Louisiana
laapostille.Com

After standing on the sidelines of football fields for 42 years, John Curtis Jr. is about to step into new territory.

The coach of John Curtis Christian School, a small private school in suburban New Orleans, is one victory away from his 500th win — something only one other coach in high school, college or professional football has ever achieved.

According to the National High School Record Book and others, Curtis, who has a 499-54-6 record, trails only one high school coach and is well ahead of Eddie Robinson and Joe Paterno in the college ranks, each of whom has 408 victories, and 152 victories over former NFL coach Don Shula.

Curtis, 64, trails John McKissack, the Summerville, S.C. high school coach who has won 592 games over a 60-year career.

"People ask me if I want to beat Coach McKissack's record," Curtis laughed. "And I say not if I have to coach until I'm 85."

Curtis will try to grab the record Thursday night when they play J.S. Clark High School.

His students, alumni and fans are betting he will do it. There are already T-shirts boasting of the victory (although, as Curtis points out, there are no dates on them) and the school has planned a big pre-game tailgating event with a band and pep rally, a half-time ceremony and a postgame ceremony and party.

"If we don't get it Thursday night I'll just invite everyone back again next week," he said.

But Curtis' fans' cockiness is understandable.

The coach, whose team went 0-10 and only scored two touchdowns his first season, has never had a losing season since. He is 7-0 this season, and has a 90 percent winning average.

Although classified a 2-A school with only 400 high school students, the school competed and won in 3A for five years when they earned four state championships, and in 4-A for 13 years where they won seven championships.

The school, which was founded by Curtis' father, is no football mill, however. It offers only a college preparatory course and sends 98 percent of its graduates on to college, including about 97 percent of the football team.

If a player has one grade below a C they must attend study hall after practice, Curtis said. If they have two they must attend study hall after practice and for three-quarters of their lunch period.

"They usually get the hint pretty quickly," he said.

The mahogany trophy case outside Curtis' office is crammed with academic awards his players have received from the likes of the American Mathematics Competition, the Academic Games Nationals and the Louisiana Mock Trial Tournament.

Academics are valued by the school, Curtis said, and are important to his players, most of whom will not play football after high school.

"We have some who go on to play on a college level," Curtis said. "But it's mostly smaller schools and they are more likely to get academic scholarships than football scholarships."

A few Curtis graduates have gone on to the NFL, including Reggie Dupard, the New England Patriots No. 1 draft pick in 1986.

"One thing coaches know if they get a Curtis player is that he will have a great work ethic," Dupard said. "That's something we all got from Coach."

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