Fran Curci (born June 11, 1938) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player and coach. He was an
All-American quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in 1959. He served as head coach at the
University of Tampa
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...
from 1968 to 1970, the University of Miami from 1971 to 1972 and the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
from 1973 to 1981, compiling a career
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
coaching record of 81–70–2.
Coaching career
Curci led the University of Tampa Spartans to a 25–6 record in three seasons (1968–1970). After his team defeated the Miami Hurricanes at the
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...
in 1970, and Tampa finished that season 10–1, he was hired by the University of Miami.
Curci's record at Miami was 9–13. He was head coach at Miami during the infamous ''
Florida Flop
Florida is a U.S. state, state located in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia (U.S. state), Geo ...
'' in 1971 when the
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
defense allowed Miami to score a touchdown late in the fourth quarter by dropping to the ground mid-play. The defense wanted quarterback
John Reaves
Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...
to get the ball back and set an
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
career passing record. Florida won the game 45–16. Curci was particularly upset at the Gators' actions since the game was well out of reach by then. He refused to shake hands with Florida coach
Doug Dickey
Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, where ...
after the game, and was quoted as saying, "I lost all respect for
ickeyas a coach and as a man. What he did shows no class... I think he made a fool of himself."
During his tenure at the University of Kentucky, Curci compiled a record of 47–51–2. The 1976 Kentucky Wildcats finished 9–3 and 5–1 in conference play—their first winning season in 13 years—and defeated
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
in the
Peach Bowl
The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...
21–0, finishing ranked #18 in the final
Associated Press poll
The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...
. After that season, the Wildcats were slapped with two years' probation for numerous recruiting and amateurism violations. The Wildcats were also banned from bowl games and live television in 1977, and limited to only 25 scholarships in 1977 and 1978.
1976 infractions case
/ref>
The 1977 team finished 10–1, including a win at #4 Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
and an undefeated record in conference play though they were ineligible for the title due to probation. They finished the season ranked #6 in the final Associated Press poll. It was only the second 10-win season in school history.
Due in part to the loss of scholarships from the 1976 infractions case, Curci was never able to put together another winning team. In his last four years, he only won eight games in SEC play. Curci's tenure as Kentucky's coach ended after nine seasons, then the longest of any Kentucky coach (but since surpassed by Mark Stoops
Mark Thomas Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the all time winningest head football coach in the history of the Kentucky Wildcats.
Early life
Stoops, one of six children born to ...
). In his final game as Kentucky's coach, Curci led the Wildcats to a 21–10 victory over Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
on November 21, 1981.
Curci later coached in the Arena Football League with the Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...
in 1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
, and the Cincinnati Rockers
The Cincinnati Rockers were an arena football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They began play in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League and competed through the 1993 Arena Football League season, 1993 season before they suspended ...
in 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. He led the Storm, quarterbacked by future Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden
Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...
, to an ArenaBowl V
ArenaBowl '91 (or ArenaBowl V) was the Arena Football League (1987–2008), Arena Football League's fifth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #2 Tampa Bay Storm (8-2) against the #1 Massachusetts Marauders, Detroit Drive (9-1). The Storm were in their ...
championship and was named Coach of the Year in his only season with Tampa Bay. Curci also did radio broadcasts for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
and college football games.
Late life
After leaving coaching, Curci served as Parks Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
.
Head coaching record
College
‡ Ineligible for SEC title, bowl game and Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curci, Fran
1938 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
College football announcers
Arena Football League coaches
Kentucky Wildcats football coaches
National Football League announcers
Miami Hurricanes football coaches
Miami Hurricanes football players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers announcers
Tampa Bay Storm coaches
Tampa Spartans athletic directors
Tampa Spartans football coaches
NCAA sanctions
Sportspeople from Pittsburgh
Players of American football from Florida
Players of American football from Pittsburgh