Paul Ellis is a 1985 graduate of Fyffe High School. He earned his degree from Jacksonville State.

Ellis landed his first head coaching job at Valley Head High School in 1992. He had been an assistant with the Tigers for two seasons. In his only season with the Tigers his team finished a disappointing 1-9. Following that season, Ellis served as an assistant at Fort Payne for the next five years under Jerry Elmore.

In 1998 Ellis, 31, got his second shot as a head coach when he accepted the position at Section. He took over from Randy Hallmark. His Lions went 15-15 in three years under his leadership.

Ellis returned to Ft. Payne in 2001 with Dale Pruitt and served as the offensive and defensive line coach in 2003 before stepping up to the head coaching position the next year when Coach Pruitt retired. He was also the head baseball coach at Fort Payne for the 2003 and 2004 baseball seasons.

Coach Ellis retired from the sidelines following the 2017 season. The Wildcats went 109-48 during their fourteen seasons under Coach Ellis. They qualified for the playoffs each season except 2005 and 2016 and won six region titles.

Coach Ellis passed Jerry Elmore with his 97th win at Fort Payne as the winningest head football coach for the Wildcats in 2012.

He served as the head coach in the North-South All-Star game in 2011. Paul is the son of Nelson Ellis who coached at Fyffe, Geraldine and Fort Payne from 1966-1977.