Bill Curry and his move to Bama

stinger 1957

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Curry had a history of recruiting well when he first arrived at a school and then the recruiting would start to fall off. "Bama" folks recognized this or for other reasons decided to let him go and many of the Curry recruits ended up with a NC under the ex TxA&M coach, can't recall his name. I'm guessing Dodd saw that Curry was not recruiting well as the years started to accumulate under him. I've always thought that had as much to do with Curry leaving to go to "Bama" as anything. I've heard coaches say coaches don't leave when they have players returning, I happen to believe there is something to what they say. "Bama" faithful could not stand BC.
 

Vespidae

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Curry had a history of recruiting well when he first arrived at a school and then the recruiting would start to fall off. "Bama" folks recognized this or for other reasons decided to let him go and many of the Curry recruits ended up with a NC under the ex TxA&M coach, can't recall his name. I'm guessing Dodd saw that Curry was not recruiting well as the years started to accumulate under him. I've always thought that had as much to do with Curry leaving to go to "Bama" as anything. I've heard coaches say coaches don't leave when they have players returning, I happen to believe there is something to what they say. "Bama" faithful could not stand BC.
Curry was the choice of Joab Thomas, then President of Alabama and who lived next door to my uncle. He wanted to change Alabama athletics. The faithful didn’t buy what he was selling and both lost their jobs.
 

stinger 1957

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Curry was the choice of Joab Thomas, then President of Alabama and who lived next door to my uncle. He wanted to change Alabama athletics. The faithful didn’t buy what he was selling and both lost their jobs.
I remember something going around at that time about AL wanting to change the culture there and was a big part of why they chose Curry as you are saying. BC was considered a really outstanding individual by many who knew him.
 

DeepSnap

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Curry had a history of recruiting well when he first arrived at a school and then the recruiting would start to fall off. "Bama" folks recognized this or for other reasons decided to let him go and many of the Curry recruits ended up with a NC under the ex TxA&M coach, can't recall his name. I'm guessing Dodd saw that Curry was not recruiting well as the years started to accumulate under him. I've always thought that had as much to do with Curry leaving to go to "Bama" as anything. I've heard coaches say coaches don't leave when they have players returning, I happen to believe there is something to what they say. "Bama" faithful could not stand BC.
Curry wasn't fired at Alabama so much as he was shoved. STRONGLY..... all kinds of nonsense - moving vans in front of his house, eggings, bricks through windows & IIRC into his office, etc. Surprisingly, his leaving for Kentucky really got up the collective noses of the Alabama faithful. If he was going to leave before they could fire him, how dare he go to Kentucky. They did the same thing when Dennis Franchione left Bama after only two years in 2002 for Texas A&M.

President Joab Thomas & AD Steve Sloan, however, were canned by "UAT" - they HATE that - and eventually Mal Moore was named AD & Gene Stallings, a former aTm player under Bryant and Bryant Asst at Bama, were brought in. It was Stallings that won a MNC with Curry's players.

Another sticking point for the Bammers with Curry, in addition to not being a Bryant Disciple & having played & coached at the "beneath them Georgia Tech," was moving the Iron Bowl from Birmingham to a Home&Home series with the Awbies. The thought of having to go Auburn was just too much for the UAT whine&cheese crowd. Bill had to go. Working over here at Redstone from 1991-2012, I got a really rude awakening to the fantasy entitlement attitude of the Bammers, much like the Ugag FB crowd, or the Duke, UNC, and Kentucky MBB fans, and really enjoyed their failings & flailings in the pre-Saban era.
 
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Vespidae

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Curry wasn't fired at Alabama so much as he was shoved. STRONGLY..... all kinds of nonsense - moving vans in front of his house, eggings, bricks through windows & IIRC into his office, etc. Surprisingly, his leaving for Kentucky really got up the collective noses of the Alabama faithful. If he was going to leave before they could fire him, how dare he go to Kentucky. They did the same thing when Dennis Franchione left Bama after only two years in 2002 for Texas A&M.

President Joab Thomas & AD Steve Sloan, however, were canned by "UAT" - they HATE that - and eventually Mal Moore was named AD & Gene Stallings, a former aTm player under Bryant and Bryant Asst at Bama, were brought in. It was Stallings that won a MNC with Curry's players.

