Fullerton hired as Clovis' head football coach

CLOVIS — A year ago, Cal Fullerton interviewed for a coaching job at Cleveland High School and started looking at houses in Rio Rancho.

There was just one problem.

"It didn't feel like home." Fullerton said. "This place has always felt like home."

Fullerton kept his home, and on Tuesday landed his dream job. The 1997 Clovis High grad is now head coach for the Wildcats football program.

Fullerton, 38, accepted the job Tuesday morning from Superintendent Jody Balch.

"When he said that, there weren't any words for it," Fullerton said. "I get to do what I love, and that's coach kids. We've already got a great group of kids busting their butts. As a coaching staff, we couldn't be more pleased with the effort so far."

The hour that followed only reinforced the importance of staying home.

"I came to school," Fullerton said, "and asked (Clovis High Principal Jay) Brady if I could go to the elementary school and see my kids. They were wearing purple jerseys today. When I got back to school, I had 97 text messages."

Balch said Fullerton, a coach with CHS since 2002 and a teacher with the district since 2004, seemed to be the best choice for the players.

"We know we keep hearing over and over he is a kid magnet," Balch said. "Kids like him, kids will play hard for him. I've observed him when we go to the banquets, and he's got a real attachment to kids. Kids like him, and they want to work hard for him. He's going to get the most out of the kids."

Fullerton takes over a Wildcats program that is 663-322-33 with 19 state championships in its history. Thirteen of those state titles have come since the 1950 season began what is considered New Mexico prep football's modern era.

Eric Roanhaus was responsible for 10 of those titles, with the last coming in the 2001 Wildcats' 13-0 campaign. After going 343-141-5 over 39 seasons, Roanhaus resigned in December.

"If you look at what he's done and accomplished ... people tell me I've got big shoes to fill," Fullerton said. "You don't fill shoes like that."

Fullerton was part of an applicant pool of 10 and a finalist pool of five, along with Bob Gilbreath, Drew Hatley, Paul Lopez and Jeff Willingham. All but Willingham played and coached for Roanhaus. Hatley was the only other current assistant to apply.

"Drew and I both, from day one, said we were for each other," Fullerton said. "We both wanted the job, both deserved the job. We said if it was one of us, we'd work for each other."

Hatley will be Fullerton's top assistant, but there are no plans for a one-man show.

"Just because I have the title of head coach doesn't mean everybody's not going to have the same input as I do," Fullerton said. "We've all been here, we know the kids. It's just a pretty good atmosphere to be around, having guys you know are for you and you can do good things with all of your minds together."

Over the next few weeks, the discussions will center around retaining Roanhaus' expectations on work ethic, discipline and integrity and identifying things that might change, Fullerton said.

Fullerton didn't go into offensive plans, other than to say the pass completion percentage needs to improve.

"I'm sure a couple of things will be different," Fullerton said. "We'll sit down as a staff and see if there's anything we want to do different. The biggest thing is to get the kids to trust in you. When they give you everything they have, you're going to win football games."

Now comes the work, both for Fullerton and the school district. The district also announced the June 30 resignation of Athletic Director Dale Fullerton, who removed himself from the selection process due to his son's candidacy.

Balch said hiring a football coach was a new process, since the district hadn't needed a football coach since 1978, and the person tasked with hiring coaches had to step aside. But Balch said the basic tenets remained.

"It goes back to, 'Here's what we're looking for, here's what we're looking for in the interview, here's the person we're looking for,' and we'll see who matches the best," Balch said. "You just want to make sure you've got the best person for the job."

There may be a vacancy even sooner. Cal Fullerton serves as boys golf coach, and golf season coincides with football offseason.

"Those golf kids deserve as much time as the football kids," Cal Fullerton said. "One way or the other, we'll have to lean on one of them. They'll be successful this year. They've been to the state tournament, and their expectations are high."

Cal Fullerton has been involved with two state runner-up finishes — as a player in 1995, and a coach in 1997 — and hopes to get the Wildcats back into state title contention.

"It's a huge, huge opportunity you can't take lightly," he said. "My family, and the rest of the administration, the town of Clovis, the central office, everybody's going to have to get behind us. We need everybody to win. We need everybody's support."