I'm going to close my participation in this particular thread with a few observations.
First - with one or two exceptions, I have not heard all the bashing Curry has done towards us, but I
also don't think our great fans here just make stuff up. Particularly when it's a LOT of them saying
essentially the same thing. The instance that stands out by far the most to me was his reference
to "the Alabama mafia" on the day Coach Saban was hired. I remember thinking he had been giving
a mostly exemplary interview until then - saying the fans deservedly had high expectations, blah blah.
Then that reference overshadowed everything else he said.
Secondly - the debate is NOT about whether Bill Curry was a great coach or a terrible coach. It seems
to center on which degree of mediocrity to above average we want to tolerate. I think the best way
to determine a coach's greatness is to subtract his very best and very worst season and then see what
you have. If you do that with Curry, his record is 81-107-4 with zero conference championships in 17
years (if you deduct the two). That's an annual record of 5-6 EVERY YEAR. And if you drop his
26-10 Alabama mark from his career, it's even worse. (The argument could, in fact, be made that
Curry is the worst coach in history to ever win an SEC title).
Thirdly - one of the things I've always liked about Curry when he's on "Mike and Mike" is that his
perspective is from outside the box. If he could harness that process and apply it towards coaching,
he would be an all-time great. He says things oftentimes from a perspective very different than
linear logic. He did, in fact, speak out against THE WAY Fran left us - noting that Fran had an obligation
to all those players he had had give up their transfer rights - at least they deserved a face-to-face
good-bye.
Finally - context is everything. Curry was that guy whom you could look at as a winning coach under
difficult circumstances (Ga Tech) and then imagine that if he had shackles loosened he could really
be good.
But here's where too many people fail to apply the Rich Rod-Houston Nutt-Franchione test - look at exactly
who they've beaten and how. So I did a little checking. Let's count teams with SEVEN wins as winning teams,
but I don't consider 6-5 in an 11-game season much of an accomplishment.
Anyone want to venture a guess as to what Curry's record was against teams with SEVEN WINS OR MORE while he was at Ga Tech?
8-22-4
That's right - he lost 22 out of 34 games against teams that won seven games or more. And three of those eight
wins came in one season, 1984, where he beat three foes that won SEVEN GAMES. He didn't beat anyone who
won eight or more that year.
At Alabama, he started 3-0 in 1987 against seven-win opponents (but managed to lose to Memphis and Florida) but
ended up with 3 straight losses. He was 1-2 in 1988, the sole win over 9-win Army in the Sun Bowl by one point. And
in 1989, he was 4-2 but one of those wins was against ULL.
At Alabama against seven-win foes, he was 8-7, but 7-7 if you drop ULL.
Curry simply never should have been given the job he was. He got it at least in part due to the illusion
of success, the same illusion that Rich Rodriguez and Houston Nutt have excelled using. And while I
was not part of the search, I SUSPECT he got it because the PTB perceived him as weak and controllable.
That said - let's press on and RTR.
First - with one or two exceptions, I have not heard all the bashing Curry has done towards us, but I
also don't think our great fans here just make stuff up. Particularly when it's a LOT of them saying
essentially the same thing. The instance that stands out by far the most to me was his reference
to "the Alabama mafia" on the day Coach Saban was hired. I remember thinking he had been giving
a mostly exemplary interview until then - saying the fans deservedly had high expectations, blah blah.
Then that reference overshadowed everything else he said.
Secondly - the debate is NOT about whether Bill Curry was a great coach or a terrible coach. It seems
to center on which degree of mediocrity to above average we want to tolerate. I think the best way
to determine a coach's greatness is to subtract his very best and very worst season and then see what
you have. If you do that with Curry, his record is 81-107-4 with zero conference championships in 17
years (if you deduct the two). That's an annual record of 5-6 EVERY YEAR. And if you drop his
26-10 Alabama mark from his career, it's even worse. (The argument could, in fact, be made that
Curry is the worst coach in history to ever win an SEC title).
Thirdly - one of the things I've always liked about Curry when he's on "Mike and Mike" is that his
perspective is from outside the box. If he could harness that process and apply it towards coaching,
he would be an all-time great. He says things oftentimes from a perspective very different than
linear logic. He did, in fact, speak out against THE WAY Fran left us - noting that Fran had an obligation
to all those players he had had give up their transfer rights - at least they deserved a face-to-face
good-bye.
Finally - context is everything. Curry was that guy whom you could look at as a winning coach under
difficult circumstances (Ga Tech) and then imagine that if he had shackles loosened he could really
be good.
But here's where too many people fail to apply the Rich Rod-Houston Nutt-Franchione test - look at exactly
who they've beaten and how. So I did a little checking. Let's count teams with SEVEN wins as winning teams,
but I don't consider 6-5 in an 11-game season much of an accomplishment.
Anyone want to venture a guess as to what Curry's record was against teams with SEVEN WINS OR MORE while he was at Ga Tech?
8-22-4
That's right - he lost 22 out of 34 games against teams that won seven games or more. And three of those eight
wins came in one season, 1984, where he beat three foes that won SEVEN GAMES. He didn't beat anyone who
won eight or more that year.
At Alabama, he started 3-0 in 1987 against seven-win opponents (but managed to lose to Memphis and Florida) but
ended up with 3 straight losses. He was 1-2 in 1988, the sole win over 9-win Army in the Sun Bowl by one point. And
in 1989, he was 4-2 but one of those wins was against ULL.
At Alabama against seven-win foes, he was 8-7, but 7-7 if you drop ULL.
Curry simply never should have been given the job he was. He got it at least in part due to the illusion
of success, the same illusion that Rich Rodriguez and Houston Nutt have excelled using. And while I
was not part of the search, I SUSPECT he got it because the PTB perceived him as weak and controllable.
That said - let's press on and RTR.
