Jim Abbate enters his eighth season as the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys and he has to rebuild a defense that returns just three starters from a year ago.

Under his direct leadership in the secondary, he has produced a first-team All-American five times, including three in a row by Alex Hansen and the last two years by Will Galusha.

Last season the defense ranked among the leaders in the American Southwest Conference and it was one of his best units as the coordinator. He will have to find four new starters in the secondary this season.

Abbate, a 1995 graduate of Panhandle State University in Oklahoma, came to the Cowboys from Tarleton State, where he served as the defensive coordinator.

He started his career as the linebacker coach at Littleton High School, in Littleton, Colorado.

Following that stint, he went to Panhandle State and served as secondary coach and pursued his bachelor's degree. He was moved to defensive coordinator at Panhandle State prior to the 1994 season and served that post for three seasons.

He then served the 1997 season at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he was the secondary coach. He spent 1998 at Tarleton State, before his appointment at HSU in January of 2000.

He and his wife Stacy have a six-year old son, Brennan and twin daughters Braylyn and Brooklyn.