Bill Curry goes back to Tuscaloosa as a changed man
Bill Curry says he has gotten more enjoyment out of leading Georgia State than any other job.
This isn’t the story about a fledgling football program going into Tuscaloosa. It’s the story of an old football coach, a grandfather, finding perspective in his late 60s. It’s the story of a wake-up call that 34 moves and four teams and six coaching jobs and even a brick through the second-floor office window never provided.
“This literally has been the highlight of my career,” Bill Curry said.
He is standing on a practice field that once was a dumping ground in a scarred patch of downtown. In front of him, a MARTA train rushes past on an elevated track. Behind him, a gutted brick building that once housed some homeless people is slowly being transformed into a field house.
This is Curry’s Eden.
“To be with a group of young people, most of whom have been told they’re not good enough, and show them how to succeed and have a meaningful life – I haven’t felt like this in a long time,” he said. “I wish I was mature enough to have the same objectives as I did before. But I didn’t. I was caught up in the winning.”
Georgia State closes its inaugural football season Thursday night at Alabama, the campus Curry left 21 years ago after basically being told he wasn’t wanted.
The coach wanted to give his wide-eyed players something they wouldn’t forget. Let’s just hope that after this game, they can still remember the evening.
Curry went 26-10 with an SEC championship in three years at Alabama but was viewed as an outsider.
He will tell you this season has been a great awakening for him. He has been allowed to create a blueprint for a program. He has built it from the abandoned ground up. He has coached young men on the field and guided them off of it, without being pulled into a corner by the obnoxious, check-writing, booster buddy of the program who suddenly wants to call plays.
There has been a purity to this job that you seldom find in college athletics.
Georgia State has afforded Curry, at the age of 68, an opportunity to satisfy the same competitive instincts that drove him when he played for Vince Lombardi.
But more than all that, Curry will tell you this venture has changed him. He has grown up. In his previous coaching life, he was as consumed and obsessed as any of them. It wore on his family, to the extent that he said his wife, Carolyn, all but threw him out of the house one evening.
“I remember going home one night in Tuscaloosa and after dinner Carolyn said, ‘Just go back to the office,’” Curry said. “It was very uncharacteristic of her to be so cruel and cold like that. I was stunned. I said, ‘But I’m here,’ and she said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re sitting over there making recruiting calls. You might as well be at the office. You say you’re coming home. You’re not home. I know it. The children know it. Just go back to the office.’ So I hung up the phone.”
After pausing to collect his emotions, he added: “There were too many nights. Too many days. Our son nailed me about 10 years ago. He said, ‘Look, dad, there was one thing we always knew. As long as your team won, it was OK to be happy at our house.’ That broke my heart. I knew it was true.”
It’s different now. Game days are more like family reunions. Carolyn Curry even arranged for their two grown children, spouses and five grand children to gather on the field with him at the Georgia Dome before the Panthers’ first game against Shorter. They all posed with Curry for a picture.
It will be their Christmas card.
A similar scene wasn’t going to happen in Tuscaloosa. Whereas Curry is celebrated at Georgia State, he often was vilified at Alabama.
Losing to Auburn three straight years didn’t help his cause. But he always was going to be viewed as an outsider there — a non-Bama guy from Georgia Tech. Even an SEC championship and two SEC coach of the year awards weren’t going to change that. So he left.
School officials made it clear they didn’t want him. The contract Curry was offered after the 1989 SEC title season did not include a raise and it stripped him of power to hire and fire assistants.
Curry: “The contract said, ‘We’d rather have somebody else as the football coach.’”
His attorney’s thought was to tear up the contract and throw it their faces. Curry’s response: “I said we’re not going to do that. Just tell them respectfully thank you but our choice is to move on.” And he left for Kentucky.
Curry is over it. He said the last time he got bitter was “when Vince Lombardi got rid of me. It didn’t occur to me that maybe I wasn’t a good football player. When I got into coaching, I made up my mind that if somebody didn’t want me, I’d just go somewhere else.”
But he acknowledges some family members remain bitter about the Alabama experience. That includes the evening in 1988 when a brick was thrown through his office window following a 22-12, Homecoming loss to Mississippi, a game in which the Tide failed to complete a pass. Curry discovered the brick and broken glass the next day when he arrived to tape his weekly coach’s show.
