He attended Louisville Male High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball and ran hurdles for the track team.

[4] As head coach at West Texas State, Curtice's 1940 team compiled a 7–3 record and won the Alamo Conference championship.

[5] 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.

[7] Curtice returned to Texas Mines in October 1945, but the school did not field a football team that year.

In June 1950, Curtice was hired to replace Ike Armstrong as the head football coach at Utah.

[11] 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.

In a coaching career that spanned 40 years, he developed a reputation as an innovator and advocate of the passing game.

[14] Curtice remained as athletic director at UC Santa Barbara until his retirement in January 1973.