At Georgia State, players find Curry motivating

In college football, "M" stands for Michigan, Maryland or perhaps Missouri or Marshall.

At Georgia State, thanks to coach Bill Curry, it stands for "magnanimitas."

"The guys tease me about it," Curry said. "It's a Latin word. It means ‘greatness of spirit.'"

Curry unveiled his twist on a college football tradition this week, informing his players that they will receive helmet decals for on-field achievements, academic excellence and also for his treasured magnanimitas. The stickers will be, respectively, a white panther, a gold star and a red block "M."

"I've never done it before," Curry said of the practice of awarding stickers, "but I really like the idea with the team."

In his shepherding of the first team in school history, Curry has shown himself to be thoughtful and flexible, summoning lessons learned from 17 years as a coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky, 10 years in the NFL and four years as a player and industrial-management major at Tech.

"What can I say? The guy has a lot of experience, and that being the case, he's been there and done that," safety Michael Hall said. "He knows exactly what to do and what to say to get us to perform a certain way."

Curry's methods, though, have ranged far from stickers and pats on the back. This same week, as equipment manager Jay Bailey ordered the decals, Curry blistered players from behind his bullhorn for their decided lack of magnanimitas as they trudged through practices in preparation for their game Saturday against Lambuth in the Georgia Dome.

"He's not one of those coaches that blows a lot of smoke," Hall said. "He's pretty much honest. Just the brutal truth is enough to motivate you."

Curry also has brought in a series of speakers to address the team, including former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone and Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson, a double amputee and director of the U.S. Army's Wounded Warrior program. The week of the Shorter game, Curry brought in former teammate Willie Davis, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Curry also shares plenty from his own experiences at Tech and the NFL.

"I've heard about Willie Davis at least 30, 40 times since I've been here," Hall said with a smile.

Curry had been considering helmet stickers since he became coach two years ago, but decided on it last week following the team's win over Shorter in its first game. Curry awarded sledgehammers to the three players who delivered the most punishing hits in the game, including Hall.

Said Curry, "I saw those faces light up. I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty good stuff.'"

The first recipient of the M sticker will be Bo Schlechter, who Wednesday moved from quarterback to wide receiver. Curry lauded Schlechter for willingly putting aside his desire to compete for the starting quarterback job to switch to a position thinned out by injuries.

Said Curry, "This is extreme unselfishness for the team."

If this isn't the first time Latin has made its way onto a helmet sticker, then the list isn't very long.