Curry joked, “My first thought was, if the quarterback had been as accurate as the guy who threw the brick, we wouldn’t be discussing this.”
He regrets not keeping the brick as a reminder.
“For some reason nobody took credit for it,” he said. “I would’ve thought there’d be a thousand people wanting to be recognized.”
When Georgia State suffered its first loss to Lambuth this season, nobody threw a brick, “except maybe me,” he cracked.
His desire to win has always burned. But his job carries a sense of pure enjoyment and satisfaction that wasn’t present when he left Tuscaloosa. It’s not exactly a homecoming Thursday night. But 21 years later, he has something to celebrate.
♦
Earlier posts
♦ So I can get Georgia State and 42½ vs. Alabama? Hmmm…
♦ Heyward, Posey both deserving of top rookie honors
♦ Liberty CEO ($87.1 million) made more than Braves’ roster
♦
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109 comments Add your comment
G-Strings
November 16th, 2010
4:50 pm
great story. Always nice to hear life lessons learned, and sounds like he really enjoys the opportunity to mentor his players. Best of luck to him. GSU is fortunate to have landed Curry to help get their program off the ground.
btgt69
November 16th, 2010
5:13 pm
Do I rember correctly, Gene Stallings won a NC at bama 3 years after Curry left. Yep he won it with Curry’s recruits ! Then Stallings recruiting got them on probation. Yep, that’s the Bear connection.
Gen Neyland
November 16th, 2010
5:14 pm
BAMAToNE : Fabricated..? You serious..? I dubbed this game the Brick Bowl last summer when KSU put Alabama on it’s schedule. Wanna buy a t-shirt and be the first in your neighborhood to wear it proudly..?
felixthecat
November 16th, 2010
5:22 pm
I would take Curry anyday over that sleaze bucket Saban.. Good Luck State..Beat Bama!!
Louis
November 16th, 2010
5:24 pm
I lived in Auburn during Curry’s Bama years. When Bama lost and Curry stood at the press conference and said, ” Alabama knows how to win, now they have to learn how to lose” it was over. I don’t care what the context was, you just don’t say that out loud in Tuscaloosa. The brick came next.
Vain Jangling
November 16th, 2010
5:27 pm
The dude was the starting center for teams quarterbacked by Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas. Yeah, that’s Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas. That solidifies his place in history if nothing else does. Go you Concrete Campus Panthers!
Old Dawg
November 16th, 2010
5:29 pm
The idea of not being “a Bear man” has always bothered me. Gene Stallings never won as a coach before he arrived at Alabama but Bill Curry won an SEC title quicker than Bear did. Nick Saban didn’t have a connection with the school before he became the head coach and now he’s saint.
Every school has its own demons to work through but Alabama is on a different level than any other school in the country. I don’t wish them bad luck, just a life!
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Roy Barnes
November 16th, 2010
6:23 pm
If you morons would have elected me Governor, I would have make sure GSU beat Alabama.
Bama fans are idiots, UGA fans are crybabies
November 16th, 2010
6:37 pm
Bill Curry was a head coach at Bama……..that Bama fans threw bricks through his window….
Classy Bama fans, classy.
DamYankee
November 16th, 2010
6:55 pm
What’s more stupid and obnoxious than a UGA fan? A ‘Bama fan.
jal
November 16th, 2010
8:41 pm
Curry is a Class Act!!!!
tj
November 16th, 2010
8:45 pm
The brick story is so old! Most Bama people think Curry either threw that brick or had someone do it so he could become more of a “victim”. Curry was a terrible coach and was in completely over his head at Alabama (and Kentucky and Tech).
Let’s not romanticize things too much – he’s a good man and doing probably what he always should have been doing. Coaching a lower level team and teaching life lessons.
I will cheer for him Thursday night and, then as I drink a little Jack & Coke, thank the Lord that he is no longer at the University!
K
November 16th, 2010
9:45 pm
Only one GT coach had a worse record at GT. The year he beat Ala., it was his only win. He was not liked by all at Tech, but he looked good on the sideline and was a Tech man. I do not think we would have ever been able to get rid of him. I live in Alabama, but was never an Alabama fan, see Chick Granning/Darwin Holt. But I liked them a lot better after they hired Bill Curry away from Tech.
