Georgia State's Bill Curry to retire after season

ATLANTA - Georgia State football coach Bill Curry announced Wednesday he will retire after the 2012 season.

Curry, 69, also has coached at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky. His time spent at Georgia State was unique. He was hired in 2008 to start the program and led the Panthers to a 6-5 record in their inaugural 2010 season.

``The opportunity to start a football program at a university that I love, in my hometown, and the privilege to coach these young men has been one of the highlights of my career,'' Curry said. ``This has been a labor of love, but after this season, it will be the right time to step away from coaching. I am blessed with good health, but I am ready to move on to other things in my life and devote more time to my wife, Carolyn, and our children and grandchildren.''

Georgia State finished 3-8 in 2011, leaving Curry 9-13 in two seasons.

Georgia State announced in April it will move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2013 as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. With Curry's announcement, the school will make that move with a new coach.

Georgia State will play in the Colonial Athletic Association this season.

Athletic director Cheryl L. Levick said the school will conduct a national search for a new coach following the season.

``As much as we would all love for Bill Curry to be our football coach forever, we certainly understand and respect this very personal decision,'' Levick said. ``Bill remains as committed as ever to his role as head coach and mentor to these young men in this final chapter of his coaching career. I think he is invigorated by the unique challenges of this season as we build toward our move to FBS and the Sun Belt.''

Curry's contract ends on June 20, 2013. Following the season, he plans to assume a role working with Georgia State University president Mark Becker at least through the end of the contract.

His overall record is 92-118-4 in 19 seasons. He won the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award in 1989 after leading Alabama to a Southeastern Conference championship.

Curry, an alumnus of Georgia Tech, was a center in the NFL for 10 seasons with the Green Bay Packers (1965-66), Baltimore Colts (1967-72), Houston Oilers (1973) and Los Angeles Rams (1974). He played in two Pro Bowls.

He worked for 11 years as a college football analyst for ESPN before he was hired by Georgia State.