3 questions at football preview luncheon

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hundreds of fans packed the ballroom at the Marriott in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday, ready for college football.

Georgia coach Mark Richt, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and Georgia State coach Bill Curry entertained the crowd at the Atlanta college football preview luncheon, with the help of several notable emcees, including ESPN's Mark May, Lee Corso and Brad Nessler.

While people nodded as the ESPN personalities made their predictions (Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett for Heisman, anyone?), it was the coaches many of them came to see.

The three took some time before the event to talk with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

What was your best memory from this summer?

Curry: Carolyn [Curry's wife] and I were in Northern California. We took nine days to get completely away. The surf, the cool weather -- the bagpipes at the place we stayed was really ... eerie and beautiful.

But there was a moment when I knew I was rested for the first time in a long time. I was anxious to get back to work. You don't know if you're going to stop feeling that at some point. That was the highlight.

Johnson: Getting to go home to [Newland] North Carolina was the most enjoyable. We went up on the Fourth of July.

Richt: My son [Jonathan] getting married [May 8 at Lake Hartwell]. You pray [to have] children. You pray that they're healthy and they come to know the Lord, that they find the right mate. To see it all happen right before your eyes. ... It was probably as much fun as I've had as an adult.

With the state of the economy, is the college-football arms race still a good thing?

Curry: There has always been a perspective issue with this. There are two distinct ways to look at.

Is this part of the educational mission? Should the chemistry professor be paid $80,000 while the football coach makes $4 million. Of course not. In terms of the educational mission, it's wacky. It makes no sense at all.

The other way to look at is the law of supply and demand and fundraising. The kinds of things that can be done by quality football programs. The football program can help build a quality academic institution. Then it begins to make more sense to spend the money to bring the 100,000 people in.

Johnson: If it has cooled off, it's a good thing, but I'm not sure it has. It puts people at a distinct disadvantage and puts a lot of pressure on schools and athletics departments to try and keep up.

It creates issues for other sports and the schools and everybody involved.

Richt: We're in the middle of a $40 million renovation to the Butts-Mehre building. A great majority of that has already been raised. A lot of it was planned and raised prior to the economic hard times. We feel confident that we can handle that debt and move forward.

Our athletic association has done a great job of handling our fiscal matters. We are one of the few schools that are turning a profit.

What are you most looking forward to in August?

Curry: Honest-to-goodness, I can't wait to get out there with our whole team and play for the first time. Over half our signed players haven't been on a football field with us. I can't wait to get the whole team together, look them in the eye and tell them what they need to do in practice.

Johnson: Any time you have a new season, it's exciting to get started. A fresh start is always fun. Just getting back to camp and finding out what you've got is always good.

Richt: I can't wait to get the guys in camp, starting Sunday night and practice on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it.