Curley's athletic department earned much respect
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Tim Curley's online biography calls him the "architect" of Penn State athletics. And in 40 years of his involvement with the university, he helped build an athletic department that was the envy of most colleges in the country.
But he stepped away from the program late Sunday night, taking a paid administrative leave to fight criminal charges that he perjured himself in front of a state grand jury and failed to report the sexual assault of a child.
He leaves with his reputation in doubt and his program on shaky ground.
Mr. Curley's tenure as athletic director has been marked by remarkable on-field success and strong financial gains, earning respect from colleagues nationwide. But at times, he struggled to take control of his expansive program and often lacked the power to assert real change.
He twice tried to remove football coach Joe Paterno in 2004, but ultimately lacked the political capital it took to oust the legendary leader. After Mr. Curley and university President Graham Spanier visited Mr. Paterno's home in November 2004 to ask him to retire, the coach said no. "They didn't quite understand where I was coming from or what it took to get a football program going ...", Mr. Paterno told a Post-Gazette reporter a year later.
The women's basketball program generated controversy off and on through the 1980s and 1990s because then-coach Rene Portland, who had been hired by Mr. Paterno in 1980, reportedly did not allow lesbians on her team. One player who said she was kicked off the team because Portland incorrectly thought she was a lesbian sued in 2005, also naming Mr. Curley in the lawsuit. The university fined Ms. Portland $10,000, placed a reprimand in her file and required her to attend diversity training. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount, and Ms. Portland resigned a few months later.
Mr. Curley, 57, is a State College native who lived across from New Beaver Field, the former home of the Nittany Lions football team, and earned money as a child by parking cars and selling game programs. It was the humble beginning of a relationship between him and Penn State.
Through it all, he has known no other institution. He played for the Nittany Lions as a walk-on football player and graduated from Penn State in 1976. A few years later, he joined the program as a graduate assistant coach and earned his master's degree. After a couple of years as Mr. Paterno's recruiting coordinator, Mr. Curley moved to the administrative side of the athletic department, where he was named assistant to the athletic director.
First Published November 8, 2011 12:00 am
