Season 1 Most Downloaded Episodes: #2 J.T. Curtis

Luke: 0:00

Hello, loyal listeners of the "I" in Win podcast. Appreciate everyone's patience. As I continue to prepare for season two, which relaunched on Tuesday, November 1st. In the meantime, the countdown or the top five episodes of season one continues with number two, featuring legendary coach JT, Curtis of John Curtis Christian school in Louisiana. Coach JT is the headmaster head football coach of the Patriots. A position he has held for over five decades. And although you'll learn about his unbelievable career in the first few minutes of this episode, I just have to highlight that JT is the all time winningest active football coach at any level, winning over 600 games in 27 state championships. What you're about to listen to is actually the first ever "I" in Win episode and was recorded days before the Patriots kicked off their 21 campaign. Well, hurricane Ida was bearing down on new Orleans area. That's just the peak into the type of Coach Curtis's. So here you go. The second, most downloaded episode of season one, featuring coach JT, Curtis. Welcome to the first ever episode of my new podcast, The "I" in Win my name is Luke Mertens and my vision is create a positive platform. Sharing the stories of elite leaders who have accomplished more by focusing on making better people. Our guests will share how our listeners will benefit by concentrating less on outcomes and more on the journey of changing lives. What better way to kick off this podcast time with one of the most iconic figures in the Louisiana high school history. JT Curtis. Headmaster athletic director and head football coach JT has been impacting young people's lives for over five decades at John Curtis Christian school in river Ridge, Louisiana, since beginning his career in 1969, he has one of the most uniquely successful stories you'll ever hear. The K through 12 school was founded by JTS father in 1969. After going, 0-10 his first year, JT is now the windiest active coach in the history of football with 598 victories, he has won 27 state championships and one national championship in football and under his direction as athletic director to school has won over 70 state championships overall. JT is also an ordained minister. Who's giving sermons on Sundays rather than breaking down. He believes every kid deserves a chance. So he has a strict, no cut policy. He believes so deep in the concept of team. He doesn't even keep individual records. And most importantly, JT believes athletics are not about outcomes. They're platforms to help athletes become better people and reach their fullest potential. Famed reporter. Tom Rinaldi said it's easy. Confusing record with legacy record is what we've done. Legacy is what it meant. It's such an honor to introduce JT Curtis. All right, coach, I talked a little bit about you in the intro, but I know all those football accolades are not who you are. It's just what you do. So I'm going to talk a little bit about the part of who you are, and I know a major part is your school. John Curtis Christian school. Can you give a little snapshot of your school, especially to all those people, not familiar with the new Orleans area?

Coach Curtis: 3:23

Sure. Well, we are, uh, an old traditional city, uh, located, uh, with a number of private, uh, parochial and public schools. I've been in existence for a long time. We're relatively new private school. My father started the school in 1962 as a non-denominational Christian school, uh, where our emphasis in our, uh, school setting in is in our relationship to God, through Christ, not in how it is manifest itself in terms of the nomination realism. Uh, we do not, uh, what denominationalism to stand in the way. Of our personal relationship with God through Christ. That's what the emphasis is here on tomorrow. The spiritual and the, I think all values that are taught, uh, through the scripture and how that's expressed denominationally again, will be the choice of the parent and eventually the choice of the child. But if the first relationship is not in order, then the rest of it is almost a, a moot point

Luke: 4:28

and, you know, I first became familiar with your school when a good friend of mine went down Tulane and played football with your son. And, uh, I also read a interesting book called Hurricane Season by Neil Thompson, which is a story about how your school and your community had to fight through the adversity of Hurricane Katrina and I was really intrigued when I heard about how John Curtis Christian. Really literally as a family experience for you. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Coach Curtis: 4:53

