Coach Terry Curtis has been the Head Football Coach at UMS-Wright Preparatory School for the past
twenty-five years and has been the Athletic Director at UMS-Wright since 2001. He holds an MA Degree in
Secondary Education from South Alabama and a BS Degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from
Auburn University. He also earned his CAA (Certified Athletic Administrator) from NIAAA.
    Coach Curtis is the oldest son of the late Rev. Q.T. and Helen Curtis. He was born on October 25, 1950 in
Lenoir, North Carolina. His family moved to Mobile when he was 10 years old. He graduated from Murphy High
School in 1969 where he received the C.O. Willcox Award as the Outstanding Athlete of the Year his senior year.
He received a full baseball scholarship to Auburn University.
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    Coach Curtis has been coaching for fifty-one years. He has served 35 of those years as head coach. His
overall current record is 355-98, with a playoff record of 82-24. In twenty-three of the twenty-five years as Head
Coach at UMS-Wright, Coach Curtis’ teams have advanced to at least the Quarter Finals of the State Playoffs. He
has won 8 State Championships at UMS-Wright. Coach Curtis’ 2001, 2005, 2018, and 2019 State Championship
teams all had undefeated seasons. His 2004, 2015, and 2022 teams were undefeated in the regular season. During
his twenty-five years at UMS-Wright, he has compiled a record of 278-62, with a playoff record of 75-17. 105 State
Championships have been won by UMS-Wright Athletic teams during his tenure as Athletic Director. Before his
tenure at UMS-Wright, Coach Curtis also coached at B.C. Rain High School, Murphy High School, and Shaw High
School.
    Coach Curtis was named the 2001, 2002, and 2005 Alabama Sports Writer’s Association 4A Coach of the
Year, was the Mobile Register Coach of the Year for 2001, was the Optimist Club Coach of the Year Award for 1990,
1991, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2018, 2019, and 2022, and was named the 2012 and 2019 ALFCA Coach of
the Year. He served as President of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association in 1997-
1998. He was the Head Coach in the Alabama-Mississippi All Star Classic in 1999 and 2016 and was the Head
Coach of the South team in the North/South All-Star Game in 2005. He has also served as President of the Mobile
County Coaches Association, is a past member of the Advisory board of Football Quarterly, is a member of National
Federation of High Schools, and the NIAAA. He is also a member of the A Club at Auburn University, the Mobile
Touchdown Club, AFCA (American Football Coaches Association), and is on the Board of Directors of the ALFCA
(Alabama Football Coaches Association) where he currently serves as President. He is a recipient of the John Finley
Award. Coach Curtis was inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, the Mobile Sports
Hall of Fame in 2005, and was the 2013 Honorary Inductee into the UMS-Wright Sports Hall of Fame. He was
awarded the Lefty Anderson Service through Coaching Award in 2005 sponsored by L’Arche Mobile. He was voted
Best Coach by Mobile Bay Monthly’s annual Best of the Bay for 2006. Coach Curtis received the 2009 Coach of the
Year Award from the NFHS Coaches Association. In 2019, he was the first ever football coach from the state of
Alabama to be named the NFHS National Coach of the Year. In January, 2015, he received the Go Daddy Bowl
Champion of Life Award. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame and
serves on the Selection Committees of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game,
and the Alabama North/South All-Star Game. He is the 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2019 recipient of the WKRG Coach of
the Year Award. Coach Curtis currently serves on the Board of the National High School Football Coaches Alliance
(NHSFCA), is the District 1 representative on the AHSAA Legislative Council, is the President of the AHSAA Central
Board of Control, and serves on the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program Board of Directors. Coach Curtis was the
2019 - 2020 Region 2 Finalist for the American Football Coaches Association prestigious national Power of Influence
Award, one of four finalists in the Country, and was the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year. In 2022, he was named
Palmer Toyota Superstore’s Coach of the Year.
    Coach Curtis ranks among the best coaches to have ever coached in the State of Alabama and is currently
the Winningest Coach. He ranks first in wins with 355 and is tied for first in State Championships with 8. He is first in
championship appearances and wins with 8 for 8. Coach Curtis is second in most Region championships won (21)
and is first in most Region games won (176). He has had the second most Playoff appearances (33), and he holds
the title of the most Playoff games won (82). He currently holds the record as the Most Winningest Coach in the
State of Alabama. In July, 2023, he was named the 2023 National High School Football Coach of the Year by the
National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
    Coach Curtis and his wife, the former Jeanie Gillis, have been married 52 years. They have two sons. Brey
holds a BS in Political Science and an MBA from the University of South Alabama and has a law degree from the
University of Alabama. He and his wife Jill live in Greensboro, North Carolina, where Brey is Area Business Manager
of the Carolinas Sanof: Rare Hematology. They have two sons - Parker (16) and Griffin (13). Coach Curtis’ other
son Casey, UMS-Wright Class of 1996, is a graduate of Auburn University and currently is the Chain Account
Manager at Gulf Distributing Company in Mobile.
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