Beleaguered Bill Curry Interviews at Kentucky

Bill Curry, whose three years as the Alabama football coach have been anything but a smooth ride, was in Lexington today to meet with University of Kentucky officials about the Wildcat post given up by Jerry Claiborne.

“Coach Curry is in Lexington,” said Mike Ellis, a spokesman for the University of Alabama. “Other than that, I don’t know anything.”

Neither the Crimson Tide athletic director, Hootie Ingram, nor the school president, Roger Sayers, was immediately available for comment.

Curry’s visit to Kentucky came just two days after Miami defeated Alabama 33-25 in the Sugar Bowl. Curry led the Crimson Tide to a 10-2 record this season and a share of the Southeastern Conference title.

He told the Huntsville Times on Tuesday night that he visited briefly with Kentucky Athletic Director C. M. Newton in New Orleans before the Sugar Bowl “and we agreed to talk further about it.”

“We’re going to listen and evaluate our circumstances,” Curry told the Lexington Herald-Leader in a telephone interview Tuesday. “But with C. M.’s reputation and with my respect for Jerry Claiborne, and the school, and for the job that has been done on and off the field, we are certainly interested.”

Curry told the Tuscaloosa News that the interviews to find a successor to Claiborne, who retired last month at the end of eight seasons, have “a sense of urgency.”

But, he said, “certainly, remaining at Alabama is a possibility. I just have to look at all the options and see what is best for my family and players.”

Curry, who previously coached at Georgia Tech, is quoted in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying that other schools, which he declined to name, have contacted him.

He told the Huntsville Times that the Atlanta Falcons job is not one he is considering. “I haven’t been contacted by the Falcons,” he said.

Curry said he is not using the Kentucky negotiations as a lever in any bid to extend or improve his Alabama contract.