Mike Fullen cuts a distinctive intimidating figure standing on the sidelines on Friday nights.

The Abilene High School football coach can often be seen standing with his arms crossed, watching his team play, calmly devouring the action. But when he finds it necessary, the fire boiling inside him can come out, whether on an official, one of his players, or a position group not performing up to his high standards.

But that Friday night demeanor belies his true character.

“I have often told people that Mike Fullen is the funniest man alive, but no one knows it,” said Fullen’s longtime friend Del Van Cox, the former offensive coordinator and head coach at AHS who now serves as the Abilene ISD assistant athletics director. “He’s got this hard-nosed, defensive coach demeanor, but once you get to know him, you really begin to see his subtle humor. But you’ve got to really know him to be able to pick up on it.”

Entering his fifth season as the Eagles’ head coach in 2023, Fullen will undoubtedly have Abilene High in a position to make another run at a playoff spot. Fullen is 22-23 in four seasons as the head coach, but after missing the playoffs in his first season at the helm of the AHS program (3-7 in 2019), the Eagles are 19-16 with three straight trips to the playoffs, including going three rounds deep in 2020 and 2022.

One of the most well-respected defensive coordinators in the state during much of his career, Fullen now carries that same weight as a head coach. And it’s a big reason why he was recently selected as the winner of this year’s Tom Landry Award, one of the most prestigious honors a high school football coach in Texas can win.

The Texas High School Coaches Association gives out the award. It annually goes to a THSCA member who has made significant contributions to the athletes and the game of football in Texas. Nominees should have served as positive role models for athletes and coaches. The other nominees for this year’s award were Jimmy Thomas (Littlefield), Carlos Lynn (Crowley), Fred Howard (Monahans), Stephen Dixon (Houston Heights), Oscar Wilson (Longview), Brent Davis (Gregory-Portland), and Drew Sanders (Austin Vandegrift).

“I was shocked, to say the least,” Fullen said when he learned he had won the award. “Honored and humbled as well. When you look at the guys I was nominated with … just to be mentioned with those guys was such a tremendous honor. I didn’t realize how people perceived me from the outside because I’ve been here forever, but it’s been humbling. I’ve done a lot of good things here at Abilene High. I told my wife (Lucille) that I’ve been here for 25 years and done just about everything you can do in this profession – winning state titles in track and field and football – and being on the board of directors as an assistant coach and now to receive this award is a big deal.”

Fullen is the first current head coach from the Abilene ISD to earn the honor but joins former Big Country head coaches Hugh Sandifer (Abilene Wylie), Ray Overton (Irving MacArthur and Abilene Cooper), Mike Copeland (Stephenville), and Charles Copeland (Brownwood and Anson) on the list of winners.

Past winners include Todd Dodge in 2022 (Austin Westlake and Southlake Carroll), Gary Joseph (Katy) in 2021, Hal Wasson (Southlake Carroll) in 2018, Phil Danaher (Corpus Christi Calallen) in 2017, Mel Maxfield (Amarillo High) in 2016, Sam Harrell (Ennis) in 2016, G.A. Moore Jr. (Celina and Pilot Point) in 2001, D.W. Rutledge (Converse Judson) in 2000), Larry Dippel (Amarillo High) in 1993, and the first winner, Charlie Johnston (Childress) in 1990. The list is a veritable “Who’s Who” among Texas high school football coaches.

“Those coaches are all icons in this profession, and now my name will be there with them,” Fullen said. “I’m proud to be able to represent the Abilene ISD, which has been so good to me.”

Fullen’s coaching career began right out of Angelo State as he spent one year each at San Saba (1995) and Comfort (1996) before joining head coach Steve Warren’s staff at AHS as a defensive assistant in 1997. He left for one season (2005) to coach with former offensive coordinator and eventual AISD Director of Athletics Phil Blue when he was hired as the head coach at Georgetown but returned to AHS in time for the 2006 season.

He grew up under Warren’s tutelage and coached with Blue and Cox, as well as current AHS defensive coordinator James Williamson and longtime AHS assistant coach Tommy Martinez, all men he considers both mentors and his closest friends in the profession.

“Big Mike!” Warren said when asked about Fullen winning the Tom Landry Award. “That’s what I called him and still do today. He is more than just a football coach. He’s a great friend and has had an amazing influence on a lot of kids over the years. I never worried about our defense; we were always going to be ready to play every week. I’m so proud of him and what he has brought to Abilene High and the football program. This is a well-deserved award for a man that has overcome a lot to get where he is today.”

Fullen’s biggest obstacle came back in 2020 when – with the globe in the throes of the COVID pandemic – the Eagles’ head coach announced he was stepping away for several weeks because he had been diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery in late August and didn’t return to coaching his team until mid-October. He then directed the Eagles to the third round of the playoffs, despite days when he felt like doing anything but coaching football.

Fullen returned to practice and the sideline determined to be different and to coach that way.

“When you go through what I went through, even though I’ve never thought I was going to die from cancer – ever – it puts a lot of things in perspective,” he said. “But that kind of thing changes you. I wanted to come back and make sure I did things the way I wanted them done and worry about what needed to be worried about and not try to fix everything or put out every fire. If you let those small fires that always crop up burn, they’ll burn themselves out. But if you go over and kick them and stir them up, you’ve got a bigger fire than it ever should have been.

And that extended to how he works with his coaching staff.

“They don’t have to come run things through me because I trust them,” Fullen said. “That’s one thing I learned from Steve is that you let your people work. And because of how I am – especially defensively – I had to cut myself away from that. Coach Will (Williamson) and I will talk about things because I know the whole structure of the defense. But when I’m away from it, I can see things he might not see because he sees it daily, so I help with that part. But most of the time, I’m hands-off, and I’m more about keeping things moving and keeping things organized.”

It’s a testament to Fullen’s standing in coaching circles and the Abilene community that when he was announced as the winner, many congratulatory messages on social media were from people affiliated with crosstown rival Cooper. 

“I’m excited for Coach Fullen to receive this award, not only for the contributions he has made to his programs and athletes but for what he does for AISD and the coaching profession, for that matter,” Cooper head football coach Aaron Roan said. “I’m privileged to work closely with Coach Fullen in a competitive and relational capacity within our district.  He represents the coaching profession in an unbelievable manner. He is well-respected throughout Texas in the coaching community, and I believe that’s evident by winning the Tom Landry Award. His character and devotion to not only his campus, athletes, and staff but also the coaching profession in Texas is impeccable.  I have the utmost respect for Mike, and he deserves this award.”

While Fullen and Roan compete against each other one Friday night each fall, and the respective athletics programs they lead are in the same district in all sports except for football, Fullen is a proponent of both programs whenever they’re not playing each other.

We have a healthy competition in town, and it just shows the support this community gives everyone,” Fullen said. “When we’re representing the AISD outside of town, everybody pulls in the same direction. When I talk about how I want Abilene High to be thought of or recognized when we roll into town and get off the bus – as a team that’s tough, hard-nosed, physical, and is going to give everything its got the entire night – I would want that anytime an Abilene ISD bus rolls into town, whether the team getting off the bus is wearing black and gold or red and blue. You know, there’s only one Friday out of the year that I’m not rooting for those guys at Cooper, and I think it’s the same way for them.”

That attitude has quickly endeared him to the district’s first-year Executive Director of Athletics, Jim Garfield, who brought the motto “One Town One Family” with him when he started on the job on May 2, 2022. It also embodies the leadership style Fullen exhibits daily on the AHS campus, within the AISD, and in the Abilene community.

Mike Fullen is a natural leader,” Garfield said. “He is exactly what the Tom Landry award winner looks like. Coach Fullen has a passion for his athletes and coaching staff. Success on the field has happened for Coach Fullen because of the investment he has made in the Abilene High School football players and coaching staff. I would follow that man anywhere.”