship Subdivision level. The Panthers will play play their home games at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Curry's first class of players was recruited in 2009 for practice.

Honors

Bill Curry is a member of the state of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the American Football Coaches Association Ethics Committee.^{[citation needed]}

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Independent) (1980–1982)
1980	Georgia Tech	1–9–1
1981	Georgia Tech	1–10
1982	Georgia Tech	6–5
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1983–1986)
1983	Georgia Tech	3–8	3–2	3rd
1984	Georgia Tech	6–4–1	2–2–1	5th
1985	Georgia Tech	9–2–1	5–1	2nd	W All-American	18	19
1986	Georgia Tech	5–5–1	3–3	4th
Georgia Tech:		31–43–4	13–8–1
Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) (1987–1989)
1987	Alabama	7–5	4–2	4th	L Hall of Fame
1988	Alabama	9–3	4–3	4th	W Sun	17	17
1989	Alabama	10–2	6–1	T–1st	L Sugar	7	9
Alabama:		26–10	14–6
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (1990–1996)
1990	Kentucky	4–7	3–4	6th
1991	Kentucky	3–8	0–7	10th
1992	Kentucky	4–7	2–6	5th (East)
1993	Kentucky	6–6	4–4	3rd (East)	L Peach
1994	Kentucky	1–10	0–8	6th (East)
1995	Kentucky	4–7	2–6	5th (East)
1996	Kentucky	4–7	3–5	4th (East)
Kentucky:		26–52	14–40
Georgia State Panthers (NCAA Division I FCS Independent) (2010–present)
2010	Georgia State	6–5
2011	Georgia State	3–8
Georgia State:		9–13
Total:		92–118–4
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

External links

• Georgia State profile
• Georgia Tech profile
• Bill Curry at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Bill Curry at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by John Mackey	NFLPA President 1973 – May 31, 1975	Succeeded by Kermit Alexander