Former UNC football star Ronald Curry named quarterback coach of the Buffalo Bills

Former UNC football quarterback Ronald Curry has spent the last decade building up his credentials as an NFL assistant coach. Curry has been an assistant with the New Orleans Saints since 2016, the last three of those years as quarterbacks coach.

While the Saints have missed the playoffs in all of those years after winning four consecutive NFC South titles from 2017 to 2020, apparently, that hasn't harmed Curry's reputation too much. On Thursday, the Buffalo Bills hired him as their quarterbacks coach.

After shepherding the Saints through the transition from Drew Brees, Curry now becomes the position coach for one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, Josh Allen. The move to Buffalo also reunites him with offensive coordinator Joe Brady; the two worked together in New Orleans in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Earlier in his tenure with the Saints, Curry served as wide receivers coach. In 2019, one of his charges, Michael Thomas, caught an NFL-record 149 passes. For his last two years in New Orleans, Curry was also the Saints' passing game coordinator.

Curry is best known to Tar Heel fans for his tenure as starting quarterback from 1998 to 2001. At the time he left Chapel Hill, he was UNC football's all-time leader in passing yards; his 4,987 yards are now seventh on that list. He did so while playing under three offensive coordinators in four years.

Arguably, his greatest moment as a Tar Heel came in his senior year when he led the Tar Heels to a 41-9 victory over nine-time defending ACC champion Florida State. Not only was this one of the biggest upsets in school history, but it was also the first time that the Tar Heels had defeated a team ranked in the Top 10 of a major media poll; the Seminoles were ranked sixth in both polls at the time. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 2002 NFL Draft and transitioned to wide receiver. He played 76 games, starting 32 of them, and rolled up 2,347 yards and 13 touchdowns in seven years, mostly as a backup.

Curry also saw some time as a point guard for the UNC basketball program from 1998 to 2001. According to the (Wilmington) Star-News, he opted out of playing basketball in the 2001-02 season due to a falling-out with head coach Matt Doherty.