- December 4, 2025
Matanzas athletic director Zach Rigney was waiting for the right fit to be the Pirates’ new girls basketball coach. Cory Curtis, the 10th applicant since the job was posted in May, turned out to be the one.
Curtis, a first-year ESE teacher at Belle Terre Elementary School, has been a volunteer JV football assistant coach with the Pirates since the preseason. He has earned a reputation as the “juice guy” on the football team, Rigney said.
“He’s a very passionate guy. He has a lot of energy. I’ve seen that energy on the sidelines on Thursday nights. The kids respond to him,” Rigney said.
The Pirates hopes Curtis can turn around a program that has had just one winning season in 19 years and has seen a revolving door of coaches. Curtis is the Priates’ fourth girls basketball coach in the past five years and the 12th since the 2006-2007 season.
“I was looking for someone who is passionate about the game, has previous experience working with girls basketball and someone who was recommended to us. He fit all those criteria,” Rigney said. “I’m excited to get him in the gym and start working with the girls.”
Curtis has been coaching since he was 15 when he led an age 13-14 girls basketball team. Now 38, he has coached a lot of recreational and AAU basketball teams, most recently in North Carolina, but this will be his first year coaching high school basketball.
Coaching is a passion of mine. I love seeing the kids grow, listening to the information you give them and seeing them apply it.
— CORY CURTIS
“Coaching is a passion of mine,” he said. “I love seeing the kids grow, listening to the information you give them and seeing them apply it.”
He played basketball and football in high school in New Jersey, graduating in 2005. He hoped to make a career as a teacher and a coach, but he left college in 2008 and spent the next 12 years working in warehouses and driving trucks, he said. Five years ago, he went back to college and earned his teaching degree at Liberty University. He taught at Pierson Elementary School last year.
“I’ve been grinding for 17 years, figuring out my way. I’m grateful I finally found a path,” Curtis said.
He said he and his family wanted to settle down in Palm Coast because it reminds him of New Jersey with both a city and suburban feel.
“A couple of our coaches encouraged me to take a strong look at him,” Rigney said. “When other coaches take notice, that’s something you shouldn’t ignore.”
