Curry to end 20-year coaching career Saturday

Nov 9, 2012 - 10:17 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Saturday's Georgia State-Maine contest won't have CAA Football title implications or draw a national audience. But for Georgia State coach Bill Curry, it's the final game of his long, memorable coaching career.

Earlier this year during fall camp, Curry announced he would retire at the end of the season - his 20th as a head coach.

For the first time since Curry took over Georgia State's third- year football program - which he's essentially built from the ground up - the team will need a new coach on the sidelines when the Panthers move to the FBS level next season.

Curry was named GSU's first head coach on June 12, 2008, and has helped set the foundation for a program which is still searching for consistent success.

In the Panthers' inaugural season as an FCS independent in 2010, Curry led them to a 6-5 record. It's been rougher since they raised their schedule, and last season they finished with a 3-8 mark. This year, in the program's only season as a member of the CAA, GSU is 1-9.

The Panthers will move from the FCS next year to play in the Sun Belt Conference.

The veteran coach, who turned 70 in October, also had head coaching stints at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky. He has a 93-127-4 career record.

Curry, a native of Atlanta, will remain working with the program as a special assistant to GSU director of athletics Cheryl L. Levick and president Mark Becker. His contract runs until June 30.

In August, Levick said the university would conduct a national search for a new head coach following the season.