App State head coach Shawn Clark recently shared his thoughts on a myriad of topics from the transfer portal to the upcoming 2024 season.
App State Has Their Man
On returning quarterback Joey Aguilar, Coach Clark said App State is very fortunate to have him back, noting the surfer boy from California received a lot of fanfare and attention from other schools towards the end of last season and in the offseason, but he’ll be back in the Black and Gold for his senior season.
After battling for the starting quarterback position all summer, the decision came down to the last scrimmage, and Burger handled the ball a bit better. One trait of an App State Mountaineer is resilience and the “next man up” attitude.
On the sixth play of the first game, then-starter Ryan Burger broke his finger and Aguilar stepped in and never looked back with a 40-yard touchdown pass on his first play; A play that was changed on the sideline by Coach Clark. “Frank Ponce (Offensive Coordinator) actually called a run play, but as Head Coach you have 51% of the vote, so we changed the play, being confident in Joey’s arm, and credit to the offensive line for blocking and the receivers for running the right route, but Joey put the ball on a dime and the rest is history.”
When asked how Aguilar has improved over last season and into Spring Camp, Coach Clark said his quarterback has learned how to “live another down.” When Aguilar arrived on campus, he was “trying to make every throw regardless of whether it was in single coverage or triple coverage. He has a very strong arm and he believes in himself, but as the season progressed, you could see he was getting used to using his check-downs and throwing the ball away.”
App State Coach to GM/CEO
![App State Coach Shawn Clark Shares His Thoughts on 2024 Season 3 Appalachian State, Shawn Clark](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/USATSI_21489400_168400545_lowres-1024x682.jpg)
When asked how Coach Clark’s day-to-day duties have changed with the transfer portal and NIL, he jokingly said, “Well, I used to be a football coach, and now I’m a ‘GM’ or a ‘CEO’ so that has changed.” He noted the main reason for getting into coaching was to coach. But Coach Clark still tries to find five or ten minutes a day to get into drill or go coach “to fuel [his] soul.”
With the NIL comes a whole new ball game and way of managing your players. Clark said that in today’s world of college football, the coaching staff are recruiting their current players on a daily basis and in order to do that the coach is expected to go out and raise money for the NIL for the collectives, for facilities, and for new players. While he doesn’t get to coach as much as he’d like to, he always uses that ten-minute window in practice to get in some coaching so he doesn’t get “left behind” which would be detrimental for someone who is “passionate about coaching young kids.”
Coach Clark doesn’t see any pressure in being the coach at App State, or for players playing at App State; there are expectations. “I want to coach in an environment where the expectations are higher. In Boone, it’s Championship or bust, and that is why players come here to get a world-class degree and play for championships.”
App State Leads the Sun Belt
Coach Clark credits Commissioner Gil for doing a great job of getting competitive schools to join the already competitive Sun Belt. “Any week you can get beat in the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is the best it has ever been, and the players are bigger, faster, and stronger.” Coach Clark likes their chances this year, but he admits the jury is still out as to whether that means eight wins or ten wins.
In order to achieve their lofty and often attained goal of winning the Sun Belt, App State must first face a gauntlet of familiar foes going back to their FCS days. App State’s rivalries in the eastern division include almost the entire division with Marshall and Georgia Southern going back to the Southern Conference days, and Coastal Carolina, ODU, and JMU more so in the last few years.
App State Owns the Moment
![App State Coach Shawn Clark Shares His Thoughts on 2024 Season 5 Appalachian State](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/USATSI_16992129_168400545_lowres-1024x685.jpg)
App State is no stranger to owning the moment, even if they have come up shorthanded in their championship goals. Just two years ago, App State hosted ESPN Game Day (after stealing it and a victory away from Texas A&M) and beat Troy on a last-second Hail Mary, and followed up last year with another ESPN Game Day Instant Classic, beating JMU in overtime, and for Coach Clark, “these are the types of games and environments you want to play in.”
On top of owning the moment, App State also owns the Sun Belt single-season attendance record three years running. App State was also number one in the FBS in percentage of stadium capacity filled with 115% (don’t tell Fire Marshall Bill), and App State set their third straight season attendance record. Oh, and they’ve already sold out season tickets for this upcoming season.
“It’s a great time to be a Mountaineer and a great time to be on the Mountain,” Coach Clark says and by the looks of it, he is right.
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