His path to Florida State wasn't typical.

Adam Fuller wasn't a hot-shot assistant coach when he was in his 20s. He wasn't put on the fast track to coaching stardom at an early age. He paid his dues. A lot of dues, in fact.

He worked at places like Assumption College and Wagner, Chattanooga and Marshall. Until finally, last year, he was hired by Mike Norvell to be the defensive coordinator at Memphis.

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Fuller, who graduated high school in 1994 and has been in college coaching since 1998, was so impressive during those 12 months that when Norvell got the head coaching job at Florida State last week, he didn't need to look any further than his own hallway at Memphis to secure his defensive coordinator at FSU.

It's Fuller's first Power 5 job.

"My path has made me who I am," the Seminoles' new defensive coordinator said during his introductory press conference Monday afternoon. "A lot of work has gone into it, with unbelievable family support, and it hasn't been easy. But it's been a joy and it's been a passion. And to end up at a place like Florida State University has been a dream. But I only got to this dream by a work ethic and by a will to prepare and being good to people and trying to do it the right way and out-work everybody in the country.

"And when you finally get here, you don't let up. You just hit the accelerator a little bit more."

In 2018, Memphis won eight games but allowed 31.5 points and 420.4 yards per game.

In 2019, Fuller's one year with the Tigers after serving in the same role at Marshall, the Memphis defense has allowed 24.4 points and 372 yards per game. The Tigers are 12-1 and getting set to play in the Cotton Bowl.

That's the impact Fuller had in just one year on the job in Memphis.

And perhaps no one was more impressed than new FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who said he watched almost every Memphis game in 2019 despite being in his first year as the Auburn offensive coordinator.

"I texted him all the time," said Dillingham, who previously served as Memphis' offensive coordinator. "I was extremely, extremely impressed with the change that they made. ... They went to a team who didn't bust. We had a lot of busts with young players in those first two years, and injuries were a cause of it as well. But Coach Fuller got in there and he had that extremely aggressive mindset.

"But when you watch them play, there were no free runners. There were no gifts. They played and they kept the offense in front of them. And it's very difficult from a defensive perspective to be able to play aggressive and be aggressive, but at the same time limit big plays. And I think that's the making of an elite defense."