Last Updated on December 30, 2024 6:52 pm
BOONE, N.C. — App State Football head coach Dowell Loggains announced Monday the hiring of Curtis Fuller as a defensive assistant coach.
A former NFL player and coach, the 46-year-old Fuller has spent the past two seasons in the Sun Belt Conference as the cornerbacks coach at Coastal Carolina, which totaled 25 interceptions and four pick-six touchdown returns in that time.
“We’re excited to welcome Curtis and his family to the App Family,” said Loggains, who worked alongside Fuller with the Tennessee Titans in 2011. “He has coached in multiple Super Bowls and has experience as both a high school head coach and a college position coach and recruiter in the Carolinas. He will be a great asset to our defensive staff.”
Fuller played four seasons as an NFL defensive back after being a fourth-round draft pick and worked in the NFL for more than a decade, winning a Super Bowl title with the Green Bay Packers following the 2010 season and working closely with App State alum Steve Wilks as members of the Carolina Panthers’ defensive staff from 2013-17. After Wilks became the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach in 2018, he hired Fuller, who later became a high school coach in North Carolina and returned to the college game as an assistant coach in 2022.
“I would like to thank Coach Loggains and the App State community for the opportunity to be a part of this storied football program,” Fuller said. “My family and I are excited to be part of the Mountaineers’ family.”
Fuller was the Panthers’ assistant defensive backs/nickels coach during a 2015 season in which Carolina, which had an NFL-leading 24 interceptions, followed a 15-1 regular season with a berth in Super Bowl 50. He took over as the Panthers’ defensive backs coach when Wilks vacated that spot to become the defensive coordinator in 2017.
During his time in the NFL, Fuller coached and worked with the likes of Charles Woodson, Patrick Peterson, Budda Baker, Josh Norman, James Bradberry, Captain Munnerlyn, Shaq Thompson, Michael Griffin, Cortland Finnegan, Colin Jones and Mike Adams.
After returning to Charlotte and coaching at Myers Park High School from 2019-21, including an 8-4 season with a share of a conference title as the head coach in 2021, Fuller went back to his home state of Texas and served as the safeties coach at Texas A&M–Commerce in 2022. The Lions led the Southland Conference in total defense (305.0 yards allowed per game), scoring defense (19.9 points allowed per game) and passing defense (157.9 yards allowed per game).
In Fuller’s first season at Coastal Carolina in 2023, the Chanticleers ranked second behind App State in the Sun Belt with 14 interceptions, with their cornerbacks totaling 23 pass breakups. During the 2024 season, Coastal had 11 interceptions and 35 pass breakups.
A native of Fort Worth, Fuller began his collegiate career at Tyler Junior College and was a three-year starter at safety for TCU, where he served as the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He played in 32 games for TCU from 1998-2000, totaling 243 tackles and three interceptions before being a fourth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2001.
Fuller also played for the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, concluding his career in 2004. The path to a coaching career began with him joining the Dallas Cowboys and coach Bill Parcells as a volunteer scout in 2006.
He joined the Oakland Raiders’ staff as an assistant in 2007 and worked for the Packers from 2009-10, serving as an assistant special teams coach and defensive assistant for a team that won Super Bowl 45.
Fuller was an assistant with the Titans when Loggains was the franchise’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011. They both developed connections with James Franklin, who also was coaching in Nashville at Vanderbilt, and Fuller volunteered for Franklin at Vanderbilt during the 2012 season.
He and his wife, Rachel, have two children – Carolina and Anthony.
FULLER AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
2006: Dallas Cowboys (Volunteer scout)
2007: Oakland Raiders (Assistant coach)
2009-10: Green Bay Packers (Assistant coach)
2011: Tennessee Titans (Assistant coach)
2012: Vanderbilt (Volunteer assistant)
2013-17: Carolina Panthers (Assistant coach)
2018: Arizona Cardinals (Assistant coach)
2019-20: Myers Park H.S. (Assistant coach)
2021: Myers Park H.S. (Head coach)
2022: Texas A&M-Commerce (Safeties)
2023-24: Coastal Carolina (Cornerbacks)
College Playing Experience
1996-97: Tyler Junior College
1998-2000: TCU (Safety)
2001-02: Seattle Seahawks (DB)
2003-04: Green Bay Packers (DB)
2004: Carolina Panthers (DB)
Alma Mater: TCU, 2000
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Wife: Rachel
Children: Carolina, Anthony
Twitter: @Cfuller29Coach
