Curtis Coleman
- Jan 27
- 4 min read
Colossians 3:23 says “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man.” No words could describe the life of Curtis Coleman any better. From the time he was a child and begged his mother at Christmas for his first football uniform until his work today at Leeds High School, he has maintained an unmatched passion for this game of football.
Curtis Coleman was a ferocious hitting, two time All State linebacker at Escambia County High School in Atmore, helping his team to the 1974 3A State Championship. His football coach in Atmore was Glen Latham, who inspired him and convinced Curtis that if he worked hard enough, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t accomplish. Curtis played in the 1976 Alabama All Star game and accepted a football scholarship to Livingston University where his passion for the game continued. He was a four-year starter at linebacker and was first team All-Conference for the Tigers in 1980.
After graduation, he got the opportunity to coach for a season at Catawba College in North Carolina, and it was there that he realized he wanted to be a high school coach. In the fall of 1982, Curtis was hired as an assistant at Huffman High School in Birmingham, where the head coach was Jerry Partridge. Coach Partridge was a great mentor and showed him the importance of putting care into the individual players. “He was a great person to work for,” Curtis says. “Some of the most enjoyable years of my career were the first 6 years at Huffman.”
By 1988, Coach Coleman was ready for something different, so he took on the job of head football coach at Ensley High School. It was a challenging job, but his Yellow Jacket teams only missed the playoffs one time in his six seasons. He produced several All-State players, including Melvin Dansby who went on to star at Notre Dame.
In the spring of 1994, Coach Partridge retired at Huffman, and the Vikings called Curtis Coleman back home. His tenure would last 12 seasons and would include coaching offensive lineman Andre Smith, the only lineman to ever be named Mr. Football in the state of Alabama. The 2000 and 2001 campaigns were the two greatest back-to-back seasons in Huffman football history. The Vikings won 25 of 27 games, setting a school record with 13 wins in 2001. That season Coach Coleman led Huffman to a #3 ranking and only its second semifinal appearance ever. Those two 10-0 regular seasons are the only such seasons in Huffman history.
In 2006, Coach Coleman decided to take on a tough rebuilding job as head coach at tradition rich Shades Valley High School. The Mounties program had tumbled- they had won only five football games in five seasons. He worked hard at getting Shades Valley back to their winning ways and in 2009, the Mounties had their first winning season in nine years.
But after five seasons, Coach Coleman decided to take a completely different approach.
In 2011, he took a job as an assistant coach at Clay-Chalkville to work with one of his former players, Jerry Hood. Coach Coleman still had a passion for coaching football and working with kids.
Going back to being an assistant gave him a different perspective. “I liked being an assistant again,” Curtis said. “It let me focus on providing more help to the team as a whole. I was able to make sure that kids were not only growing as players but developing the skills to help push them forward in life.”
There were great years at Clay-Chalkville. Ten-win seasons, deep playoff runs and an undefeated state championship team.
Eight years later Curtis followed his friend Jerry Hood to Leeds. He coached defensive line and helped Coach Hood improve the proud Green Wave program. Called a “master motivator” by Coach Hood when he played for Curtis in the early 80s, today he describes his assistant coach as a “game changer” for his team and school. “I am proud to call Curtis Coleman my mentor, friend, brother and father figure,” he said.
Coach Coleman’s work at Leeds has meant so much to so many that in 2023, he was selected for the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Making a Difference Award.
And Curtis has loved working at Leeds High School. “It’s an amazing place to finish my career,” he said. “It’s a great community that loves football.”
Loving football. That sounds a lot like a young Curtis Coleman, who would wear that complete football uniform he got for Christmas around the town of Atmore. That passion for the sport includes 45 years of making an impact on young people, just like his high school football coach did for him.
Today his peers honor him as one of the most respected coaches ever in the City of Birmingham- one who did it the right way and coached with true humility.
The Alabama Football Coaches Association is proud to present its Lifetime Achievement Award to Coach Curtis Coleman.
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