Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle: Lessons from a Football Life »

A college football analyst for ESPN from 1997-2008, Bill Curry is the new head football coach at Georgia State University. Previously, he coached at Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky after completing a 10-year NFL playing career with the Packers, Colts, Oilers, and Rams. He lives in Atlanta with Carolyn Newton Curry, his wife of 45 years.

No sport rivals football for building character. In the scorching heat of August two-a-days, the withering intensity of the locker room, and the fierce combat of the gridiron, true leaders are born. Just ask Bill Curry, whose credentials for exploring the symbiotic relationship between football and leadership include two Super Bowl rings and the distinction of having snapped footballs to Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas in a 10-season NFL career.

In Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle: Lessons From a Football Life, Curry shares the wit, wisdom, and tough love of teammates and coaches who turned a next-to-last NFL draft pick into a two-time Pro Bowler. Later, building on what he learned from such giants as Vince Lombardi and Don Shula, Ray Nitschke and Bubba Smith, Bobby Dodd and even the indomitable George Plimpton, he went in search of the special spark that makes men leaders.

The result of that quest is Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle.

If life is a journey, then Bill Curry's life has been a nonstop exploration. Like Forrest Gump, Curry always seems to find himself in dazzling company. Fortunately for us, he brings with him a sharp eye for detail, an acute sense of what makes men unique, and a true raconteur's love of a really good story. Blessed with irresistible characters, rich personal history, and an endearingly simple, down-to-earth voice, Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle proves that football is much more than a game.
It's a metaphor for life.

Pregame: Get Me to the Church on Time     1
Bill Badgett: Builder     13
Bobby Dodd: Philosopher     37
Vince Lombardi: General     53
Bart Starr: Leader     105
Willie Davis: Counselor     143
Ray Nitschke: Intimidator     173
Don Shula: Teacher     197
John Unitas: Winner     235
Bubba Smith: Coach     279
George Plimpton: Muse     303
Postgame: My Twelfth Man     331