Curtis Leads Warsaw Into Extra-Special Week

November 29, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis talks with his players after the regional championship win...Nieter
Warsaw head coach Bart Curtis talks with his players after the regional championship win...Nieter

By Steve Krah

WARSAW — 83 practices.
That’s the number of preparatory sessions Warsaw Community High School will have logged during the 2024 season heading into the IHSAA Class 5A state championship football game.
The Bart Curtis-coached Tigers (10-3) were to practice Monday and Tuesday at home after school, Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (site of a title clash with 10-2 Decatur Central at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30), Thanksgiving Day morning at home with the community invited and Friday at a place and time to be determined.
“It’s such a wonderful opportunity and experience and the community and school is getting behind these kids. There’s a reason it’s called Warsaw Community High School because it is a community.”
Warsaw is making its first State Finals appearance. Seasoned sideline prowler Curtis has been there before, having taken Mishawaka to the 4A championship contest in 2012. That year, with a different calendar and more two-a-days, the Cavemen had 96 practices.
But this is about the 2024 Tigers, a group that has embraced adversity and is led by 24 players in the Class of 2025.
“Our seniors have a true brotherhood,” says Curtis, noting that the class had 52 football players when they were freshmen. “It’s a high, high character group of seniors.
“I don’t have to worry about them on the weekends. Most of them turn in their (school) work when it’s assigned. All of them help with community service projects to the nth degree. Most of them work our summer youth camps. They help the elderly move.
“It’s service over self and leave places better than you found them. How you do anything is how you do everything.”
Sweeping out the locker room on a Saturday morning without being asked is a common occurrence for older Tigers.
The squad as a whole has been resilient and responded to tough challenges.
“These kids have learned to handle hard and be comfortable being uncomfortable,” says Curtis. “That’s the reason they’re playing in a game of this magnitude.”
What’s in-store as the clock ticks down to Saturday?
“We’re going to keep the week as normal as we possibility can,” says Curtis. “That’s how we operate at the best level with these kids.
“We’re going to try to as much non-football interference in our day-to-day preparation as possible. Our superintendent (David Hoffert), principal (Troy Akers) and AD’s (Matt Binkerd and Michael Howk) are doing a super job of shielding me from those things.”
During the school day, Curtis is part of the WCHS Attendance department.
There’s also a finality to this experience.
“It’s a bittersweet week,” says Curtis. “Because now there is an end. Saturday night — win or tie — I don’t want to say goodbye to this group.
“We’re always preaching ‘One more Monday’ once the tournament comes and now we’re at the last Monday.”
Curtis is in his 40th season as a high school football coach in Indiana — 34th as a head coach. He is the 19th head coach at Warsaw since 1919. His overall record is 259-122 with a 58-20 mark at WCHS. He says the last six Tiger teams can be proud that they were there to last the groundwork for this first-ever State Finals appearance.
This is Curtis’ seventh campaign leading the Tigers after 10 at Mishawaka (2008-17), 11 at New Prairie in New Carlisle (1997-2016) and six at Maconaquah in Bunker Hill (1991-96).
The 2016 Indiana Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee was an assistant for six years with stints at South Bend LaSalle (1985 with head coach Wally Boocher), South Bend Washington (1986-89 with Scott Bovenkerk) and New Prairie (1990 with Mike Jennings).
“Every one of those guys I was able to draw something from,” says Curtis. “Scott Bovenkerk is a huge mentor to this day.”
Born in South Bend in 1963, Curtis is a 1981 graduate of NorthWood High School where his head football coach was Jim Andrews.
Curtis credits his experience with Andrews for helping to lead him into coaching and education.
In Andrews, Curtis recalls a man who could command a room and guide a program without having to raise his voice.
“If there is one word to describe him it would be his presence,” says Curtis of Andrews, who died in a 1992 auto accident. “You did not want to disappoint that man.
“He was positive and influenced so many young men throughout the course of his years. He was just a great, highly-positive, moral man and an incredible role model.”
Curtis continues to use two phrases he learned from Andrews — “Four-second Intervals” and “Sudden Change.”
“If you can’t play hard for four seconds and recover for 30, there’s something wrong with you.
“What are you going to do next — Sudden Change?”
Curtis lays out his coaching strengths.
“I care an awful lot,” says Curtis. “I’m not very smart, but I try to work hard.
“I try to learn and surround myself with people who are smarter than me.”
The longtime head coach has collected a group of assistants who share the vision for the program.
“I try to delegate to them and let them coach without screwing them up,” says Curtis.
Three former Mishawaka players — Michael Curtis, Evan Fras and Andrew Childress — landed at Warsaw.
Michael Curtis, Bart’s oldest son, got the school two years before his father and is the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Jake Cauhorn is defensive coordinator and Ty Frasier is special teams coach.
Former WCHS assistant and teacher Fras is now assistant athletic director at NorthWood. The 2014 Mishawaka was a junior on the 2012 team.
Childress, who graduated with Michael Curtis in the Mishawaka Class of 2011, is Director of Strength & Conditioning at Warsaw.
Bart Curtis attended Manchester College (now Manchester University) 1982-85 and played three football seasons.
After a few years of working, starting his coaching career, meeting his future wife, he secured an undergraduate degree from Bethel College (now Bethel University) in 1991 (the year after Bart and Sara Curtis were married) and a post-graduate degree from Bethel in 2010.
There are three children — Michael (32), Hannah (29) and Brian (27). Michael and Maggie Curtis have a daughter (Kennedy Rose) who turns 5 months on Thanksgiving. Hannah is married for Josh Mullett. Brian’s girlfriend is Alyssa Pataky.
“I am a proud grandfather and a father,” says Bart Curtis. “My wife did a (tremendous) job raising those three kids.
“If you want to write a book on coach’s wives Sara Curtis would have her picture on the front cover. She is not only supportive, she is my partner in this. She is my co-coach. At home, she is the CEO. I could not have done what I did coaching-wise without her.
“She has packed up and moved our family and moved from community’s she loved three times.”
At Maconaquah, New Prairie and Mishawaka, Sara was embedded in the community.
During their marriage, the couple has lived in seven different houses — the current abode located just outside Warsaw city limits.

