Few Bellevue Senior High School coaches have ever left as lasting a legacy as Burnell “Curly” Hoffman.

Born in Auburn, Indiana in 1923, Hoffman graduated from Bryan High School in 1943 before heading off to the United States Air Force. On leave from the Air Force, he married his high school sweetheart, Francis. Over 60 years later, they are still together and residing in Florida.

Hoffman then graduated from Bowling Green State University after his stint with the Air Force, and then accepted his first teaching/coaching position in Wintersville, Ohio. As a varsity football line/defensive coach, he had 34 straight victories and four undefeated seasons. He also held assistant football coach and head basketball coach titles while at Wintersville, and worked toward his Master’s Degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Hoffman’s legacy with Bellevue began in 1954 when head football coach Lowell Shaffer asked Curly to be his defensive line coach. Shaffer noted that he hired Curly for his defense and motivational skills. From there, Curly devised many of the defensive football tactics used for years at BSHS. Those defensive schemes helped the Redmen to Northern Ohio League titles in 1961, 1962, 1964, and 1966.

During the 1964 campaign, in what many considered to be a rebuilding year for the Redmen, the Hoffman-coached defense allowed only 14 total points, a school record that stands to this very day and which may never be broken.

In 1972, Curly hung up the coaching cleats and joined the BSHS administrative staff as assistant principal. He eventually became principal and later retired to Florida in 1980.

Hoffman was also the varsity basketball coach from 1957-60, and started and coached the first-ever Redmen golf team in 1963. He also taught Biology and Advanced Biology, Physical Science, Freshmen Science, and at the junior high level, seventh and eighth grade Science.

Bob Bailey, a member of the BSHS Athletic Hall of Fame, who played for, coached with, and taught under Curly, noted that “Curly was a consummate teacher both on the field and in the classroom. He always had time to talk with you and work with you to help make you not only a better football player, but a better person as well.”

Another Hall of Fame inductee, Gary “Red” Miller, summed up the legacy left behind by Curly with this statement: “He gave you great confidence as a player and a student because you always knew he was better prepared than others, and he had more honesty and integrity than any opponent you would face. He prepared us for life.”