Well, that was one of those experiences that I hope no one has to go through. Um, it basically destroyed our community for a period of time and, and, and schools were out for as much as a year. Uh, we were fortunate that we were able to get back in school within about six weeks, but, uh, we suffered through a lot of difficulties in that process. And, and the thing that I recognized in that whole scenario was how important high school athletics was. And in joining the schools together with some normalcy, the F the first Friday night, we played a game, which was. Uh, last six weeks or so after we had all been dispersed, it was amazing. The comradery in the, in the smiles, on their faces, people that were living in trailers, people that were living in half of their houses with no air conditioning, uh, people that were struggling with their work, they were able to come together under this one banner of, uh, of a football game. And, and really get back into normalcy and, and it put into perspective how valuable an athletic program can be, uh, in a school, but more importantly, in a community.

Luke: 6:07

No doubt. And, you know, I read your school's history and the philosophy, and I just love it and align in there that stuck out to me was, and I quote "By creating a true family atmosphere, they believed each student could flourish in time to their fullest potential." So what do you do to ensure your football program is a true family atmosphere?

Coach Curtis: 6:27

Well, I think that it's so important that you talk about that, that, that you have them understand that we are here together to accomplish this particular goal and, and that they understand, you know what I tell our guys sometimes I'm miserable on here too guys. I mean, it's 95 degrees out here on me too, but we're all in this together. And if we're going to be successful and if we're going to have an opportunity to compete, and I think that's the key word, an opportunity to compete. Obviously everybody wants to win the game. I understand that. But as important to us is that we compete to win the game because those are the intrinsic values that are going to carry over into their adulthood and, and, and help them become successful men. Uh, and so. As they learned that we worked together, the, uh, the whole defense, the whole offense, the special teams, uh, the substitutes, the guys that are providing the look for the first and second units, they're all a, a very important part of the team. And one of the ways that I try to do that is that, uh, I don't discriminate based on whether you're a starter or whether you're a third or fourth team guy. Uh, we go on the road. Uh, 90% of the time I'll bring the whole crew. I mean, we got to put them on the bus and we're all gonna go together, uh, that are gonna all have responsibilities at the game. Uh, that's where they learn. They understand the, uh, the atmosphere of the game and they understand the before and the after. And, uh, the bus ride home when, when things are really going well and the bus ride home when things haven't gone as well. So creating that atmosphere right. Everybody being a part of the team. There's no discrimination based on if you're the starting running back. Are you the, uh, the 10th running back, we're going to try to treat everybody the same and try to include them in all the things that we do. The other thing I think is really important and I can't emphasize this enough is that we coach every kid every day. Our responsibility is this. God has given these young men in our presence. And because they are part of who we are. We have an obligation and a responsibility to coach him and teach him every day, every period, every team drill, whether you're the scout team or whether you're, uh, the S the, the starting offense, every player needs to be in, worked with and encouraged every day. And they need to know about when we walk off that field, what was on the field is left behind. It's not posted. We are, uh, we are joined back together as a, as a big family. And, uh, there's no, uh, there's no carry over of ill feeling.

Luke: 9:17

And I completely agree with your philosophy of coach, every kid, regardless of where they are on the depth chart. And, unfortunately in my career, sometimes I had assistant coaches that questioned my, my philosophy and Hey, you know, we're spending so much practice time on these players that are never going to get into a game. And that's something that really, really bothered me. And I said, you know, if my, if my biggest flaw is coaching, a kid I'll handle that, I'll deal with that. And, you know, I was just curious as your response to that, to, you know, to coaches who just feel like, Hey, you know, we have to give these reps to our first teamers. We got to give the reps that guys are gonna win us the game on the Friday night.

