If
John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.) defeats
Brother Martin (New Orleans, La.) on Friday night, J.T. Curtis walks off the field with the most all-time coaching wins in high school football history.
Or does he?
There is confusion as to the final win total for the late John McKissick of
Summerville (S.C.), who owns the mark for most all-time wins according to the
MaxPreps National High School Football Record Book. Curtis tied the record of 620 with a 36-26 win over
St. Augustine (New Orleans) last Friday.
However, other media outlets and publications list McKissick with 621 wins. That's where the confusion sets in.
The reason for the disparity is due to a forfeit win for Summerville over
Goose Creek (S.C.) in 2012. The Green Wave lost to Goose Creek on the field in that contest but the outcome was later overturned due to the use of an ineligible player. That resulted in Summerville and McKissick being awarded an extra win.
However, MaxPreps along with a number of other high school football historians, does not include forfeit wins and losses as part of determining a coach's all-time win/loss record.
Forfeits are usually decided on by state associations or a local governing body. Some of those decisions happen long after the season is over – years in
some cases. Others are overturned on appeal. Looking back historically at over 100 years of high school football, there simply isn't enough reporting available to follow the off-the-field judicial process of thousands of overturned contests.
Many media outlets are reporting that J.T. Curtis is still a week away from potentially breaking the all-time record for coaching wins but Kevin Askeland of MaxPreps believes otherwise. (Photo: Parker Waters)
While respecting the decisions handed down on forfeits by various governing bodies around the country (forfeits are noted on team schedule pages on the site), MaxPreps recognizes results as they happen on the field for record book purposes.
Longtime coaching wins historian Steven Floyd of Corpus Christi, Texas, has used this method while compiling his long list of leaders (the basis for our "coaching wins" record book list) as has fellow Lone Star State historian Joe Lee Smith.
McKissick is thus listed with 620 wins in the MaxPreps National High School Football Record Book.
Publications that note Curtis has 620 wins and is one away from tying McKissick are not taking into account the forfeit losses
given to John Curtis Christian in 2013. Factoring those into the equation, Curtis would only have 593 wins heading into the Brother Martin game, not 620.
Those publications are giving credit to McKissick for his forfeit win but are not penalizing Curtis for his forfeit losses. It can't go both ways.
That's the case for why Curtis could become the nation's all-time winningest coach, surpassing McKissick's career total of 620, with a win over Brother Martin on Friday night.
