S-Club Profile: Megan Dowdy Curry
4.27.23 | Softball, Bulldog Club
By: Joey Mullins
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former Samford student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In this edition, we highlight former softball standout and recent Hall of Fame inductee Megan Dowdy Curry.
Curry starred on the softball team from 2013 to 2016, and she is probably the most decorated player in program history.
Curry came to Samford from Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Alabama. She said there were a few reasons she decided to attend Samford, with one of the biggest reasons being the campus itself.
"The first time I stepped on campus, I was in shock, it was beautiful and well taken care of," Curry said. "I knew that it would be a great degree as well. And Coach Mandy (Burford) had just been hired as the head coach, and when I got there, she showed me the plans for the field and gave me the vision for the next five years and what she wanted to do there. It was just really easy to say yes to. You want to be a part of something that is going somewhere."
Curry came to Samford in the fall of 2012. In her first season in the spring of 2013, the team went 17-35, with Curry playing in 51 games and batting .248. In her sophomore season, the Bulldogs showed major improvement, posting a record of 38-18. Curry also had a breakout season, individually, hitting .351 with eight doubles and scoring 35 runs. As a junior in 2015, Curry set a school record for single-season batting average that still stands, hitting .437 with 86 hits, 12 doubles and 39 runs scored. The team had another strong season, going 33-22.
Entering her senior season, the Bulldogs had one goal in mind, and that was to win the program's first Southern Conference title and earn the team's first bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the regular season, the team went 37-18 overall and 15-3 in Southern Conference play to win the league's regular season title. At the conclusion of the regular season, Curry was named the SoCon Player of the Year after batting .392 with 82 hits, a school-record 24 doubles and 46 runs scored. Curry credits her teammates for helping her have the success she had that season.
"That was special, especially because we had success as a team," Curry said. "We had already won the regular season and the awards came out, so it felt a little better that we had punched one of our goals, so I credit everything to that. It's really easy to be successful if everyone around you is successful. You want to get to that level with them and be pushed that hard. It was special to have that with Mollie (Hanson, SoCon Pitcher of the Year) and Mandy (Burford, SoCon Coach of the Year) as well, we kind of got to have a little moment at the SoCon Tournament when we found out."
In the SoCon Tournament, Samford earned wins over UNC Greensboro (3-0) and Mercer (2-0) to reach the finals. In the finals, top-seeded Samford had to go to extra innings against second-seeded Furman before coming away with the 4-3 win in eight innings to win the tournament title and secure the program's first NCAA Tournament bid. The Bulldogs won a school-record 40 games that season, finishing with a final record of 40-20.
"It was our expectation that senior year," Curry said of winning the SoCon Tournament. "When you set an expectation that high and you don't settle for anything less, it was just something that we had to get done. And luckily, we were surrounded with a bunch of great people and great coaches that held each other to a standard of excellence. And then to actually win it was just the icing on the cake. We talk about all the time how great it was to win it, but looking back, it was all the practices and dinners and all the time spent off the field that meant the most."
At the time she graduated, Curry held the Samford career records for batting average (.363), at-bats (754) and runs scored (137), and she still holds the career record for doubles with 48. She was a three-time first team All-SoCon selection, and as a senior was named to the NFCA All-South Region first team.
Curry graduated from Samford in 2016 with a degree in sports administration. Upon graduation, she joined the Bulldogs coaching staff as an assistant coach. She said it was a difficult transition going from being a teammate with the players on the team to being one of their coaches.
"That was probably the hardest thing I've done so far in any career that I've had," Curry said. "Some of those girls were my very best friends, some of them ended up being in my wedding. All of them, I had some sort of special relationship with. I had even met the recruits prior to me being a coach and so, to go from being friends, to teaching outfield to some of them, was difficult. But I think, being in a leadership role as part of the team the year before, that maybe helped a little in that transition."
She spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons on the Samford staff, before leaving to work for ARC Realty. After working in realty for several months, she and her husband, Parker Curry, a former Samford baseball standout, decided she should go back into coaching. She was hired as an assistant coach at Mercer for the 2020 season.
Following her one season at Mercer, Curry was hired as the head softball coach at Asbury University, a Division III program in Wilmore, Kentucky. She said she knew it was going to be a challenge being a head coach for the first time.
"I knew going into Asbury that it would be difficult to learn how to be a head coach," Curry said. "I think everybody does it differently, they try to take what they've learned and turn it into what they want it to be. So, I definitely had some successes and definitely had some failures as well."
Curry said the biggest thing that surprised her about stepping into the role as a head coach was the pressure and stress that comes with the job.
"I just felt it was really heavy and a lot to carry, but also a privilege at the same time," Curry said. "Because there are not many professions where you get to build up someone in that way, on a constant daily basis. So, that was probably the biggest shock, the amount of positive pressure to try to build into these girls."
She spent two seasons as the head coach at Asbury. After having their first child, Lauren, she and her husband, Parker, decided to move back to Birmingham. Parker is now an assistant coach with the Samford baseball team and Megan has recently started a new job at Iron Tribe Fitness. She is currently training with former teammate Abbie Miranda Teague to be a manager of one of Iron Tribe's locations and hopes to step into that role fairly soon.
In addition to having a new baby, making a move back home and starting a new job, Curry recently received the highest honor a Samford student-athlete can receive. She was inducted as a member of the 2023 class of the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame. She talked about what the honor meant to her.
"That was really, really special," Curry said. "Samford is one of my very favorite places. It means everything to our family, and it always will, just because I got to meet Parker there, and because of all of the memories we made there in general. To be included with some of the people that also have been inducted has been such an honor."
Curry had one of the most successful careers in Samford softball history, and she is well-deserving of being inducted into the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame. She has and will continue to make everyone involved with Samford proud of everything she has accomplished.
For more information on the S-Club and for giving opportunities, please contact E.J. Brophy at wbrophy@samford.edu.
Gallery: (4-27-2023) S-Club Profile: Megan Dowdy Curry
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former Samford student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In this edition, we highlight former softball standout and recent Hall of Fame inductee Megan Dowdy Curry.
Curry starred on the softball team from 2013 to 2016, and she is probably the most decorated player in program history.
Curry came to Samford from Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Alabama. She said there were a few reasons she decided to attend Samford, with one of the biggest reasons being the campus itself.
"The first time I stepped on campus, I was in shock, it was beautiful and well taken care of," Curry said. "I knew that it would be a great degree as well. And Coach Mandy (Burford) had just been hired as the head coach, and when I got there, she showed me the plans for the field and gave me the vision for the next five years and what she wanted to do there. It was just really easy to say yes to. You want to be a part of something that is going somewhere."
Curry came to Samford in the fall of 2012. In her first season in the spring of 2013, the team went 17-35, with Curry playing in 51 games and batting .248. In her sophomore season, the Bulldogs showed major improvement, posting a record of 38-18. Curry also had a breakout season, individually, hitting .351 with eight doubles and scoring 35 runs. As a junior in 2015, Curry set a school record for single-season batting average that still stands, hitting .437 with 86 hits, 12 doubles and 39 runs scored. The team had another strong season, going 33-22.
Entering her senior season, the Bulldogs had one goal in mind, and that was to win the program's first Southern Conference title and earn the team's first bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the regular season, the team went 37-18 overall and 15-3 in Southern Conference play to win the league's regular season title. At the conclusion of the regular season, Curry was named the SoCon Player of the Year after batting .392 with 82 hits, a school-record 24 doubles and 46 runs scored. Curry credits her teammates for helping her have the success she had that season.
"That was special, especially because we had success as a team," Curry said. "We had already won the regular season and the awards came out, so it felt a little better that we had punched one of our goals, so I credit everything to that. It's really easy to be successful if everyone around you is successful. You want to get to that level with them and be pushed that hard. It was special to have that with Mollie (Hanson, SoCon Pitcher of the Year) and Mandy (Burford, SoCon Coach of the Year) as well, we kind of got to have a little moment at the SoCon Tournament when we found out."
