Warsaw Hires Hall Of Fame Football Coach
February 14, 2018 at 5:52 p.m.
Warsaw Hires Hall Of Fame Football Coach
By Roger Grossman-
Bart Curtis.
Curtis met with the media last night after the school board voted 7-0 to approve his recommendation from a panel of school administrators, athletic department leaders and school faculty during their work session.
Curtis then made his way to the Tiger Den to be recognized in front of the large audience watching the Warsaw-Plymouth boys basketball game.
You may have never heard of Bart Curtis before, but people all around the state have, and they seem fascinated that he’s taken the Warsaw coaching job.
His resumé is impressive to say the least.
Curtis is a 2016 Indiana Football Hall of Fame inductee who has a career coaching record of 201-102 in 27 seasons overall – the last 11 at Mishawaka where the Cavemen went 90-35. His Mishawaka teams won six sectional titles, as well as regional and semistate championships in 2012. They won NIC titles in 2009 and 2010, and ended Penn’s 153-game conference win streak with wins over the Kingsmen in both the regular season and playoffs during both of those seasons.
Curtis has also coached at New Prairie (11 seasons, 84-38 with 2 sectional championships and 1 regional title) and Maconaquah (6 seasons, 27-29).
Curtis is a NorthWood High School graduate who went to Manchester University from 1982-1985 and Bethel College from 1987-1990.
At Mishawaka, he also served as assistant principal.
His football style is simple – run the football with a traditional option approach and attack you where you have the fewest defenders. As you adjust to that, he will adjust. He will want smart football players who don’t need to be the biggest but who are tough and determined. He will want commitment, and he’s going to want that from everyone: administration, athletic department, players, me and you.
Yes, you.
Bart Curtis is not coming here to “finish out the string” of a Hall of fame career, although I am sure he’d like this to be his final stop. He is not looking at Warsaw as a place to coast home to retirement.
Go back and look at the progression ... Maconaquah, New Prairie, Mishawaka ... the schools get bigger and bigger at each stop. There is only one frontier left for him to venture into, and that’s 6A football. As you can see from his record, he has been a winner everywhere he’s been, and he now stands in front of a mountain that many think is unclimbable – winning a football sectional title at Warsaw Community High School.
That’s why so many people were so surprised to hear that the answer to the question is Curtis.
But if you think about, Curtis is a great choice for Warsaw.
He will be an extension of what Phil Jensen has been preaching from his pulpit about the concept of “Son-Student-Athlete.” He is going to demand excellence, everywhere. His method of operation will demand execution and attention to detail.
And when they are done, his players will thank him for his investment in their lives.
Curtis is a winner, and while no one can predict what the Tigers’ win-loss record will be during his time here, it’s not hard to say that the keys to the Tiger Football kingdom have been handed over from one quality man who stands as the school’s all-time wins leader to another quality man who is recognized as one of the best coaches in Indiana.
That’s where you come in.
Curtis is going to expect all of us in the community to buy in to the thought that Warsaw can, and someday will, win a football sectional. And he’s going to want us to show that same belief to our kids and grandkids, and then do whatever it takes to help make it happen.
Tiger Nation … Bart Curtis is daring you to dream, and dream big.
Bart Curtis.
Curtis met with the media last night after the school board voted 7-0 to approve his recommendation from a panel of school administrators, athletic department leaders and school faculty during their work session.
Curtis then made his way to the Tiger Den to be recognized in front of the large audience watching the Warsaw-Plymouth boys basketball game.
You may have never heard of Bart Curtis before, but people all around the state have, and they seem fascinated that he’s taken the Warsaw coaching job.
His resumé is impressive to say the least.
Curtis is a 2016 Indiana Football Hall of Fame inductee who has a career coaching record of 201-102 in 27 seasons overall – the last 11 at Mishawaka where the Cavemen went 90-35. His Mishawaka teams won six sectional titles, as well as regional and semistate championships in 2012. They won NIC titles in 2009 and 2010, and ended Penn’s 153-game conference win streak with wins over the Kingsmen in both the regular season and playoffs during both of those seasons.
Curtis has also coached at New Prairie (11 seasons, 84-38 with 2 sectional championships and 1 regional title) and Maconaquah (6 seasons, 27-29).
Curtis is a NorthWood High School graduate who went to Manchester University from 1982-1985 and Bethel College from 1987-1990.
At Mishawaka, he also served as assistant principal.
His football style is simple – run the football with a traditional option approach and attack you where you have the fewest defenders. As you adjust to that, he will adjust. He will want smart football players who don’t need to be the biggest but who are tough and determined. He will want commitment, and he’s going to want that from everyone: administration, athletic department, players, me and you.
Yes, you.
Bart Curtis is not coming here to “finish out the string” of a Hall of fame career, although I am sure he’d like this to be his final stop. He is not looking at Warsaw as a place to coast home to retirement.
Go back and look at the progression ... Maconaquah, New Prairie, Mishawaka ... the schools get bigger and bigger at each stop. There is only one frontier left for him to venture into, and that’s 6A football. As you can see from his record, he has been a winner everywhere he’s been, and he now stands in front of a mountain that many think is unclimbable – winning a football sectional title at Warsaw Community High School.
That’s why so many people were so surprised to hear that the answer to the question is Curtis.
But if you think about, Curtis is a great choice for Warsaw.
He will be an extension of what Phil Jensen has been preaching from his pulpit about the concept of “Son-Student-Athlete.” He is going to demand excellence, everywhere. His method of operation will demand execution and attention to detail.
And when they are done, his players will thank him for his investment in their lives.
Curtis is a winner, and while no one can predict what the Tigers’ win-loss record will be during his time here, it’s not hard to say that the keys to the Tiger Football kingdom have been handed over from one quality man who stands as the school’s all-time wins leader to another quality man who is recognized as one of the best coaches in Indiana.
That’s where you come in.
Curtis is going to expect all of us in the community to buy in to the thought that Warsaw can, and someday will, win a football sectional. And he’s going to want us to show that same belief to our kids and grandkids, and then do whatever it takes to help make it happen.
Tiger Nation … Bart Curtis is daring you to dream, and dream big.
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