BART CURTIS
(Head Coach Unless Noted)

1985 South Bend LaSalle asst. (Wally Boocher)
1986 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1987 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1988 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1989 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1990 New Prairie asst. (Mike Jennings)
1991 Maconaquah 7-2 — MIC champions
1992 Maconaquah 5-5
1993 Maconaquah 2-7
1994 Maconaquah 5-4
1995 Maconaquah 2-7
1996 Maconaquah 6-4
1997 New Prairie 4-6
1998 New Prairie 6-4
1999 New Prairie 7-3
2000 New Prairie 8-3
2001 New Prairie 7-4
2002 New Prairie 8-4
2003 New Prairie 8-3
2004 New Prairie12-2 — NSC, sectional & regional champions
2005 New Prairie 6-4
2006 New Prairie 11-2 — NSC & sectional champions
2007 New Prairie 7-3
2008 Mishawaka 7-4
2009 Mishawaka 11-2 — NIC & sectional champions
2010 Mishawaka 12-1 — NIC & sectional champions
2011Mishawaka 7-5
2012 Mishawaka11-4 — sectional, regional & semistate champions
2013 Mishawaka 9-4 — sectional champions
2014 Mishawaka 9-3
2015 Mishawaka 8-4 — sectional champions
2016 Mishawaka 10-3 — sectional champions
2017 Mishawaka 6-5
2018 Warsaw 7-3
2019 Warsaw 9-3 — sectional champions
2020 Warsaw 8-3 — NLC champions
2021 Warsaw 7-3
2022 Warsaw 8-3
2023 Warsaw 9-2 — NLC champions
2024 Warsaw 10-3* — sectional, regional & semistate champions
* Before the Class 5A state championship game

