Sport(s) Football 1951–1953 Idaho Alma mater Texas Tech University 1949–1950 Idaho (assistant) Role American football player | 1946–1947 New Mexico A&M Name Raymond Curfman 1936–1937 Texas Tech Overall 15–30–1 Positions End, Quarterback | |
Born June 16, 1915 ( 1915-06-16 ) Died April 5, 1993, Tucson, Arizona, United States | ||
Raymond A. "Babe" Curfman (June 16, 1915 – April 5, 1993) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Las Cruces (now New Mexico State University), from 1946 to 1947 and at the University of Idaho in Moscow from 1951 to 1953, compiling a career college football record of 15–30–1.
Coaching career
After a brief stay as a player with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National Football League (NFL) in 1938, Curfman coached at the high school level in Texas and New Mexico, at Tulia, Santa Rosa, and Las Cruces. His 1942 Las Cruces basketball team advanced to the state finals. Curfman served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
From 1946 to 1947, Curfman was the head coach at New Mexico A&M, then in the Border Conference, where he compiled an 8–11 record. He resigned in December to work in the sporting goods industry in Texas, then joined the staff of third-year head coach Dixie Howell at Idaho in February 1949. Two years later, Howell and Curfman submitted their resignations in March 1951, and Curfman remained on campus as an interim coach for the upcoming 1951 spring drills. The administration was impressed with his handling of the team during the first week of practice and hired him as head coach in mid-April. He guided the Vandals for three seasons in the Pacific Coast Conference and compiled a 7–19–1 (.278) record. His salary in his final year at Idaho in 1953 was $7,920.
Curfman made headlines during the 1953 season as his overmatched Vandals struggled in conference play in the PCC. Following his resignation as Idaho head coach in December, he was hired as the business manager for the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team in January 1954.
He later coached high school football back in Texas, at Pampa (1958–1961) and Pecos (1962–1964).
Curfman died at age 77 in 1993 in Tucson, Arizona; he and his wife are buried at the East Lawn Palms Cemetery in Tucson.