You must be young and have no knowledge of GT athletics.
First, Rice didn't hire Curry. Once again you have your facts wrong.
Secondly, even if he had, he would have done us a favor. We were about to go 1-AA. Our facilities were the worst in the nation--Bear Bryant would not let his team dress in the visitors locker room. We had no money. Our de facto head recruiter--someone I knew, but I won't post her name--was an administrator at the AA. And yes, Bobby Dodd the AD was to blame for much of this.
Curry was about all we could attract at the time. He pulled the program up from where it was in 1979. He did a good enough job that Alabama hired him--with Bobby Dodd's blessing. I have never understood why anyone is critical of a great Tech Man like Bill Curry. Ignorance of the facts is the only explanation.
Homer Rice is the most important figure in GT history. He took a program that was about to go 1-AA to a national championship in football and a final four in basketball 10 years later, while also building a baseball world series runner up 4 years later and a perennial national contender in golf. He also corrected the Lewis mistake by hiring O'Leary as DC--Rice stepped in and made that hire, not Lewis. O'Leary was the last coach to have 5 (I believe) top 25 finishes, and beat UGa 3 in a row.
So you say Homer Rice never did us any favors?
Kim King, assuming you know who he was, made a lot of money. His money and his reputation as one of Dodd's boys gave him tremendous clout. He had good judgment in business and in athletics. He had tremendous credibility with the administration and the athletic board. He and Homer were a powerful combination.
I won't even go into the combination of Clough and Braine. What a disaster. They set a decline in motion, both with regard to finances and general decision making. The athletic board is now dominated by academics and donors that either don't understand or don't care about winning at a high level.
I could go on, but that's enough.
Either Rice hired Curry, or Dodd, did, since they were both hired in 1980. I guess Dodd probably did. You may choose to like Curry, but I think he was terrible coach, and I was glad that Bama was stupid enough to hire him.
"Homer Rice is the most important figure in GT history"??? I disagree there. Yes, he did some great things while at Tech; I will not argue that. With him, I guess it's just a matter of differing opinions. I am not alone in disliking him, but you DO make some valid points.
Someone, either you or upstateJacket, seemed at least to imply that Kim King was a disaster for Tech. I had not ever been of that opinion, and I wanted to know why he was included in what I perceived to be a slam on him. You are right, though; he did have considerable clout at Tech, and I am glad he did. There have been other former Tech players who made it big in life, who have, regardless of motivation, not served us so well.
As far as my age, I am not happy in saying that I am probably older than you. I have been around Tech, both as student and alum for a LONG LONG time.
Totally agree about Clough and Braine, but I would add DRad to that list. Yes, he raised a lot of money, but he also ignored the fans and alums and, at least in my opinion, threw Johnson under the bus on the NCAA investigation.
I agree that O'Leary produced some great teams and talent; I would never argue that point. If he hadn't been greedy and felt the call of Notre Dame, he would have probably stayed at Tech (successfully) until he retired, false resume or no false resume. I didn't, however, care much for the way he often treated some of his players. Joe Burns comes immediately to mind, although I have heard that Joe Burns, to this day, loves the man.