WARSAW — 83 practices.
That’s the number of preparatory sessions Warsaw Community High School will have logged during the 2024 season heading into the IHSAA Class 5A state championship football game.
The Bart Curtis-coached Tigers (10-3) were to practice Monday and Tuesday at home after school, Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (site of a title clash with 10-2 Decatur Central at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30), Thanksgiving Day morning at home with the community invited and Friday at a place and time to be determined.
“It’s such a wonderful opportunity and experience and the community and school is getting behind these kids. There’s a reason it’s called Warsaw Community High School because it is a community.”
Warsaw is making its first State Finals appearance. Seasoned sideline prowler Curtis has been there before, having taken Mishawaka to the 4A championship contest in 2012. That year, with a different calendar and more two-a-days, the Cavemen had 96 practices.
But this is about the 2024 Tigers, a group that has embraced adversity and is led by 24 players in the Class of 2025.
“Our seniors have a true brotherhood,” says Curtis, noting that the class had 52 football players when they were freshmen. “It’s a high, high character group of seniors.
“I don’t have to worry about them on the weekends. Most of them turn in their (school) work when it’s assigned. All of them help with community service projects to the nth degree. Most of them work our summer youth camps. They help the elderly move.
“It’s service over self and leave places better than you found them. How you do anything is how you do everything.”
Sweeping out the locker room on a Saturday morning without being asked is a common occurrence for older Tigers.
The squad as a whole has been resilient and responded to tough challenges.
“These kids have learned to handle hard and be comfortable being uncomfortable,” says Curtis. “That’s the reason they’re playing in a game of this magnitude.”
What’s in-store as the clock ticks down to Saturday?
“We’re going to keep the week as normal as we possibility can,” says Curtis. “That’s how we operate at the best level with these kids.
“We’re going to try to as much non-football interference in our day-to-day preparation as possible. Our superintendent (David Hoffert), principal (Troy Akers) and AD’s (Matt Binkerd and Michael Howk) are doing a super job of shielding me from those things.”
During the school day, Curtis is part of the WCHS Attendance department.
There’s also a finality to this experience.
“It’s a bittersweet week,” says Curtis. “Because now there is an end. Saturday night — win or tie — I don’t want to say goodbye to this group.
“We’re always preaching ‘One more Monday’ once the tournament comes and now we’re at the last Monday.”
Curtis is in his 40th season as a high school football coach in Indiana — 34th as a head coach. He is the 19th head coach at Warsaw since 1919. His overall record is 259-122 with a 58-20 mark at WCHS. He says the last six Tiger teams can be proud that they were there to last the groundwork for this first-ever State Finals appearance.
This is Curtis’ seventh campaign leading the Tigers after 10 at Mishawaka (2008-17), 11 at New Prairie in New Carlisle (1997-2016) and six at Maconaquah in Bunker Hill (1991-96).
The 2016 Indiana Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee was an assistant for six years with stints at South Bend LaSalle (1985 with head coach Wally Boocher), South Bend Washington (1986-89 with Scott Bovenkerk) and New Prairie (1990 with Mike Jennings).
“Every one of those guys I was able to draw something from,” says Curtis. “Scott Bovenkerk is a huge mentor to this day.”
Born in South Bend in 1963, Curtis is a 1981 graduate of NorthWood High School where his head football coach was Jim Andrews.
Curtis credits his experience with Andrews for helping to lead him into coaching and education.
In Andrews, Curtis recalls a man who could command a room and guide a program without having to raise his voice.
“If there is one word to describe him it would be his presence,” says Curtis of Andrews, who died in a 1992 auto accident. “You did not want to disappoint that man.
“He was positive and influenced so many young men throughout the course of his years. He was just a great, highly-positive, moral man and an incredible role model.”
Curtis continues to use two phrases he learned from Andrews — “Four-second Intervals” and “Sudden Change.”
“If you can’t play hard for four seconds and recover for 30, there’s something wrong with you.
“What are you going to do next — Sudden Change?”
Curtis lays out his coaching strengths.
“I care an awful lot,” says Curtis. “I’m not very smart, but I try to work hard.
“I try to learn and surround myself with people who are smarter than me.”
The longtime head coach has collected a group of assistants who share the vision for the program.
“I try to delegate to them and let them coach without screwing them up,” says Curtis.
Three former Mishawaka players — Michael Curtis, Evan Fras and Andrew Childress — landed at Warsaw.
Michael Curtis, Bart’s oldest son, got the school two years before his father and is the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Jake Cauhorn is defensive coordinator and Ty Frasier is special teams coach.
Former WCHS assistant and teacher Fras is now assistant athletic director at NorthWood. The 2014 Mishawaka was a junior on the 2012 team.
Childress, who graduated with Michael Curtis in the Mishawaka Class of 2011, is Director of Strength & Conditioning at Warsaw.
Bart Curtis attended Manchester College (now Manchester University) 1982-85 and played three football seasons.
After a few years of working, starting his coaching career, meeting his future wife, he secured an undergraduate degree from Bethel College (now Bethel University) in 1991 (the year after Bart and Sara Curtis were married) and a post-graduate degree from Bethel in 2010.
There are three children — Michael (32), Hannah (29) and Brian (27). Michael and Maggie Curtis have a daughter (Kennedy Rose) who turns 5 months on Thanksgiving. Hannah is married for Josh Mullett. Brian’s girlfriend is Alyssa Pataky.
“I am a proud grandfather and a father,” says Bart Curtis. “My wife did a (tremendous) job raising those three kids.
“If you want to write a book on coach’s wives Sara Curtis would have her picture on the front cover. She is not only supportive, she is my partner in this. She is my co-coach. At home, she is the CEO. I could not have done what I did coaching-wise without her.
“She has packed up and moved our family and moved from community’s she loved three times.”
At Maconaquah, New Prairie and Mishawaka, Sara was embedded in the community.
During their marriage, the couple has lived in seven different houses — the current abode located just outside Warsaw city limits.

