FULLER NAMED AD | Kilgore football coach Clint Fuller accepts AD position
Clint Fuller returned to Kilgore in spring, 2021 to accept the position as head football coach at Kilgore High School.
“All” he’s done since is lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back appearances in the UIL Class 4A state championship game – under Fuller, the Bulldogs have never won less than 10 games in a season.
And now, he’s taking on a new challenge.
Kilgore Independent School District this week has named Fuller its new athletic director, as longtime former head football coach Mike Wood prepares for semi-retirement. Wood, who has been at KHS since the mid-1990s and also led the Bulldogs to a state title game appearance, will move into an assistant athletic director position.
The school district released a statement on Fuller’s new title on Tuesday.
“Coach Clint Fuller has demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity and a winning standard that reflects everything we value in Kilgore ISD,” Superintendent Dr. Andy Baker said, in the release. “We are proud to have him step into the role of athletic director while continuing to lead our football program, and we are confident his vision will strengthen Kilgore athletics for years to come.”
Fuller, the son of former longtime Kilgore College defensive coordinator Phil Fuller, grew up in Kilgore, but then further developed his coaching pedigree and reputation as a defensive master himself. He has held positions at a handful of some of the best programs in the state, including Southlake Carroll and more recently, Pleasant Grove, where he coached the Hawks to a state title win in 2019 alongside childhood friend Josh Gibson (the Hawks also made it to the state title game the previous season).
The Brownwood High School and Howard Payne University graduate came home, so to speak, in 2021, following Wood as head football coach, while Wood continued on as AD. Fuller led the Bulldogs to an 11-2 record his first season, also claiming a district championship that year. The Ragin’ Red went 10-4 the following season, 12-2 in 2023, and then 27-5 the last two years (13-3 in 2024 and 14-2 in ’25). In both of those, Kilgore reached the 4A Division I state title game and broke one offensive school record after another – the ‘Dogs fell short, unfortunately, in both state games, but remain a force in Texas high school football, not just in East Texas. Kilgore is expected to be back in the mix for a state title run this season.
Coach Fuller, who is the 22nd head football coach in the program’s history, is just the third athletic director at KHS since 1995, following Mike Vallery and Wood. He was also recently named the Texas High School Football Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year.
Wood changes positions once again, but has had a sterling coaching career, most of it at KHS. He was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs’ 2004 16-0 season that finished with a state championship, and then took over as head coach with Vallery’s retirement in 2010. Within three seasons, Wood had the Bulldogs back in the state championship game in 2013, although Carthage won that one (Kilgore finished that season 14-1).
Wood and the ‘Dogs continued to have success after the state title game appearance, a regular district and state title contender, before he transitioned to serving as only AD the last four seasons. Wood, or “Woody,” as most friends know him, has an 83-53 record as a head coach, all at KHS.
