In a sport that seemingly changes daily, UMS-Wright football Terry Curtis doesn’t change at all.

“He’s doing the same thing today that he did 30 years ago,” said friend and former rival Steve Mask. “Nothing really changes – the way they play, how hard he gets his coaches to coach, the consistency he has of doing things the right way. It’s all the same and, clearly, it works.”

Curtis will lead his Class 5A No. 1 Bulldogs against Williamson on Friday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

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He enters the game with 345 victories. A win Friday night at UMS’ Cooper Stadium will tie him with Vestavia Hills legend Buddy Anderson for the most all-time wins in AHSAA high school football coaching history.

“For someone to have the longevity he has had, you have to first have a tremendous love for the game and an extreme passion and competitive spirit,” former AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese said. “If you look at the coaches in our state who have accomplished similar milestones – the Buddy Andersons, the Danny Horns – all have the same characteristics.

“They love the game. They are competitive, and they are passionate. And all of them, especially Terry, put a priority on relationships. He prioritizes relationships first with his student-athletes but also with his coaches and the community. Those are all characteristics of the great ones.”

In his 34th year overall as a head coach, Curtis has a record of 345-92. He won 31 games in four years at Shaw, 46 in six years at Murphy and 268 and counting in his 24th year at UMS-Wright. Anderson won all 346 games in 43 years at Vestavia Hills. He retired followed the 2020 season.

Longtime Mobile-area football coach Fred Riley said Curtis’ success can be attributed to several different factors along the way.

“One is the ability to surround himself with really, really good people, and Terry has always been able to do that,” Riley said. “He’s had a great administration that has been supportive of him. He’s got a great staff and has had great players.

“Also, as much as anything, he’s always been true to who he is in terms of his system. He believes in what he does on both sides of the football, and Buddy was the same way. As so many teams chased offensive rabbits in recent years, those two guys will retire in the I formation, and that is really unique. Terry is still the guy who calls plays with no headset. The things he was comfortable with at the beginning of his career he never has gotten away from.”

Gerald “Bullit” Jones has been a witness to most of Curtis’ career. He started as a volunteer assistant with Curtis at Murphy and has spent the last 19 years on his staff at UMS-Wright. He echoed Riley’s sentiments about Curtis’ regimented style.

“He still has yet to put on a headset,” Jones said. “He still runs a play in the same way he did at Murphy. We signal in the formation now, but the play comes from him to a player. Half the time the other coaches don’t know what the play is until the player sprints away and we ask, ‘Hey, what did you tell him?’

“People ask me if he has changed at all. Is he slower than he was 23 or 24 years ago? The answer is no. He’s still as sharp as ever.”

Curtis, who turned 72 earlier this week, is an abnormality in today’s world of football at any level.

A head coach without a headset.

An offensive play-caller without a play sheet.

“In 23 years, I’ve seen him look at the play sheet maybe 12 times,” Jones joked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at one in a state championship game.”

He’s had eight opportunities to look at a play sheet in a state championship game.

He hasn’t needed to.

UMS won all eight (2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019).

“The biggest thing I see with him is the discipline he instills in every team we have,” Jones said. “It doesn’t matter if you are the star player or the water boy, the rules are the rules and everyone sticks to them. I think that has a lot to do with our success. It’s about being consistent – consistent with practice, with how he interacts with kids, with how we prepare for games. That is what makes him so successful.”

Auburn High coach Keith Etheredge has had more success against Curtis than most. His Leeds teams beat UMS in the 2014 state semifinals and 2015 quarterfinals, but it didn’t lessen his respect for Curtis at all. In fact, quite the opposite.

“We were really good those two years with Tadarryl (Marshall) and Tre (Nation) and those guys,” Etheredge said. “But in watching film, you could tell how much Terry got out of his guys. He may not out-athlete you. You may be way better than him athletically, but he knows how to win. He outcoaches people. His players outwill people. He’s a winner. Bottom line.”

Mask and Savarese also coached against Curtis during their careers.

Mask went 5-5 against UMS when he was the head coach at St. Paul’s.

“It was a lot of fun,” said the current Pell City High coach. “There was never any animosity between us. There might have been some pent up anxiety because there is anxiety and rivalry between those schools, but he and I had great respect for each other. I knew when he showed up, we better be prepared to play because his team was sure going to be.”

Savarese has limited coaching experience against Curtis but came away with many of the same impressions.

“Well-coached, well-coached, well-coached,” he said. “Don Jennings was the defensive coordinator when we played them. He’s a great coach. Terry has always had a great staff. He surrounds himself with good people. That always has been evident. If you wanted to beat them, you better have better talent because you weren’t going to outcoach them.”

Curtis has had a total of three losing seasons in his 34 years as head coach. He went 3-7 in his first year at Shaw in 1989, 5-6 in his first year at Murphy in 1993 and 6-7 in 2007 at UMS in a year the Bulldogs still reached the quarterfinals.

He has never missed the playoffs at UMS-Wright and has missed the postseason just three times overall – 1989 and 1990 at Shaw and 1998 at Murphy.

“They had a few struggling years, but he always stuck to his knitting and never let any outside noise affect him,” Riley said. “I think it has a lot to do with his upbringing – being the son of a pastor and watching how his dad ran the church and everything that comes with that. And for Terry, being a Christian himself and knowing where the true strength comes from. There is a unique combination of many things that has allowed him to stay the course all these years.”

Etheredge said Curtis also separates himself away from the playing field.

“He does everything the right way,” he said. “He’s not scared to sit down and talk with younger coaches and help them along the way. Some older coaches don’t want to do that. He’s just a good guy. Every time I’ve ever called him, he’s been helpful to me.”

If Curtis ties Anderson’s record Friday night, he will have his first chance to break it Nov. 4 in the team’s opening playoff game against Headland.

MOST ALL-TIME AHSAA WINS

1. Buddy Anderson, Vestavia Hills (1978-2020) – 346-160

2. Terry Curtis, Shaw, Murphy, UMS-Wright (1989-Present) – 345-92

3. Danny Horn, Clay County, Benjamin Russell (1989-Present) – 339-95

4. Paul Benefield, Sylvania, Fyffe (1992-Present) – 331-55

5. Waldon Tucker, Demopolis Academy, Gordo, Fayette County (1973-2021) – 322-144-3