Abilene ISD superintendent Dr. David Young announced Monday morning that Abilene High School defensive coordinator Mike Fullen has been elevated to replace Del Van Cox as the new head football coach and athletic coordinator for the Eagles.
Cox resigned in late April after four seasons and a 26-18 record, joining the AISD administrative staff as assistant director of athletics. Prior to becoming the head coach at AHS in 2015, Cox served for 20 seasons as an assistant coach, including 10 years as the offensive coordinator. Prior to Cox, Steve Warren was the Eagles’ head coach, posting a 175-68 record from 1996-2014, including leading the Eagles to the 2009 Class 5A Division II state championship.
Both Warren and Cox were elevated from coordinator positions into the head coaching role, and now Fullen continues the trend at AHS. Fullen has been at Abilene High since 1997, minus a one-year hiatus to Georgetown (2005-06) where he served as the defensive coordinator.
He returned to AHS prior to the 2006 season and has served as the defensive coordinator before adding the title of assistant head coach under Cox.
The Abilene High football program has enjoyed tremendous success in the last 23 seasons, posting a 201-86 record and reaching the playoffs 17 times, including a semifinal appearance in 2007 and the state championship in 2009. Fullen has coached an AHS defender to the district defensive MVP award four times (2006-08, 2010) and coached linebacker Chris Williams to the Texas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year award.
Fullen is a member of the Region II Board of Directors for the Texas High School Coaches’ Association and was part of the Texas High School Coaches’ Association all-star football game coaching staff in 2011. He is a 1993 graduate of Angelo State University where he played football for the Rams.
