Leon Fuller, who led Colorado State’s football program from 1982 to 1988 and was an assistant coach under Wade Phillips with the Denver Broncos, home on Saturday, July 11. Fuller was 87.
A native of Nederland, Texas, Fuller starred under legendary coach Bum Phillips as a high schooler before playing for Bear Bryant at Alabama, where he was an All-SEC safety.
CSU hired Fuller, the defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorns, in December 1981, to revive a program that had bottomed out at 0-12 that season. He was 25-55 during seven seasons in Fort Collins, which included a 6-5 mark in 1986. Fuller returned to Texas following his dismissal after going 1-10 in 1998, but wound up back in Colorado in 1994 after Wade Phillips hired him to coach defensive backs for the Broncos.
Fuller is credited with bringing Sonny Lubick to CSU as his offensive coordinator and Dave Lay as the offensive line coach. Lubick, hired to lead the program ahead of the 1993 season, won six Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West titles during his 15 seasons coaching the Rams. The program peaked at No. 14 in the AP poll in 1994.
Fuller is also responsible for CSU’s modern look, ditching the yellow helmets with green horns that the Rams had previously worn for green helmets with yellow horns. CSU football has worn dark green as its primary helmet color for the last 45 seasons. He’s also the only Rams coach to play a game outside of the United States after accepting a bid to the Gridiron Bowl in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 4, 1987, where CSU fell to BYU, 30-26.
Among those who starred under Fuller in Fort Collins were Keli McGregor, who later played for the Denver Broncos and worked in the Colorado Rockies organization, as well as Steve Bartalo, a walk-on who became the school’s all-time rushing leader with 4,813 yards.
During the 1986 season, Fuller also delivered the Rams their first victory over in-state rival Colorado since 1958. After humbling losses in 1983 and 1985, Fuller’s Rams decked the Buffs in Boulder on Sept. 6, 1986, winning 23-7.
