Jack Curtice

Jack Camp "Cactus Jack" Curtice Jr. (May 24, 1907 – August 19, 1982) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. Curtice served as the head football coach West Texas State (1940–1941), Texas Western (1946–1949), Utah (1950–1957), Stanford (1958–1962), and UC Santa Barbara (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, in 1907. He attended Louisville Male High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball and ran hurdles for the track team. He next attended Transylvania University, 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.

College coaching career

West Texas State In 1938, Curtice was hired at West Texas State in Canyon, Texas, 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 championship. His 1941 squad finished in third place in its first season in the Border Conference 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). However, he entered the United States Navy before the season began and was unable to begin his coaching duties until after World War II ended.

During the war, Curtice served at Naval Station Norfolk where he coached a basketball team. He was also assigned to duty in the Aleutian Islands and with the Saint Mary's Pre-Flight School. 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 Bowls.

Utah In June 1950, Curtice was hired to replace Ike Armstrong 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 compiled an 8–1 record in the regular season, and Curtice received the NCAA College Division Coach of the Year award.

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, on August 19, 1982.

Head coaching record College