Coach Curtis: 9:53

Well, I don't think, I don't think it says coach this guy. I think it says coach. And it doesn't discriminate against who those people are. You're their coach and you have a responsibility to coach each one of them. Obviously, there's going to be emphasis placed on your older players that I have to play in the game. I get that. When that scout team is running against that first team or against that second team, there's no reason why those players can't be coached every day in their scout period. They're not there just to run plays. They're there to be better football players and to give the, the, uh, starting the units the best picture possible and recognize in teaching them that they're going to be in that position. In a, in another year or so, and more importantly, you have given them the background, you haven't given them the foundation to be able that when that opportunity steps up for them, they're ready to step in and make progress. Uh, the hardest thing in the world is the habit. A kid come into our program that maybe is a sophomore or a junior that doesn't have any background. And, and here we are trying to hustle up and, and teach him what he needs to know, fundamental things that he should know that honestly, he should have learned when he was a freshman or when he was a sophomore. And so teaching and working with kids every day is what a program. Not a team. A program is about we don't coach teams, we coach program and our program is to build one on top of the other day after day, inch by inch. That's what our goals are and it's been successful for us. And, and, uh, I, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Luke: 11:44

And let's move on to the broader sense of, of your whole school. You know, we live in divisive times. I know your school is a diverse school. How does the school as a whole foster, a family atmosphere?

Coach Curtis: 11:59

Well, I think it's my just being available. You know, my dad used to say when the bell rings, teachers get out of your desk and go stand in the hallway and greet your students, greet them as they come in the door. Pat them on the back as they walk out of the door, smile with them when they're in the hall. And I think sometimes we get caught up in our own little world of busy-ness and, and we forget to be personable with kids. We, we forget to realize that they're are people too, and they have feelings. And, and one of the hard things that as a top administrator I have to do is not have kids be afraid to come and talk. Uh, my door's open come and see me if you have a problem. And, and, and if you can foster that, I think it goes a long, long way into building the kind of atmosphere that you want in terms of. And then my understanding that the statement that we try to make to our guys is that once you're a Patriot, you're always a Patriot and no matter where you are in life, uh, whether it's through high school, through college or twenty-five years down the road, we're always going to be here for you because you've made a commitment to us and we make a commitment to you. And together we can, we can accomplish a lot of things that are very positive. And I think again, you have to work at it. It doesn't come naturally. It's something you have to work at and have to make it a part of your personality and, and, and try to make sure that everybody, everybody feels included. There is absolutely no division in our school in terms of race, creed, color, religious denomination, God created each of us. And he created each of us unto a unique. Place, uh, in our life and we want to develop that and we want them to feel like we are all part of that same thing.

Luke: 13:58

Yes. And that idea of inclusion is just such an important life lesson. And I know that your football program and a life lesson that you teach. Very evident, very well documented. Some values I wanted to really talk about that are also within your school's philosophy are honesty, trustworthiness, respect, humility, you know, just basically being a good human being. Can you give some concrete examples of what you do and what coaches listen to this show can do within their own sport of how they can help instill these values into our young kids that seem to really need it now more than ever.

Coach Curtis: 14:29

Yeah, I think the first thing you do, you have to lead by example. I mean, you have to, you have to lead by example and I'll give you a quick incident. We had a problem the other day, where there was some trash on the ground. And one of the, one of the teachers said to a young man said, go ahead and pick that up and throw it away. And he said, And the teacher said, well, I know it's not yours, but would you just pick it up? I'm going to get this over here. And he said, well, I don't think I should have to pick up the trash. Well, that was an educational opportunity for me. And, uh, in our team meeting, after, after the, uh, practice that day, I made an emphasis point that picking up a piece of trash has nothing to do with if it's yours or not. It has to do with being a good person, has to be with being a good citizen. It has to do with heavy pride in your community and pride in yourself. And, and I think you've got to look for those teaching moments with kids, uh, because we, we grow up today in such a, "my, I"generation, uh, and we grow up in such a generation of, well, I don't want to be disrespected. And I think we have to create an environment where we realize that respect comes from who you are. Respect comes from how you conduct yourself. Uh, respect comes from being responsible for your, for your actions and to be a part of a, a bigger, uh, process than just you. And I think you have to live that by example. And I think if, if you do that, then you've got a basis to teach young people, you know, it it's, uh, do, as I say, not as I do. Doesn't work with kids. You, you might think you can fool them, but you don't, you don't fool them. Uh, they, they see, they observe and they know, and, and we all know that. Look, we're not going to be perfect. We get that, but we need to strive to be perfect each day. We need to strive to be better every day. And, and I think that's very important. I think it's important that you communicate the values that you have and that you want to instill into those children. And I think you have to do it first by example.