Another sticking point for the Bammers with Curry, in addition to not being a Bryant Disciple & having played & coached at the "beneath them Georgia Tech," was moving the Iron Bowl from Birmingham to a Home&Home series with the Awbies. The thought of having to go Auburn was just too much for the UAT whine&cheese crowd. Bill had to go. Working over here at Redstone from 1991-2012, I got a really rude awakening to the fantasy entitlement attitude of the Bammers, much like the Ugag FB crowd, or the Duke, UNC, and Kentucky MBB fans, and really enjoyed their failings & flailings in the pre-Saban era.
Wasn't it Dye that moved the game?

 

1979jacket

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Curry was the choice of Joab Thomas, then President of Alabama and who lived next door to my uncle. He wanted to change Alabama athletics. The faithful didn’t buy what he was selling and both lost their jobs.just wondering - when you say "change" - what does "change" entail?
 

DeepSnap

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Wasn't it Dye that moved the game?

Dye pushed it, but Curry agreed to it & took the heat and subsequent blame along with Sloan from the finger (you pick which finger😎) pointing Bammers.

That article, written with an Awbie slant, says something similar, but the overwhelming noise in the Huntsville area from the people I lived among & worked around made the vitriol directed at our most recent "clown coach" seem tame. All the blame was directed at Curry & Sloan. And as expected, the noise on Finebaum's daily show on WJOX in BHAM echoed all this & fanned the flames.

Just as in COFH, "anything" that favors one side does so to the "Book of Revelations end of the world"-level detriment to the other.

:gt:THWg!:buzz:
 

Vespidae

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Dye pushed it, but Curry agreed to it & took the heat and subsequent blame along with Sloan from the finger (you pick which finger😎) pointing Bammers.

That article, written with an Awbie slant, says something similar, but the overwhelming noise in the Huntsville area from the people I lived among & worked around made the vitriol directed at our most recent "clown coach" seem tame. All the blame was directed at Curry & Sloan. And as expected, the noise on Finebaum's daily show on WJOX in BHAM echoed all this & fanned the flames.

Just as in COFH, "anything" that favors one side does so to the "Book of Revelations end of the world"-level detriment to the other.

:gt:THWg!:buzz:
As I recall, Alabama HAD to agree to it. Legion Field was not considered to be a neutral site and Dye was the one who forced their hand. Curry was a lightning rod for everything though … and boy did they turn on him.
 

bob4gt

Jolly Good Fellow
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Bama fans blamed Curry for letting it happen. The week before the first Bama game at Auburn was crazy. Tailgaters started arriving Monday and were all over campus. Booze was everywhere. An alum even brought a six pack of beer to my office; he knew me well :) . Tiger Walk was absolute bedlam. Good times at Auburn.

Bob
THWG
 

stinger 1957

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,466
Curry wasn't fired at Alabama so much as he was shoved. STRONGLY..... all kinds of nonsense - moving vans in front of his house, eggings, bricks through windows & IIRC into his office, etc. Surprisingly, his leaving for Kentucky really got up the collective noses of the Alabama faithful. If he was going to leave before they could fire him, how dare he go to Kentucky. They did the same thing when Dennis Franchione left Bama after only two years in 2002 for Texas A&M.

President Joab Thomas & AD Steve Sloan, however, were canned by "UAT" - they HATE that - and eventually Mal Moore was named AD & Gene Stallings, a former aTm player under Bryant and Bryant Asst at Bama, were brought in. It was Stallings that won a MNC with Curry's players.

Another sticking point for the Bammers with Curry, in addition to not being a Bryant Disciple & having played & coached at the "beneath them Georgia Tech," was moving the Iron Bowl from Birmingham to a Home&Home series with the Awbies. The thought of having to go Auburn was just too much for the UAT whine&cheese crowd. Bill had to go. Working over here at Redstone from 1991-2012, I got a really rude awakening to the fantasy entitlement attitude of the Bammers, much like the Ugag FB crowd, or the Duke, UNC, and Kentucky MBB fans, and really enjoyed their failings & flailings in the pre-Saban era.
Thanks for reminding me that he wasn't really fired, but they made it so well known he was not wanted there he left on his own.
 

4shotB

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I was just thinking to myself, "I hope there is some good Curry/Dye/Bama/Auburn/Iron Bowl discussion in the "Key and His Staff" thread today."

Lucky me.
I have a different take. I always enjoy the stream of consciousness dialogue here. I have never been so busy or behind that the 20-30 seconds it takes to read a handful of "off topic" posts has ever been a threat to either my job or my marriage. ;)

I pretty much believe that the "on topic" comments about coaches/players.recruits/schedules/opponents are just recycled comments from previous years and that I am more likely to discover a fresh take or perspective in the topics that haven't beaten beaten to death before.

Sorry for getting off topic. Mods, please delete or move as you see necessary.
 
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