Warsaw Tiger Class of 2022 Alum Isaiah Courtois sped off the field following a touchdown and extra point putting Warsaw up by two touchdowns in a sectional barnburner gridiron 42-35 win over the Carrol Chargers in late October 2020, and exclaimed, “We’re built different!”
Courtois (known as French Curtis among his coaches and teammates) didn’t realize some print media were among the population of coaches and teammates on that thrilling Friday night.
Nick Goralczyk, covering the game for Ink Free News that evening, wrapped his story around Courtois’s “built different,”
The Tiger offensive lineman recalled the moment.
“Yeah, I just remembered we scored,” Courtois noted. “I didn’t think anyone heard me. Later on, I kind of got teased about it.
“I was fine with it because I think it was… something we embraced because, I mean, at the time we played the complete opposite style of football compared to Carroll. We were dominant in the run they were dominant in the air.”
The game was a showcase of two record-setting offenses: Warsaw’s offense from that season still maintains the program’s greatest rushing and per-game offensive output for an entire season, and Carroll’s (eventual Division 1) quarterback’s rejoinders to the Tigers’ clock chewing run-oriented drives took the form of one- to three-minute scoring drives almost entirely through the air.
Courtois was visible proof among himself and teammates they, indeed, were “built different.”
Then a junior, he stood 6’2” and weighed at least 270 pounds, but he also had grace with his footwork as well as the obvious size and strength.
This was a young man who in his freshman year heard rumblings among those wondering whether his high school gridiron career was sustainable, let alone having any potential for success beyond the prep level.
“I can't really think of a specific situation where someone said to my face (they had doubts),” Courtois remarked, “But I've heard some grumblings like ‘Are we sure he can do this, are we sure he can do that’ and, honestly, I kept working hard because I was just sticking to my ‘why;’ sticking to my reason why I play football.”
Courtois had athletic interests outside football to boot.
“(Y)eah, I'd say growing up I always liked basketball more than football,” he continued. “Which was kind of funny, (and) over time I kind of realized, ‘Oh I'm going to be better at football.’ I felt like in middle school like I was never super good, but I was big.”
Courtois credits his ability to identify what his “why” was the route to reaching improved levels of playing ability resulting in fewer skeptics among those who continued to follow his gridiron journey.
“If my reason was just to play football, then I thought to myself, ‘I'm not going to get anywhere because people aren’t going to believe in me.’ (I) just trust in God,” Courtois said. “I valued just trust in the support of my family, and trust in my ‘why.’ This drove me to do what I wanted to do, and to glorify God while I do it no matter what other people say.”
Courtois experienced tests of his will and “why” in the form of two consecutive football seasons of injuries in preseason scrimmages against the Leo Lions.
Courtois suffered early season injuries starting with the 2021 scrimmage against Leo and continued playing in that season until the orange and black competed in consecutive sectional games against Allen County stalwarts Carroll (the “built different” game) and eventual Class 6A Sectional 3 2020 sectional champion Homestead.
The injury, which seemed like a high ankle sprain to Courtois ended up being much worse, as he discovered in his ensuing winter sports season endeavor, basketball.

    Courtois goes up for a layup against Concord during his senior year, the 2021-22 season.

“Junior year I was in our scrimmage versus Leo,” Courtois said. “I thought I just sprained my ankle pretty badly so after a few weeks I like kept playing football, and a little bit of basketball, but then I got checked out again and then I figured out that I have fractured my fibula. I had surgery in January (2021), and then I was finally recovered in time to play football senior year.”
The aforementioned second challenge was levied upon the resilient offensive lineman.
“In the (2021) Leo scrimmage again, I tore my MCL,” Courtois continued. “So that kept me on the sideline for like I'd say a majority of my senior year. I'm still able to play about like two or three games.”
Courtois’s limited senior season did not deter interest among regional universities among the Division 3 and NAIA ranks. Scouts were treated to seeing a guy built like Basketball Hall-of-Famer, Wes Unseld, put on a passing and outside shooting clinic on the hardwood.
Coaches looking to see how athletic Courtois was in other sports could also witness his unselfish nature stemmed from playing offensive line in the fall.
“(E)ven in basketball one of my best skills would be my passing. Being on the O-line is an unselfish position and it is a good representation of my character,” Courtois noted. “I try to live unselfishly and trying to benefit others (backs and receivers with the ball). Growing up in that environment helped me get to where I am today.