BART CURTIS
(Head Coach Unless Noted)

1985 South Bend LaSalle asst. (Wally Boocher)
1986 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1987 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1988 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1989 South Bend Washington asst. (Scott Bovenkerk)
1990 New Prairie asst. (Mike Jennings)
1991 Maconaquah 7-2 — MIC champions
1992 Maconaquah 5-5
1993 Maconaquah 2-7
1994 Maconaquah 5-4
1995 Maconaquah 2-7
1996 Maconaquah 6-4
1997 New Prairie 4-6
1998 New Prairie 6-4
1999 New Prairie 7-3
2000 New Prairie 8-3
2001 New Prairie 7-4
2002 New Prairie 8-4
2003 New Prairie 8-3
2004 New Prairie12-2 — NSC, sectional & regional champions
2005 New Prairie 6-4
2006 New Prairie 11-2 — NSC & sectional champions
2007 New Prairie 7-3
2008 Mishawaka 7-4
2009 Mishawaka 11-2 — NIC & sectional champions
2010 Mishawaka 12-1 — NIC & sectional champions
2011Mishawaka 7-5
2012 Mishawaka11-4 — sectional, regional & semistate champions
2013 Mishawaka 9-4 — sectional champions
2014 Mishawaka 9-3
2015 Mishawaka 8-4 — sectional champions
2016 Mishawaka 10-3 — sectional champions
2017 Mishawaka 6-5
2018 Warsaw 7-3
2019 Warsaw 9-3 — sectional champions
2020 Warsaw 8-3 — NLC champions
2021 Warsaw 7-3
2022 Warsaw 8-3
2023 Warsaw 9-2 — NLC champions
2024 Warsaw 10-3* — sectional, regional & semistate champions
* Before the Class 5A state championship game

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