Tidewatch
November 16th, 2010
9:47 pm
I wish Curry had made it,but no school would have accepted Curry if it could have had Bobby Bowden or Howard Schnellenberger,both of whom said they would have taken the job at the time if offered.
Ross
November 16th, 2010
10:06 pm
I was in Alabama at the same time and there was a big divide at the University about the football program and then the President went out and hired Bill Curry , a good man , a great recruiter but not a great coach for one of the toughest jobs in Football. He really had no chance. But he should be proud of one thing …20 0f the 22 starters on the 1992 National Championship team were recruited by Bill Curry. For that all of us Ala fans should say thank you. I do.
ugaclassof 2004
November 16th, 2010
10:15 pm
I think Curry did an OK job at Tech even though he took his lumps in 1980 and 1981 after the program was in shambles after Pepper Rogers left. He was 2-5 vs. UGA but gave them some tough outs which is impressive when you consider the lack of talent Tech had in comparison to UGA. Curry won plenty of games at Bama, but he was just kind of an odd fit. That and he never beat Auburn. And he did a subpar job at Kentucky.
Overall Curry is a lot like Mark Richt, a good man who can field good teams if he has the talent. But he isn’t the type of coach you want if you’re looking to maintain a standard of excellence( i.e a Texas or Alabama). With that being said, I thing he’s a STEAL for a place like Ga. State. He can build the program the way he wants without half the pressure you would get from a big school. I’m glad to see he’s doing well.
do-dah do-dah
November 16th, 2010
11:07 pm
He is also very , very good for college football- and Lord knows we need some more good people like him in college football today. Well done coach.
Football fan
November 17th, 2010
12:37 am
Curry actually tried to play Tim Couch as an option quarterback at my beloved Kentucky Wildcats. There is a reason he is coaching Georgia State and not anywhere else better. Bottom line, is he SUCKS. Say what you want, but if he was really that great, he would be coaching at somewhere better. He’s a mediocre full of crap good speech maker. He really does suck though.
itsmeagain
November 17th, 2010
1:17 am
Much as he may suck, Football fan, there are a whole lot of people who absolutely adore him, me being one of them
Hunker Down
November 17th, 2010
2:06 am
Good luck Coach,
Glad to hear that you are up to challenges and prove that those that are not wanted by the upper tier can still be formiable. By the way I am a grad of the KSU owls and we just provide that point. Get after them coach Ingle!
Hunker Down
November 17th, 2010
2:10 am
oh and to all the nay sayers…believe CBC had a better record than the legendary Bear while at Bama.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:33 am
AthensDawg — Thanks for the comments.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:34 am
Ted Striker — It’s no secret Curry wanted that job but universities tend to go with people with stronger business/financial backgrounds as athletic director.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:35 am
Yo Mama — Yes, played with Johnny U. Very cool stuff in his career but column was running long as it is. Thanks.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:36 am
Jack P — Yeah, I know. And AD supposedly was getting death threats from the day he hired Curry.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:37 am
Wxwax — I bet a lot of football coaches (college and pro) can relate to what Curry is talking about (or at least will after retirement).
polly morris
November 17th, 2010
8:38 am
Excellent article..one that I surely enjoyed reading….Bill, sounds as if you are in a “happy place” in your life….you are a good man and have been a good friend to our family…loved the pic of you and George…..
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
8:39 am
TJ — Right. Terrible coach. He won the SEC title in his last season. Maybe you threw the brick.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:03 am
Bill Curry will finish 6-5, his wins are against teams like Savanah State and Shoter College????
If Richt finishes 7-6, Jeff will write about how BAD of a coach
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:03 am
Bill Curry will finish 6-5, his wins are against teams like Savanah State and Shoter College????
If Richt finishes 7-6, Jeff will write about how BAD of a coach
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:06 am
If Richt finished with 5 losses, and the wins were all against lusy teams like Savannah State and Shorter, Jeff wouldn’t be writing some touchy feely piece about Mark Richt.
Curry will finish 6-5. Not good for a coach that is supposed to be a legend. If he keeps doing that, eventually, he’ll be fired again.
