According to Jonathan Jones of CBS, the Buffalo Bills have appointed former Ronald Curry as their new quarterbacks coach. The former standout football and basketball player from North Carolina has worked as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers (2014–15) and New Orleans Saints (2016–23) for the past ten years. The Saints offered him the wide receivers position this offseason, but he leaped at the chance to coach Josh Allen, one of the best passers in the game, after he had served as their quarterbacks coach for the previous three seasons.
Before beginning his coaching career, Curry was one of the most renowned high school players of all time, having spent seven years as a player in the NFL. Curry won the National Football Player of the Year award from Parade and the McDonald’s National Basketball Player of the Year award from Hampton (Va.) High School.
As a senior, he averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 steals per game on the basketball court, setting school records in both scoring and assists. In addition to becoming the winner of the slam dunk competition, he was named the 1998 McDonald’s High School Basketball All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player.
In between the hashes, Curry played quarterback, safety, punter, and kick/punt returner while leading Hampton to three straight football state titles. Throughout his career, he ran for 3,307 yards and 74 touchdowns and tossed for 8,212 yards (a state record) and 90 touchdowns.
When Curry moved to Chapel Hill in 1998, he was the team’s starting quarterback right away. Despite having three offensive coordinators over his four-year career, Curry still ranks seventh in UNC history for career throwing yards (4,987), No. 11 for passing touchdowns (28) and No. 11 for total touchdowns (41).In the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl and the 2001 Peach Bowl, he was voted the bowl game MVP twice.
From 1998 to 2001, Curry played point guard for UNC with fellow football great Julius Peppers, starting 28 of the 54 games in which he was eligible. Curry averaged 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while still a sophomore. That season, he led his team to a share of the ACC regular-season championship while shooting 43.1% from the field and 35.1% from three-point range.
Curry was chosen in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft (at pick No. 235 overall) after finishing his senior year. After entering the NFL, Curry switched to wide receiver and quickly rose to prominence as one of the Raiders’ most effective pass catchers in the early 2000s. Curry would have three different seasons with Oakland in which he caught 50+ balls for 600+ yards despite battling various Achilles tendon problems (2004, 06, 07).
In 2008, Curry’s numerous injuries finally caught up with him, resulting in one of his worst professional seasons. His NFL career would come to an end in 2009 when the Raiders released him. As the head football coach and athletic director of Mooresville (N.C.) Christian Academy, he started his coaching career there shortly after in 2010.
