Episode 27: Bill Curry

Coach Curry was born and raised in College Park, Georgia. He starred on the football team at Georgia Tech under the iconic coach, Bobby Dodd. In 1965, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers where he won his first of two Super Bowls under Vince Lombardi. Curry was in the NFL until 1974, playing not only for the Packers, but also for the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers, and Los Angeles Rams. He then made the transition to the sidelines as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 1976. He moved to the NFL as an Offensive Line Coach for the Packers, but returned to Georgia Tech in 1980 as the head coach. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 1985, but then went on to become the head coach at the University of Alabama. His three-year tenure at Alabama gave him the highest winning percentage among coaches at the school since Bear Bryant. After Alabama, Bill Curry became the new head coach at the University of Kentucky for a few seasons. His last stop coaching came in 2010, when he was named the first ever head coach at Georgia State University to begin the football program at the school. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Coach Curry about his upbringing in College Park, the role that men play in the family dynamic, the lessons he learned from legendary coaches like Bobby Dodd, Vince Lombardi and Don Shula, his transition from playing to coaching, the difficulties of the expectations that come from the public spotlight, and the reconciliation we can see in our country.