Abilene High football coach Del Van Cox was named the assistant athletics director for the Abilene Independent School District on Monday.
Cox replaces Chuck Griffin who was named the head football coach at Georgetown on March 29th.
“I did not know until (Monday afternoon) that I was getting the job,” Cox said. “I’m going to have to try and get out of the office and try to get to know those coaches as well.”
Abilene ISD Athletics Director Phil Blue said that Cox came highly recommended across the board — including by coaches from Cooper.
“Most people that have been in Abilene for any (amount) of time know that Coach Cox is one of the most hard-working, ethical and good people out there,” Blue said. “He got a strong endorsement from many of the coaches on the south side. It was really an easy decision.”
Cox’s tenure as the AHS head football coach and athletics coordinator included managing the budget for the program.
“One of the things that made this easy was the athletic budgets at Abilene High and Cooper got moved to this office this past year,” Blue said. “Coach Cox has been doing that for two years and his familiarity with those budgets was a key thing.”
Blue said Cox was one of three finalists that were presented to him by an interview committee that consisted of parents, community members, athletic staff members and AISD human resources. He said there were eight interviews conducted prior to a second round.
Cox said the fact that Abilene High is starting spring football on Wednesday made the timing hard, but it’s something defensive Mike Fullen is looking forward to.
Fullen, the team’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator, will lead the program through spring football.
“The team was excited for him, but it was bittersweet because they all love him,” Fullen said. “When they told the team that I would be doing the day-to-day football, the overall (reaction) was good. I addressed them and told them that the ship would keep sailing and we just made a port and Coach Cox got off, but we were going to keep rowing.”
The 2018-19 school year was Cox’s fourth season at the helm of the Eagles football program where he compiled a career record of 26-18 after replacing Steve Warren.
“It’s a sad day for Abilene High, but it’s a great day for Coach Cox and his family,” Warren said. “I’m excited for him and it’s something that he wanted to do. When he told me he was going to try and get the job, I felt like he was the best fit immediately.”
Cox joined the staff at Abilene High in 1996 as an assistant under Warren and was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2005 — coincidentally the only year that Fullen wasn’t on staff in the past 23 years at AHS. Fullen spent that season in Georgetown.
“I’ve been treated well because I’ve been here for 23 years,” Cox said. “You build that relationship with people of the district, they know what kind of person you are.”
Despite the coaching change right before spring football starts, Cox said that it should be business as usual this spring for the Eagles.
“He has had an active role under Coach Warren and myself and has been a big part of what we have done for a while now,” Cox said. “There was no decision to be made. We were going to have spring training and Coach Fullen was going to step into that role of being the lead guy until we figure out who the next person is.”
Family was a big reason that Cox made the decision to go from his role at AHS to a spot in the AISD administration building.
“I’ve got a daughter that is going to be a junior on the varsity volleyball team and instead of just being able to watch her on Tuesday night home games, I might get to sneak out and go watch her on a Tuesday night away game,” Cox said. “The part of the job that I like, besides coaching kids, was helping coaches in their sports and this is a great opportunity to do that.”
With the promotion, Cox is going to have more time at home and said that his wife, Chris, has been supportive of the process.
“She’s excited about having a little bit more time with me and her, and I’m excited about watching my girl play a little bit,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun time.”
Cox has gotten a small taste of what his new job will entail the past couple of weeks as he and Cooper head coach Aaron Roan have been working on the bid process as a result of Griffin’s departure.
“Coach Roan and I were going to be on the outskirts of that and we got thrust into the middle of that,” he said. “It’s a very interesting process, and it was very insightful to see the bid process and how it worked. I’m excited for the things that are going to happen for us in AISD.”
Blue said AISD hopes to have a new head coach in place by the end of May or the first week in June. The last time that AISD made an external hire as a head football coach was when Mike Spradlin was hired at Cooper in 2005.
When Spradlin left Cooper, AISD elevated Todd Moebes to the head coaching spot and then Moebes was replaced by Roan last summer.
“It’s going to be a process, but we are going to make sure that we go through that process and pick the best person for the job,” Cox said. “You have to have someone that knows Abilene and we are going to get the best guy for the job.”
Fullen said the late change could help an internal candidate’s case for being promoted as opposed to AISD going outside the district.
“When you get into this part of the year, it gets harder to hire coaches that will have a staff that they can bring,” Fullen said. “Happening at this time of the year absolutely helps a person like me, but you just never know.
“The bottom line is that it will come down to what the community and boosters want in a head coach.”