Curt Mallory’s Return: Beyond Legacy, Focusing on the Game

Source: gosycamores.com / Indiana State University

BLOOMINGTON, IND — Indiana State Football coach Curt Mallory says returning to where his late father became a legend is a special moment for him. However, tonight’s game against the Indiana Hoosiers (0-1) is about the two programs playing against each other.

His father, Bill, is the winningest head coach in Indiana University’s history, having coached the Hoosiers from 1984 to 1996. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Michigan in 1992 and then spent two years as a graduate assistant under his father at Indiana from 1993 to 1994.

“It’s about two programs playing,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of family back, looking forward to seeing my mom, seeing my sister. The focus is on the game, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Mallory said his father was fired from Indiana, but that did not diminish his love for the university.

“It was about the program, it was about the players,” he said. “He always backed them. He never lost his love for Indiana. It was always about the players. He was always supportive of whoever the coach was.”

Mallory said he considers himself lucky to have coached at Indiana. He believes his father’s greatest lesson was humility.

“My brother Doug went back there, but we would have never gone there if it weren’t for my dad or his love and continued love for a program. And that’s probably as big of a lesson as you can learn,” he said.

On Friday night, Indiana will pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of Curt Mallory’s father’s 1993 team. The team had a record of 8-4 and played in the Independence Bowl. It is interesting to note that Indiana State has 63 players on their roster from the state of Indiana.

“My son plays for Indiana State. I would not want it any other way, but if there’s one compliment you can give another coach if he wasn’t playing for me, I would like him playing for Tom Allen.”