Luke: 16:47

Absolutely. And it seems like such an obvious point that just so many people in education, for whatever reason, miss give you, give you a really prime example, teacher Institute days, you look around and majority of the teachers are not paying attention to what's going on, whoever's on stage talking and it's those same teachers that will come into the conference room and complaint, their students are on their phones and not paying attention to them. So, uh, completely agree with you. And, you know, this idea of lead from the front, something that I picked up from working with the military, I absolutely love the idea of lead by example. And one example that I've read about you is that you're really not a big yeller on the field. Is that still the case?

Coach Curtis: 17:26

Well, it depends on the day and the irritation,

Luke: 17:29

Yeah, fair point. Yeah.

Coach Curtis: 17:32

in complete honesty, look, sometimes you got to raise your voice. And, and sometimes you got to speak quietly to make the point. And I think that's the mark of good coaching. I tell you what I don't do. I don't degrade players. I don't call them vulgar names. I don't call them belittling names. Um, I, I'm not gonna put myself in a position to have that kid feel like he is a, a, a worthless player or a worthless person. That I can make corrections to players in a positive manner. And sometimes it can be emphatic. There's no question about that. And I'm like any other human being, I it's what I tell parents. I'm just like you, sometimes I get frustrated and I get frustrated with your son and, and, and speak to them al oud way. But I want him to know that that is only because I want him to be better. I want him to do it correctly. And there's no room for degrading people. There's no room for calling people names that are inappropriate. Uh, you're an educated person. You're supposed to be able to, again, to be able to voice your opinion or voice your instruction, our, our, our voice, whatever it is, you're trying to get across to the player or across to another person and an educated manner. And, and using vulgar language and, and I think is completely inappropriate. And, uh, if it does slip on my field and I'm not going to tell you, it never has, I make the correction, I go to that coach and say, Hey, there's a better way to do that. Now I can't, I don't want that. And, and they understand they, they get the message because we're all. It's not that I haven't messed up too, but I think the kids need to know basically that you are not there to degrade them. You're here to help them. It's not to them, it's for them. And I think creating that environment is vitally important to be successful.

Luke: 19:35

Especially in today's world and, you know, five decades of coaching and education. I'm sure you thought you have seen it all until the pandemic, right? I mean, that was probably the one loop that you weren't expecting. I want to talk about today's world. And I'm curious as to what you see the role of schools and athletics, and how they play a role today in developing kids socially, psychologically, and physically.

Coach Curtis: 20:02

Yeah, all, all three of them are vital. Okay. All three of them are extremely important. And I tell you, I think the physical aspect has become almost to the forefront because it computer games. Because of the phones, uh, kids spending hours on the phones at night, kids not being able to put their phone down, uh, being attached at the hip w, and I think a lot of kids are missing the physical activity of the 8, 9, 10, 11 year old are going out in the backyard and playing pickup basketball or playing touch football with the neighbor down the street, or going to a wrapping, a sock with some tape and playing stick ball. I think to a large degree where we've lost some of that. And so I think the physical part of it has become really important for us, but I will say that. If the only thing we gather out of athletics is a score at the end of the game, you look up on a school board and it says one team is this one team has less. They're the winners. I, in my opinion, after doing this all these years, it's absolutely not worth it. All the money. All the energy, all the effort, all the time, all the practice, all the sacrifices that people make. If the only thing we get out of it as a score, I think athletics is, is, is wasted. It's useless. The intrinsic values that should come from participating. And as I mentioned, I think physical development now. But the, the mental discipline, the ability to just continue to keep on when it's not convenient. You know, I was visiting with coach Saban one day and, and in our conversation, we were talking about this and he said, you know what bothers me today is that if a kid's playing a game and he doesn't like the score, he just has stopped restart it.

