from out of the blue

Courtesy the AJC ...

Bill Curry will be Georgia St.'s first football coach

Former Georgia Tech and Alabama coach Bill Curry has been chosen to start the football program at Georgia State and will be introduced Thursday as head coach at a 1:30 p.m. press conference, a school official has confirmed.

Georgia State will play its first season in 2010, competing at the level formerly known as Division I-AA. The Panthers will continue to play in the Colonial Athletic Association and will play their home games at the Georgia Dome.

The decision to hire Curry, who has been a college football analyst at ESPN since 1997, is expected to energize the Georgia State fan base and stir interest in the program.

Curry's arrival enhances the school's athletic ramp-up begun by GSU Athletics Director Mary McElroy, who a year ago hired Rod Barnes as men's basketball coach.

Curry will soon begin the process of hiring assistant coaches. The Panthers will begin recruiting its first class of players in the fall and will have spring practice in 2009. School officials are currently looking for possible sites for a downtown-area practice facility.

Curry, 65, grew up in College Park and played at Georgia Tech, where he graduated in 1965 with a degree in industrial management. Curry played in the NFL from 1965-74 with Green Bay, Houston, Baltimore and Los Angeles. He was an all-pro center with the Colts in 1971 and 1972. He spent three seasons as an assistant at Green Bay under Bart Starr.

Curry spent 17 years as a head coach in college, starting with Georgia Tech from 1980-86, where his record was 31-43-4 and he was ACC Coach of the Year in 1985 after a 9-2-1 season. Curry was 26-10 during his three-year stint at Alabama (1987-89), won the SEC championship in 1989 and was named National Coach of the Year in 1989. He moved on to Kentucky from 1990-96, where his teams went 26-52.

Curry also served as chief operating officer at the National Consortium of Academics and Sports, which helps athletes earn their college degrees.

Curry was a finalist last year for the vacant athletics director job at Georgia Tech, which eventually went to Dan Radakovich.

In honor of Curry, here's a great moment from his tenure at Alabama ...



Here's hoping Georgia St. never plays Auburn.

wlh