Coaching is a bottom line business, and if Jeff says 7-6 isn’t good enough for Richt, then 6-5 isn’t good enough for Curry.
Fair is fair
No excuses..
Right Jeff.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:08 am
Richt’s won 90 games in 9 seasons, he understands what coaching is about.
Curry doesn’t get it.
Wins and losses.
That’s it.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:09 am
Jeff-
to be fair, please list the teams Curry has ‘beat” this year.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:11 am
Eden doesn’t exist Curry or Jeff.
In this world, not Fantasy Island, it’s W’s or L’s.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:13 am
This is the story of an old guy, who lost so much, no god team wanted to hire him. And he has proven again that he can’t win games, even against inferior competition.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:14 am
Athens is Richt’s EDEN.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:16 am
Curry went 26-52 at Kentucky.
What a coach.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:17 am
Didn’t Curry go 1-10 at Tech?
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:19 am
I wish Jeff would write a touchy feely piece about Todd Grantham’s first year.
NOT.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:21 am
Todd Grantham goes to Atlanta as a changed man.
Hilarious.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:23 am
We’ll see if Curry still thinks he’s in Eden after Saban beats the tar out of his team.
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:24 am
Jeff-
You forgot to mention hat Curry’s a Georgia Tech Grad, isn’t that the reason for your puff piece?
Dave
November 17th, 2010
9:25 am
Curry at Kentucky was in Paradise Lost.
GSUtimes2
November 17th, 2010
11:13 am
@Dave- Wow, 15 posts within 22 minutes. Obsess much?
T.E. Blinkhorn
November 17th, 2010
12:23 pm
Bill Curry is without a doubt, the classiest athelete and coach to have ever graced the state of Georgia with his presence. I do not get impressed with “celbrity” easily however when I had the chance encounter with Coach Curry and his wife in the Atlanta airport, I had to pause for a moment, ask them to pardon the interuption and let the coach know that he was indeed “loved by the home folks”. He was the most gracious man of “status” that I have ever had the pleasure to engage in conversation. Bama and Tech both shafted him (and we all know it) but he still has the most postive approach towards his chosen profession. I wish I could muster up just a small amount of Bill Curry’s inspiration each day. Thank you Bill, for all the right reasons!
Son of Roaring Dan
November 17th, 2010
2:57 pm
Once again another story about how unfair Alabama was to poor Bill Curry. As an Alabama fan, I supported Curry and in general most fans I knew liked him and weren’t pushing for a change primarily because he presented well on TV. And I always thought he was in a bind because of the perception that Perkins had left him the best talent in the country. In retrospect, however, he was probably the worst hire in the post-Bryant era. His one decent year at Alabama made his career (pretty abysmal otherwise). (Curry along with Dubose, Shula and Franchione pretty much confirms Alabama is the best coaching job in the country — if those guys can each win 10 games in a season at UA, anyone can.) But the worst has been the constant whining about Alabama since he left — he used his ESPN perch (the one he got ONLY because of his one decent season at Alabama) to constantly take shots at us. When he was at Alabama, I sort of felt sorry for him because of all the complaining he endured about his losing games he wasn’t supposed to (Memphis, Ole Miss, losing to FL at home for the first time ever, struggling to beat Vandy and Army, never beating the ‘Barn, among others) but when I drove by his house on the lake and saw one of the biggest houses I have ever seen — for some reason I didn’t feel sorry for him anymore. The guy didn’t get it done on the field or off (the academic performance of the team under him was atrocious) and has spent much of the last 20 years whining about how unfair everything was. The Alabama job is a big job and he was compensated very well for doing it — he had his shot but wasn’t up for the job.
FAVRE SHAUB & VICK GONE,NOW UP 2 MATTY
November 17th, 2010
3:37 pm
WHAT NUT SCHEDULED ALABAMA THEIR FIRST SEASON? GA STATE!
CAN YOU SAY 70-0
BC
November 17th, 2010
4:25 pm
Curry is a good guy, but the brick incident was later acknowledged as a made-up story. It never happened.
Jeff Schultz
November 17th, 2010
5:06 pm
BC — Acknowledged by who? Alabama fans?