Courtois’s early childhood was filled with numerous hours on the soccer pitch, where his father, former Warsaw soccer coach Frank Courtois led a strong program clinching titles at regional and semistate levels, and a state finals appearance.
Is this where the current Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) gridder, who starts at right offensive tackle as a redshirt freshman/academic sophomore for the 7-0 Wildcats, developed his grace to complement his 6’2” 294-pound frame?
It certainly seems like those days following Dad and his Tiger soccer sides around the practice pitch were part of his athletic development.
“(M)y earliest memories were looking up to those high schoolers wanting to be like them someday,” Courtois said. “Spending time around my dad, and the soccer players was a great experience for me. It advanced my love for sports.”
Courtois mentioned during the Times-Union telephone interview Monday evening there would have likely been a lean in interest toward soccer if his middle school had a soccer side.
Tiger football fans, even those appreciative of the value of soccer feeder systems, are glad the big man didn’t have that option available in middle school.
Courtois and his NAIA Wildcat squad will face conference rival in a derby game (for the readership’s soccer fans) of sorts versus St. Francis University in Fort Wayne today at 1 p.m. at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium.
Fellow 2022 Warsaw grad Julius Jones will be suited up for action for an opponent who’s eager to attempt to put the Wildcats on the wrong end of the final score for the first time in 2023.
Courtois’s aforementioned red-shirt freshman season had its typical high-school-to-college transition challenges, but Courtois, “built different”, is already seeing benefits this season, where he has been the starter since the first game of the 2023 IWU grid season.
“(It was) completely different football,” Courtois said explaining the difference in offensive playing style at IWU. “We (Warsaw) were running the ball every single play. My freshman year was like a big, big change because, you know, I'm learning how to do all these pass sets - that kind of stuff – so… I redshirted my freshman year, and I think it prepared me for where I'm at now.”
The IWU offensive tackle credited the Warsaw Tiger football culture and the individual and team values instilled in him and his fellow “Wild Hogs” – the moniker for the Warsaw Tigers’ offensive line team within a team.
“(O)ff the field I'd say just playing football at Warsaw prepared me a lot for ‘off-field’ as well as on the field,” Courtois continued. “One thing I think the (Warsaw Tiger) program does an amazing job of is creating men off the field. Whether that's in my classroom or in interactions with others, I've built habits I think will continue to help me.”
Successful football seasons begin in the offseason. Courtois and his fellow Wildcats attribute their collective success to preparation. The Tiger football alum credits his offseason efforts as cause for elevating to a starting spot early in his career.
“I think the biggest difference would be this past summer,” Courtois said. “I was on campus all summer. We were doing early morning workouts, and working on getting stronger, working on techniques. We did a lot of Olympic lifting.
“There is a big emphasis on tempo, so throughout the whole off-season a big emphasis was like just getting your conditioning right, getting your speed right so that when we get to games on Saturday you know we can keep going with the tempo, and gas the other team.”
Game 2 in his current season, a 24-22 win in IWU’s home opener against Division 1 Valparaiso, upon entering the field and breathing in the home-field opener atmosphere, was the turning point for Courtois seeing almost everything about his role more clearly than he had in his budding college football career.
“(It was) not (clearer) my first game,” Courtois exclaimed. “I was very nervous, you know, and I was, like, really trying to focus on my techniques and everything like that. It was the first home game, and the crowd was just packed. I walked down to the field, and I could feel a calmness over me, and a focus to the point where I was confident in my ability… that's the point where the game really started to slow down for me.”
The Business Administration/Finance double major is enjoying all aspects of college life. The IWU campus affords a complimentary environment for the spiritual student-athlete.
“I've had a great time. I've met so many great people and had great experiences,” Courtois said about being an IWU student.
Warsaw’s Tiger Den was the last stage for Courtois on the hardwood, but he still hoops with friends, and he is joined by a familiar face this school year.
“Definitely in the summertime,” Courtois said about getting some basketball reps. “We'll get a group of guys and go play outside or go play in the rec (center). Now that Jaxson Gould’s here, I'm definitely gonna have to hoop a little bit more.”
The kid who was “built different” and even had some people wondering what would become of his athletic career in his freshman year finished his discussion with Times-Union with a thought about striving for continued success for himself and his Wildcat teammates.
“(E)very day we have to - not just on Saturdays but every day - succeed in the classroom and on the field. I’ll focus on those small, little details so that my teammates and I can find success.”