Jack Camp "Cactus Jack" Curtice Jr. (May 24, 1907 – August 19, 1982) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and college athletics administrator. Curtice served as the head football coach West Texas State (1940–1941),

Texas Western The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(1946–1949),

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

(1950–1957),

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

(1958–1962), and

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

(1962–1969). His teams were known for their passing offenses. His overall record was 135–115–8.

Early years

Curtice was born in

Glasgow, Kentucky Glasgow is a home rule-class city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Glasgow is the principal city of the Glasgow micropolitan area, which comprises Barren and Metcalfe counties. The population was 14,028 ...

, in 1907. He attended

Louisville Male High School Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public co-ed secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District. History Ninth and Ches ...

, where he played football, basketball, and baseball and ran hurdles for the track team. He next attended

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, where he again played football, basketball, and baseball. He was the quarterback on the Transylvania football team for four years. He won all-Kentucky honors in both football and basketball. In 1930, Curtice began his coaching career as the basketball and football coach at

Elizabethtown High School Elizabethtown High School is located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, United States. A part of Elizabethtown Independent Schools (EIS), it is commonly referred to as E'Town High School or EHS. Elizabethtown High School ranked #7 in the state on the 2 ...

Elizabethtown, Kentucky Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, and was estimated at 30,289 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, making it the 11th-largest city ...

. In two years as the football coach at Elizabethtown, his teams won 14 of 18 games and outscored opponents, 542 to 88. His basketball teams won 47 of 53 games. In May 1932, Curtice was hired as the athletics coach and history teacher at Owensboro High School in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. He was a coach there from until he was granted a release from his contract in May 1938.

College coaching career

West Texas State

In 1938, Curtice was hired at West Texas State in

Canyon, Texas Canyon is a city in, and the county seat of, Randall County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,836 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Amarillo, Texas, metropolitan statistical area. Canyon is the home of West Texas A&M University and ...

, as a professor of physical education and freshman coach in all sports. He became an assistant coach for the varsity football team in 1939 and was appointed head coach in December 1939. As head coach at West Texas State, Curtice's 1940 team compiled a 7–3 record and won the

Alamo Conference The Alamo Conference was a short-lived intercollegiate athletic conference composed of member schools located in the state of Texas. The league was established in 1935 with St. Mary's, Sul Ross State, and Texas A&I as charter members. Competitio ...

championship. His 1941 squad finished in third place in its first season in the

Border Conference The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 season. ...

and compiled an 8–2 record.

Texas Western and Navy

In January 1942, Curtice was hired as the athletic director and head football coach at the Texas School of Mines (later renamed

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

). However, he entered the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

before the season began and was unable to begin his coaching duties until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

ended. During the war, Curtice served at

Naval Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hamp ...

where he coached a basketball team. He was also assigned to duty in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

and with the Saint Mary's Pre-Flight School. Curtice returned to Texas Mines in October 1945, but the school did not field a football team that year. He served as the school's head coach for four years from 1946 to 1949, compiling an overall record of 24–13–3. His 1948 and 1949 squads compiled identical 8–2–1 records and appeared in back-to-back

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

Utah

In June 1950, Curtice was hired to replace

Ike Armstrong Isaac John Armstrong (June 8, 1895 – September 4, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and track, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Utah from 1925 to ...

as the head football coach at Utah. In eight years as the head coach at Utah, Curtice's teams won four Skyline Conference championships and compiled a 45–32–4 record (32–9–2 against Skyline opponents).

Stanford

In January 1958, Curtice was hired as the head football coach at Stanford. Curtice coached at Stanford for five seasons. His teams did not have a winning record in any of those years. His overall record at Stanford was 14–36 (5–19 against conference opponents). He was fired in November 1962.

UC Santa Barbara

In February 1963, Curtice was hired as the head football coach at UC Santa Barbara. His

1965 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos football team The 1965 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos football team represented University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) during the 1965 NCAA College Division football season. UCSB competed as an Independent in 1965. The team was led by third-year head coach ...

compiled an 8–1 record in the regular season, and Curtice received the NCAA College Division Coach of the Year award. In seven seasons at Santa Barbara, his teams compiled a 37–29–1 record. Curtice retired from coaching in January 1970. In a coaching career that spanned 40 years, he developed a reputation as an innovator and advocate of the passing game. His 1957 Utah Utes football team led the country in passing, and during the decade from 1950 to 1960, he coached seven quarterbacks, including

Lee Grosscup {{Infobox NFL biography , name = Lee Grosscup , image = Lee Grosscup 1958.jpeg , alt = , caption = Grosscup, circa 1958 , birth_date = {{Birth date, 1936, 12, 27, mf=y , birth_place = Santa Monica, California , death_date = {{Death date an ...

and

Dick Norman Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of h ...

, who ranked in the top 10 in passing. He also wrote a book titled "The Passing Game".

Later years

Curtice remained as athletic director at UC Santa Barbara until his retirement in January 1973. He died at his home in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, on August 19, 1982.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtice, Jack 1907 births 1982 deaths Stanford Cardinal football coaches Transylvania Pioneers baseball players Transylvania Pioneers football players Transylvania Pioneers men's basketball players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos athletic directors UC Santa Barbara Gauchos football coaches Utah Utes athletic directors Utah Utes football coaches UTEP Miners athletic directors UTEP Miners football coaches West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches High school football coaches in Kentucky Transylvania University alumni People from Glasgow, Kentucky Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Coaches of American football from Kentucky Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Baseball coaches from Kentucky Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky