Leon Fuller obit

On Leon Fuller, who played for Bum Phillips and Bear Bryant, and coached at UT. 'A class guy' | Bohls

 He was not on the list.

AUSTIN - Sonny Lubick got the job as Colorado State offensive coordinator and THEN flew to Denver for the actual job interview.

Actually it wasn't an interview at all.

If that seems a bit backward, you just have to know that's how Leon Fuller operated.

That's because the then-Rams head coach trusted his inner circle implicitly and, before even exploring Lubick's own interest, called the fired Montana State assistant to arrange the details for his plane flight.

Fuller took the word of close friend and Dallas Cowboys guru Gil Brandt at face value and hired Lubick without ever first talking to him in any depth.

"I guess Gil Brandt did the interview for me," Lubick joked. "I'd never met Leon before."

Fuller died of heart failure last week at 87, leaving behind a devoted wife Pam and two daughters Brooke and Kelly as well a host of friends and admirers. As an outstanding coach, a defensive wizard and a truly good-hearted man, he had very few peers. A celebration of Fuller's life will be held this summer.

He grew up in Nederland in southeast Texas and played for Bum Phillips as a 126-pound, all-district defensive back for a 1955 state quarterfinalist. Interesting enough, Nederland's fight song was the Aggie War Hymn.

Fuller was also all-district in track as the anchor of the mile relay team and played basketball and baseball, too. He was voted "Cutest Boy" and "Best Personality" for the Class of 1956.

He became an All-American football player at Tyler Junior College and was about to sign with Georgia until Phillips corrected and told Leon he was going to Alabama.

"I only weighed 156 pounds (at Tyler)," Fuller once said, "and I wouldn't have recruited me. I told Bum I was going to Georgia, but he said, ‘No, you're going to Alabama.' I said yes sir."

He became a two-way star and a captain as a senior for the Crimson Tide before starting a coaching career that took him to stops at Oklahoma State, Kentucky, New Mexico, West Texas State and Wyoming with Fred Akers before coming to Texas.

"I was scared to death of Bear Bryant," Fuller once said. "He got the most out of any player that I'd ever seen."

Fuller's was a rare humility as a person relentlessly positive and almost devoid of ego.

"He was a very good man," Lubick said. "It wasn't all about him. He was a very quiet guy who didn't have to be the center of attention. If you saw him standing with a bunch of other coaches, you wouldn't know he was the head coach."

That's because he was more than comfortable in his own person and treated friend and stranger alike with respect and warmth.

Fuller had a life away from football. He was a devoted father and husband. He had a dog, a boxer named Cowboy, that he just adored and was fastidious with the dog's meal-time preparations. Like the rest of his family, he was an avid snow skier, and he also loved to play golf up to a point.

His handicap?

"He was a good golfer but as far as I know, he never recorded a handicap," said former Fuller assistant Phil Bounds. "He was in too big a hurry to get back to work than to add up his score."

Lubick was hardly alone in his praise of Fuller, one of the best two or three defensive coordinators in Longhorn history after capably serving Texas head coaches Fred Akers, David McWilliams and John Mackovic.

"I owe Leon my career. He opened the door to me getting started in the business," said former Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford, who played for him with the Longhorns. "He gave me my first opportunity to be a Division I coach. He is the reason I learned how to coach. Leon never raised his voice, but you knew when he wasn't happy."

Sensational safety Johnnie Johnson, a rare two-time All-American at Texas and a star on the first Akers squad in 1977, concurred in his admiration for Fuller.

"He was very wise. Very smart," Johnson said. "He knew his X's and O's inside out, and he was able to communicate that. But the thing that made him so effective was the discipline he demanded."

To that point, Fuller was a perfectionist when it came to details. He was obsessed with doing it right.

Once during a game against Arkansas, Fuller took a defensive back aside and asked, "Am I going to have to come out there and cover that running back?"

"He knew exactly what every player was supposed to do," Johnson said. "If we were watching film and somebody took on a block with the wrong shoulder, he'd turn the projector off. We didn't want to hear him raise his voice. Don't get me wrong because he'd get in your grill. You just didn't want to let him down."

That very first Longhorn team in 1977 rarely did. In fact, Fuller's defense was so overpowering that season the first-team defense didn't give up a touchdown until the sixth week of the season against SMU and no rushing score until Week 8.

Bedford was a young freshman cornerback at Texas along with Derrick Hatchett when Fuller joined Akers on a staff that replaced Darrell Royal in 1977. That talent-riddled defense with eight sophomore starters - and Heisman winner Earl Campbell and third-string quarterback Randy McEachern on offense  - brought the Longhorns within a whisker of a national championship that first year until Notre Dame ended those hopes with a 38-10 Cotton Bowl win.

Outland Award winner Brad Shearer was a cornerstone of that unit which smothered offenses and manhandled opponents. In back-to-back games against No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 8 Arkansas, the Longhorns' super aggressive defense under Fuller allowed a total of five field goals and won 13-6 and 13-9.

"I'd played for Mike Campbell for three years," Shearer said of Royal's chief lieutenant. "But we were mostly a defense that would bend but not break. Coach Fuller was a little more aggressive and he gave us freedom to run around blocks and make plays."

Bedford noted that Fuller was a master at defending triple-option teams. In his four years as a player, Texas went 3-1 against the Sooners.

Shearer joked that Fuller treated his players with respect but also preached accountability. He was forever known as a tremendous teacher and one of the nicest guys ever.

"He always tried to act real tough," Shearer joked. "Oh, he would get after you, but I don't think he liked it."

When Fuller was a player, he didn't need to act. He was as tenacious and salty a player as there was, an undersized, 135-pound defensive back who first learned the game under Phillips at Nederland High and then as an All-SEC safety for Bryant at Alabama.

After serving under Akers for five seasons, he became a head coach for the first time, unfortunately with disastrous results. Fuller had just one winning season with only a 6-5 record at that in seven years before getting fired after 1-11 and 1-10 seasons. He had a 25-55 record at Colorado State, but he had one lasting legacy when he changed the color schemes and introduced the green helmets with yellow horns that the Rams still wear today.

Lubick, however, was a great hire back in 1982 and went on to win two national championships with the Miami Hurricanes as a defensive coordinator and then became the winningest coach in CSU history with six conference championships.

"Colorado State was 0-12 the year before we came," Lubick said. "I think we won four games that first year and beat Wyoming, which was a big deal, but we couldn't sustain that traction."

Lubick owes much of his success to Fuller and learned how to be a head coach and manage people. But how Fuller treated people struck Lubick instantly.

"He was extremely trustworthy," Lubick said. "He had no ego, and he never blamed his coaches or players. I never remember him saying a bad word about an assistant coach. But the thing that stands out was his great sense of humor. His laugh was so infectious."

 

Playing career

1956–1958      Tyler

1959–1960      Alabama

Positions          Halfback, defensive back

Coaching career (HC unless noted)

1966–1968      Kentucky (DB)

1974    West Texas State (DC)

1975–1976      Wyoming (DC)

1977–1981      Texas (DC)

1982–1988      Colorado State

1989–1993      Texas (DC)

1994    Denver Broncos (DB)

1995    Llano HS (TX)

Head coaching record

Overall            25–55 (college)