By John Breech/STAFF

In April 2008, Georgia State University revealed to the world that they were going to start a Division 1-AA football program. On June 12 of that same year, the school held their first football related press conference. The school’s big announcement was that former Georgia Tech coach and Peach State native Bill Curry was going to be the head coach of the new Panther football team. After two years of recruiting and one year of practice, the Georgia State program is now only 65 days away from kicking off their inaugural season.

This past Tuesday, Curry was in Johns Creek to speak to the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. After his speech – which drew a standing ovation – Curry took some time to answer questions from the Beacon about Georgia State football.

Curry Says Sayonara to ESPN

When Georgia State called in 2008, Bill Curry had been out of coaching for over 12 years. But he wasn’t jobless. For most of the decade, Curry had a job that some former coaches and players would kill for: ESPN analyst. The pay was nice and the job wasn’t as stressful as coaching, but Curry knew that one day, he wanted to get back into coaching. “At ESPN I always had the itch [to get back into coaching],” Curry says, “but I didn’t think it was going to happen, because I wasn’t going to ask my [wife] to move again.” Curry had always felt guilty for making his wife Caroline pack up and move so often: before 2008, the couple had already moved 34 times in their 47-year marriage. Curry started his head coaching career at Georgia Tech before going to Alabama 1987. Before Georgia State came calling, Curry’s last coaching job was with Kentucky; his final year there was 1996.

“Every now and then I would get a feeler and I would ask her, ‘What do you think of me taking another job?’ and she would say, ‘Oh that’s great, but I’ll miss you [because I’m not moving],” Curry explains. “Well, I wasn’t going to leave her to go take a coaching job. So I figured I could write books and give speeches, which I enjoy.”

Curry knew the only way he was going to be head coach again was if it was with a local team and as most people know, Georgia Tech and UGA aren’t exactly hiring right now. However, surprising news came in mid-2008. “Georgia State decided to start a football [program] and they shocked me by inviting me to coach,” Curry says, seemingly still surprised by the Georgia State decision. Curry didn’t hesitate taking the job, “ESPN was wonderful, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t have my huddle, I didn’t have my group of guys.”

Curry Recruits Georgia Hard

If you look at the Georgia State football roster, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that the team is almost completely made up of Georgia natives. Curry knows how much talent the state has to offer, so for him, recruiting Georgia kids was a no-brainer. Its so important to [get Georgia kids],” Curry says. “The state is filled with top quality student athletes and guys that can play.”

Among Curry’s 59 Georgia products on the team are three players from North Fulton. Former Blessed Trinity running back Sam Burkhalter was a member of Curry’s first recruiting class last year. Burkhalter will be a redshirt freshman when the Panthers kickoff 2010.

Former Roswell offensive lineman Cade Yates will be a teammate of Burkhalter’s. Yates was a sophomore at Roswell when the Hornets won the state championship in 2006. Yates, who will most likely play guard, will also be a redshirt freshman. The third North Fulton player that Curry is bringing to the Panther program is Mark Collins. Collins is a defensive back who graduated from Milton in 2009.

Georgia State Versus Alabama?

When it comes to football mismatches, it probably doesn’t get any bigger than a first-year 1-AA program going up against the defending 1-A National Champions. On November 20, that’s the exact situation Ga. State will find themselves in when they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide. The biggest questions here seem to be: why would GSU schedule a game against Alabama?

“When they called, of course I said, ‘that’s ridiculous, it’s our first year, we can’t do that.’” Curry explains. “And they said, ‘That’s all we got available for the next 10 years, take it or leave it.”

At that point, Curry decided to take the game for three reasons: he thinks it will bring publicity to the program, he says it will be a great learning experience and the third reason: money.

“There’s an awful lot of buzz [about the game],” Curry says. “Think about it, we’re talking about the game right now [in June], plus, there’s an awful lot of appeal to Georgia high school student athletes who would give anything to go to Tuscaloosa to play those guys, no matter how good they are.”

Curry is also convinced the game will be an educational experience. “No matter what happens on the field, it will be a great learning experience for our guys,” says the man who coached Alabama from 1987 to 1989.

Curry also mentioned that the trip to Tuscaloosa will generate $450,000 for the Panther Athletic Department, an amount represents more than 10 percent of the current $3 million football budget.

Georgia State will kickoff their inaugural football season when they host Shorter College on Sept. 2 at the Georgia Dome.