Bill Curry....what do you think of him?

[00Burdell]

Homer Rice did a TON more to save the program than Curry.

Starting with getting the 1981 UGa game on ABC. I think we'd have gone completely under but for that. Back then, getting on ABC was big, big money - Homer pulled a huge favor to get that game - we weren't exactly a top draw at the time.

And Home deserves a lot of credit for hiring Curry. Spurrier who was already on campus as an assistant to Rodgers wanted the job badly and it couldn't have been an easy decision to hire and unproven Curry over the soon-to-be ole ball coach. I think Dodd "helped" Rice make that call.

 

[gnats67]

You're totally missing the point about Curry's impact on the program. We were on the eve of destruction w/o major balls to step up and a relatively young Bill Curry did that for his school. A Dodd man. Wouldn't have it any other way. He was never perfect. He majorly f'd up when he quit for Alabama, lot's of us have regrets, but he's always been a sound man. A man of character. A Tech man. The total package.

 

[GiveEmHellJackets]

WARNING: OFF-TOPIC POST

gnats67's avatar is by far the best avatar on ST.
:biggthumpup:

 

[77GTFan]

I have mixed feelings about Curry. As a kid I idolized him - the Tech centers were my favorites in Atlanta, first Don Stephenson, then Curry and Jim Breland. I remember hearing him speak at a youth rally in Macon as a young teen. I thought he was impressive and pulled for him as a pro, especially as a Colt.

He coached briefly as an assistant at Tech while I was there, and some in FCA were disappointed in his lack of support for us that year.

I liked Pepper. He had four winning seasons in six tries. The two losing seasons were 4-6-1. Curry's first two years were 1-10 and 1-9-1. He did a good job rebuilding after that, but often talked about the program at his arrival being so bad as if under Pepper we only won 1 game a year.

The '85 season was a very special one. He was a good leader and motivator. I thought he did a poor job in '86. I understand the pull 'Bama had for him, but I wished he would have been satisfied to coach at his alma mater.

I consider Bill Curry a good man, very bright and articulate. But, I don't have a lot of warm feelings for him beyond that. I wish him well at GSU only to the point that he does no harm to Georgia Tech.

 

[artesian jacket]

Homer Rice did a TON more to save the program than Curry.

Upon further reflection, you are probably right. Nonetheless, Curry stepped into an extremely difficult situation and handled it with grace and determination.

 

[lonestarjacket]

Homer Rice did a TON more to save the program than Curry.

+2 (or I lost count)

Rice brought EVERY sport at GT back with his hires in each area and set the stage to maintain it after he left.

I share the common sentiment about Curry, against him as AD, like his devotion to Tech, dislike his disloyalty to Tech (but he paid for that with the karma of disgruntled Bama fans.)

But, I'm not sure we wouldn't have done better with Spurrier than Curry with zero experience as a HC. It is arguable whether the depth of our problems in his early years were due to his inexperience.

Then again, if we got Spurrier then we might not have gotten Ross and the 1990 MNC. Spurrier would certainly have jumped ship for a BBD at first opportunity.

 

[GT98]

Bill Curry, like you guys said, took a team that went from being someone that opponents feared seeing on their schedule in the 40's, 50's and 60's to a homecoming opponent for an easy win in the 70's. The 80's saw the Black Watch defense and a lot of new beginnings for Georgia Tech and we were FINALLY being put back in the spotlight.

Bill Curry didn't coach here for the "70's". You weren't implying that were you?

He did make us respectable again during an incredibly difficult period for GT athletics, when there was serious talk of dropping down to Div. Iaa at the time. The '84 win over Ugag was huge (attitude was that it would be a long time before we ever beat them again in football after Ugag's run from 80-83). The '85 Gary Lee (!) in the fog remains my favorite GT game.

That being said, I am glad that he didn't get the AD job; while he would have been good at raising $$$ (short run), I think that DRad has positioned GT athletics better for the long run.

If we are ranking the men responsible for "rescuing/saving" GT athletics from the truly dark days, I'd say 1. Homer Rice 2. Bobby Cremins 3. Bill Curry (more space between him and Bobby than Bobby and Homer--if that makes sense).

As BOR pointed out, Curry leaving paved the way for us to get Ross (after the Maryland fallout).

 

[ncjacket]

I
Bill Curry, like you guys said, took a team that went from being someone that opponents feared seeing on their schedule in the 40's, 50's and 60's to a homecoming opponent for an easy win in the 70's. The 80's saw the Black Watch defense and a lot of new beginnings for Georgia Tech and we were FINALLY being put back in the spotlight.

So does this mean you really don't know Tech history or am I confused about the point you're trying to make? Curry coached at Tech in the 80s my man. The Black Watch was HIS defense (or at least his and Don Lindsay's). He had nothing to do with the 70s except for a short stint as an assistant under Pepper. So maybe you're acknowledging that Curry is the one who started us on our road back?