THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Chisholm Trail High School Athletics

Coach Ab started at Boswell in 2002 as an assistant coach and took over as the head coach in 2006.  He is the winningest coach in school history, compiling 120 wins and a playoff berth in 13 of his 16 seasons as a head coach. 

Under his leadership, the Pioneers won the Bi-District Championship seven times, and in 2016, the Pioneers went four rounds deep and lost to state champion Aledo in the Regional Championship.

Coach Abendschan was honored by being named the Head Coach of the West Squad in the DFW Coaches Association All-Star Game in 2013. He was named District Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2017 and was a semi-finalist for DFW Coach of the Year at the annual 1st Down Club of Dallas-Fort Worth Awards in 2017.

John was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. His father is in the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame as a guard and kicker with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Coach Abendschan grew up in Abilene and graduated from Abilene Cooper High School in 1992. He attended Eastern New Mexico for three semesters competing in football for two seasons, redshirting his freshman year and captain the next season. John then transferred to Texas Tech University to walk on for Spike Dykes and be a Red Raider. He sat out the 1994 season but played the 1995 season. They played Air Force in the Copper Bowl that year. He played defensive tackle for the Red Raiders football team. In 1996, he earned a football scholarship and a starting spot. He led the defensive tackles in tackles that season. John played for Dean Slayton, long time Tech assistant coach, and played in the Alamo Bowl against Iowa. He graduated in the spring of 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Math from Texas Tech University and obtained a Master in Educational Leadership from the University of North Texas in 2021.

Prior to arriving at Boswell, John coached the defensive tackles and tight ends at South Grand Prairie High School in 2001-2002. He coached on the state championship staff at Flower Mound Marcus High School (1997-1999). He also coached the offensive line at Flower Mound High School.

Coach Abendschan and his wife, Sherry, are proud parents of three daughters - Zoe, Ali, and Lily.