From Mobile to Madison County, there’s nothing like high school football on Friday nights in Alabama

“I knew when I was in the eighth grade that I wanted to be a football coach,” Coach Curtis declared at the beginning of our interview in his office filled with trophies and signed game balls recognizing important milestones.

Currently the second winningest football coach in Alabama High School history, Curtis did not mention that he is only 11 wins away from surpassing recently retired Vestavia Hills School Head Coach Buddy Anderson on the all-time wins list.

In fact, he never talked about any of his 337 victories at the three high schools where he has coached in the Mobile area: Shaw, Murphy and UMS Wright.

“I am proud of our consistency,” said Curtis. “We’ve done it over a long period of time. In 23 years here at UMS Wright, 21 out of those 23 years, we’ve made it to at least the third round of the playoffs. There’s only five rounds. And for my whole career averaging 10 wins a season, we’ve done something right.”

Meanwhile, Curtis takes great pride in his players. For example, even though some schools are experiencing declining participation in football, the 2022 UMS Wright team is fielding 84 players, the most they’ve ever had.

“We had a speaker at camp last week and he asked the question: how many of you want to play college football?

Only one guy raised his hand. These guys are playing the game for the right reasons. They love the game of football and they’re not looking for any scholarship, even though I think more than one of them could play college ball. More importantly, they like being around their friends and being good teammates.”

Football is in Their DNA — Brothers LaRon and Kelvis White

“It was football all the time in our house,” described LaRon, who played collegiately for Alabama Coach Gene Stallings in the early 90s.

“I knew early on all I wanted to do was be a football coach,” said LaRon. “Back in those days we lined the field with my dad with chalk — it is a life calling.”

Kelvis, the head coach at Class 7A Bob Jones High School, previously coached at Homewood, Russellville and Dothan high schools added,

“We didn’t know the difference. We thought it was normal — football practice and traveling on the bus as a kid. We didn’t understand the significance of what my dad and my uncle were doing until we got older and learned they won so many games and had Hall of Fame careers.”

Can’t Wait for Kickoff

“We’re a football family—we talk football. LaRon, he is a worrier. He calls me two-three times a day. I know it’s football season when he starts calling me a lot,” Kelvis chuckled. “Now I have to be careful because we play in the same region, I can’t talk to him as much. But, even on holidays or in the summer, when we go to my parents house we talk X’s and O’s with my dad and how we can improve our teams.”

Who Do Their Parents Root For?

“Depends on the grandkids!” explained Kelvis. “Two years ago, when LaRon’s son was on his team, they rooted for him. This year my son is a junior on my team. So my parents are probably gonna pull harder for the grandkids. Got a grandchild involved in the game—that makes the difference.”

More Than a Game

“It’s important for kids to be involved in extracurricular sports. They learn how to work with people, build relationships and be a good teammate. To me, that’s a very important thing to carry with you in life.

And I think that’s why high school sports are more than a game.”

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