Many football coach Jess Curtis leaves for Natchitoches Central after third state championship
Many High School is moving forward quickly to find a coach to replace longtime Tigers’ coach Jess Curtis, who has accepted the football job 30 miles east at Natchitoches Central.
Curtis went 142-32 in 13 seasons and won three state championships, including 2022.
“Losing Jess is no doubt a big blow,” said Many principal Moses Curtis, Jess’s brother. “We will treat it like any other opening. We will take applications for a couple weeks, conduct interviews and hire the best coach to lead our football program forward.”
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The Tigers won the LHSAA Division III Non-Select state title last month in the New Orleans’ Superdome and won the LHSAA Class 2A state title in Northwestern’s Turpin Stadium in 2020 under Curtis. Many was vying for the 2A title in 2019 and in 2021 advancing to the title tilt before coming up short.
“Many High has proven to be a consistent contender for championships,” Moses Curtis said. “That is important to me and this community. It will be our job to find the right person to do that, but I feel like we will have some good applicants to chose from.”
Over the past four seasons, the Tigers have gone 50-6 while having a tough time finding non-district opponents. Four-star recruit and USC signee Tackett Curtis, Jess’s nephew, has graduated, but the Tigers have plenty of talent returning. Defensive back Tylen Singleton is Louisiana’s No. 1 2024 prospect, while junior Swazy Carheel is a 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive end who holds a number of Division I offers. There’s also 6-4, 290-pound offensive lineman Joseph Cryer, who has Michigan State and Louisiana Tech offers.
The Many position will soon be posted on the Sabine Parish School Board website, according to Curtis.
Jess Curtis takes over an NCHS program that had been built back into a District 1-5A contender under coach James Wilkerson, who was replaced after a 3-7 campaign last fall when starting quarterback Brian Young missed the bulk of the season with an injury. His 2021 team was 7-4 after NCHS went 3-15 the two previous seasons.
Jimmy Watson covers Shreveport-Bossier area sports. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Many football coach Jess Curtis leaves for Natchitoches Central