In the SoCon Tournament, Samford earned wins over UNC Greensboro (3-0) and Mercer (2-0) to reach the finals. In the finals, top-seeded Samford had to go to extra innings against second-seeded Furman before coming away with the 4-3 win in eight innings to win the tournament title and secure the program's first NCAA Tournament bid. The Bulldogs won a school-record 40 games that season, finishing with a final record of 40-20.
"It was our expectation that senior year," Curry said of winning the SoCon Tournament. "When you set an expectation that high and you don't settle for anything less, it was just something that we had to get done. And luckily, we were surrounded with a bunch of great people and great coaches that held each other to a standard of excellence. And then to actually win it was just the icing on the cake. We talk about all the time how great it was to win it, but looking back, it was all the practices and dinners and all the time spent off the field that meant the most."
At the time she graduated, Curry held the Samford career records for batting average (.363), at-bats (754) and runs scored (137), and she still holds the career record for doubles with 48. She was a three-time first team All-SoCon selection, and as a senior was named to the NFCA All-South Region first team.
Curry graduated from Samford in 2016 with a degree in sports administration. Upon graduation, she joined the Bulldogs coaching staff as an assistant coach. She said it was a difficult transition going from being a teammate with the players on the team to being one of their coaches.
"That was probably the hardest thing I've done so far in any career that I've had," Curry said. "Some of those girls were my very best friends, some of them ended up being in my wedding. All of them, I had some sort of special relationship with. I had even met the recruits prior to me being a coach and so, to go from being friends, to teaching outfield to some of them, was difficult. But I think, being in a leadership role as part of the team the year before, that maybe helped a little in that transition."
She spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons on the Samford staff, before leaving to work for ARC Realty. After working in realty for several months, she and her husband, Parker Curry, a former Samford baseball standout, decided she should go back into coaching. She was hired as an assistant coach at Mercer for the 2020 season.
Following her one season at Mercer, Curry was hired as the head softball coach at Asbury University, a Division III program in Wilmore, Kentucky. She said she knew it was going to be a challenge being a head coach for the first time.
"I knew going into Asbury that it would be difficult to learn how to be a head coach," Curry said. "I think everybody does it differently, they try to take what they've learned and turn it into what they want it to be. So, I definitely had some successes and definitely had some failures as well."
Curry said the biggest thing that surprised her about stepping into the role as a head coach was the pressure and stress that comes with the job.
"I just felt it was really heavy and a lot to carry, but also a privilege at the same time," Curry said. "Because there are not many professions where you get to build up someone in that way, on a constant daily basis. So, that was probably the biggest shock, the amount of positive pressure to try to build into these girls."
She spent two seasons as the head coach at Asbury. After having their first child, Lauren, she and her husband, Parker, decided to move back to Birmingham. Parker is now an assistant coach with the Samford baseball team and Megan has recently started a new job at Iron Tribe Fitness. She is currently training with former teammate Abbie Miranda Teague to be a manager of one of Iron Tribe's locations and hopes to step into that role fairly soon.
In addition to having a new baby, making a move back home and starting a new job, Curry recently received the highest honor a Samford student-athlete can receive. She was inducted as a member of the 2023 class of the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame. She talked about what the honor meant to her.
"That was really, really special," Curry said. "Samford is one of my very favorite places. It means everything to our family, and it always will, just because I got to meet Parker there, and because of all of the memories we made there in general. To be included with some of the people that also have been inducted has been such an honor."
Curry had one of the most successful careers in Samford softball history, and she is well-deserving of being inducted into the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame. She has and will continue to make everyone involved with Samford proud of everything she has accomplished.
For more information on the S-Club and for giving opportunities, please contact E.J. Brophy at wbrophy@samford.edu.
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