Luke: 22:08

Yep.

Coach Curtis: 22:09

He didn't keep fighting through okay the phone. He just hit stop and restart. Let me, let me play it again. And I think that psychologically is an effect that can very easily creep into the personality of a person. And as the coach athletics should teach us the opposite of that, that we fight through the adversity that we learn, how to overcome whatever the difficulty might be. Because it's coming somewhere. I can't tell you when it's going to come in your life. I can't tell you where it's going to be in your life. I can tell you that it's coming. And when you have, when you have successfully overcome difficult situations, whether it be the August heat in Louisiana, which is absolutely ridiculous, all whether it's the freezing cold weather or the north that you learned to overcome those obstacles in order to achieve a goal. I just think it's invaluable. And then we touched on it already, the unit, the unit together. I think builds the family unit that sometimes we, we missed today that we, we lose the concept of the importance of a family unit working together. Uh, not being selfish, putting the, uh, putting the needs of the others. First, all of that, all of that I think can be taught on the athletic field, whether it'd be a football or another sport that you can all be taught on the athletic field. And I think because of that, those intrinsic values make it worthwhile.

Luke: 23:45

Well, I absolutely agree. And, looking forward. You have this N I L rule, and let's be honest, college athletics are probably never going to look the same because of it. And then even at the high school level, it's starting to kind of creep itself into being a lucrative businesses. Elite programs like yours are starting to travel across the country and play games. Media outlets like ESPN or are picking it up. So that's added a lot of pressure to win. And my thought is, how do we keep the focus on kids? How do we keep the focus on what the true mission of schools should be? At least at the amateur level on this idea of make better people? Because let's be honest, there's a lot of pressure to win now.

Coach Curtis: 24:28

Okay. Well, I, I'm not sure we haven't lost that ideal of making people better. Uh, I'm not sure that has not got caught up in the money game and, and that's really what it's about. And it's selfish. When people want to use your image, they want to use it for a selfish reason, even though they're giving you money, they're saying I'm going to get something back in return, bigger than what I'm investing in you. That's the reason they do it. And, and I am adamantly opposed to it. And, and I know I might be a voice crying in the wilderness. But I think that we are, we are going to put ourselves in a terrible position and that it's going to make our jobs much more difficult and it's going to create much more individualism. That is contrary to what the team sports should be. Um, I have a little different idea to me if I'd have been in charge. Uh, I think what I'd have done is I would have encouraged the universities or donors if you would, to create a fight. That would go to every player that signed upon graduation, he would have X number of dollars and, and, and, and that way you motivate players to stay in school, to get their education. And at the end of four or five years or six years, whatever it would take for that young man to graduate, we have money set aside for him. I think that's much better than saying we're going to, uh, recognize the quarterback. But we're not gonna nearly recognize the offensive guard to the same level. And, and I think that, uh, though early on it might look like it's okay. I think with a little time, we're going to find it destroys teams.

Luke: 26:20

Yes. Um, I'm only 20 years in and I'm definitely very concerned about the future of, of athletics and how this is all going to look at the high school level and the impact that's going to have. But to wrap this up, uh, at the time of recording this interview, you're, you're at 598 victories, just 23 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest as high school football coach. So there's clear evidence that you're successful on the field. However, how do you know you're successful with your true mission? This idea of making better people who win in life?

