Locals around Sabine Parish were flabbergasted last week when news trickled out that longtime Many Tiger Head Football Coach Jess Curtis had accepted the open head coach position at Natchitoches Central High School.
Curtis, who played in Many’s 1998 second place team, took over the program at his alma mater in 2010 after serving as defensive coordinator at the school. During that time, he posted a 163-24 record in 13 years and made the playoffs every season. Over the past nine seasons, he led the school to three state championships and just as many runners-up finishes in Division 2A. However, such success brought about problems scheduling non-district opponents, causing the Tigers to have several unnecessary bye weeks in 2022. His final season saw the team at its most dominant on the heels of his nephew Tackett Curtis, who has committed to play at the University of Southern California for his collegiate career. One signature victory this season came while taking on Newman and the nation’s top prospect Arch Manning, who the Tigers soundly defeated on their way to the eventual state championship.
Natchitoches Central floundered over the past few seasons while under the tutelage of former Byrd High School Assistant James Wilkerson, who was dismissed from the Chiefs following a 3-7 season. The Chiefs also completed upgrades to their athletic facilities recently, and Curtis will begin the new season with a new athletic fieldhouse with a grandstand and press box added to eventually host games there instead of Northwestern State University’s Turpin Stadium, as has been the tradition for decades.