Coach Curtis: 26:51

You know, that's a, that's an interesting question. And I think the easiest way to answer it is the guys that walked back through the door because they have a tendency to tell you exactly where they are, what I say to a young man that walks back through the door. And you got to realize when I say a young man, I could be talking about a 45 or 50 year old too. But when I asked them, how are you doing? I usually get one or two, one or two answers that, or coach I'm doing great. Things are going well. Or they'll say to me, I wished I would have listened a little better. I almost, I wish that I paid a little more attention. And in between those two, I hear the work ethic that comes out and I think that's what separates a high school athlete from a, just a normal person. The work ethic, the ability to go to practice, uh, early in the morning, uh, go home late in the evening and have to have to study, uh, get up on, on Saturday morning after a Friday night game and come to practice all those values that are, are inculcated into young people. Pay off later in life. And, and what I hear from them is this coach, I just out work them. How are you doing great coach? I, I outwork them. You wouldn't believe the guys in my organization that make excuses, why they can't and I'm finding reasons that we can let them go play golf. I don't care. I'm going to outwork them. I mean, it's just been absolutely amazing. Do you hear that comment over and over, but coach I'm so glad we did. I'm so glad I learned. I'm so glad that I, that, that we went through that process. Uh, it's helped me become a better business person has helped me become a better father. That's how, you know, now look, sometimes the answer in what you want to hear too, what, you know, You have to keep on, keeping on, you have to, you have to keep on believing in what you're doing is right. And what you're trying to instill in young people is, is right. And, and you, and you can't get discouraged. Our, our responsibility comes from a biblical concept and that is this. We have to plant seeds. God will take care of the harvest, but if nobody plants the seed, there cannot be a harvest. I don't care who you are. If the seeds aren't planted there won't be a harvest. So rather than get discouraged rather than become downtrodden, you have to say, you know what, I'm going to keep on. I'm going to keep on doing what I know is in the best interest of these young people. And if, and if you do that, I believe from a biblical perspective. Then you can't go wrong. Those seeds will eventually come to fruition and you're going to have the kind of person, the kind of citizen, the kind of dad that you want to, uh, have, and the kind of countrymen that we want to have, uh, to make this a great place to live.

Luke: 30:00

Well, coach you've planted a lot of seeds thru your years. And my hope is that someone listened to this is encouraged because, we're losing coaches and teachers at a epidemic rate and it's because they feel less important and they feel like they don't have a mission anymore. And, and I disagree with that. And that's part of the impetus of this podcast. I want to inspire leaders to keep on getting, as you said, right. There's no substitute for sweat equity. So thank you for all. You've done. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule, to talk with us and share with us your wisdom. I wish you a lot of luck. I know that, you know, become the all-time winningest football coaches is not, your objective is not your mission, but congratulations. What an awesome thing to pursue and, uh, I'll be following you along the way, and I wish you nothing, but luck hope you have a lot more years in you cause the world needs more of you out there, coach.

Coach Curtis: 30:50

Well, I do appreciate that. And I hope that, uh, what we have said here today will give somebody encouragement because, uh, I think there's nothing like being encouraged, nothing like saying, you know what, if he can do it, I can do it. And we can accomplish this thing together. And I appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts. If I can be of help to anyone. Uh, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're right here in new Orleans, John Curtis Christian School, we'll be glad to share with you anything that we have, uh, that wouldn't be beneficial to you, your program or your school.

Luke: 31:24

Outstanding. Thank you so much, coach. And again, all the best to you in the future. Not going to lie. A lot of nerves heading into that interview. Even though this was our first conversation and technically, the first time we ever met, I felt like I've known coach Curtis for years because I've studied and tried to emulate his coaching philosophies, but let's really hear what he had to say. Athletics have to be about so much more than just the scoreboard. It's about coaching and teaching them all. Every kid deserves a chance. It needs to be pushed to reach their full potential. And if you want any more evidence that speaks to the high character of coach, How about the fact that the interview was conducted not only during the week of his first game, but also only days before hurricane Ida hit new Orleans. Coach reference heartbreak after hurricane Katrina ripped through the area 16 years prior, my thoughts and prayers to everyone in the new Orleans area impacted by Ida.