Mountaineers

NCAAF Appalachian State Mountaineers

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Sun Belt
Past Conferences: SoCon

City: Boone, North Carolina.

Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium

National Championships: 3

Conference Titles: 22

Divisional Championships: 3

Team History

The Mountaineers’ inaugural season was in 1928. One of their best coaches of all time, Kidd Brewer, coached them from 1935-1938. His 1937 team finished undefeated and beat each team they played with a combined 206-0 score.

The 50s were solid for the Mountaineers under E.C. Diggings. They won multiple conference championships and played in seven bowl games during his eight-year tenure.

Coach Jim Duncan was next up for the first half of the 60s. Duncan led the Mountaineers to 31 wins in five seasons.

Joining the Southern Conference

The Mountaineers joined the Southern Conference in 1971. Jim Brakefield coached the Mountaineers from 1970-1979. The Mountaineers put together five winning seasons under Brakefield.

Legendary coach Mack Brown took over the job in 1983 after the Mountaineers suffered back-to-back, seven-loss seasons. He led the Mountaineers to a 6-5 record in his first season. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, multiple jobs opened up for him and he took the offensive coordinator job at the University of Oklahoma.

Sparky Woods coached the Mountaineers next. His first season at the helm was underwhelming. However, his second and third were some of the best seasons in Mountaineer history. They finished with a combined 20-5-1 overall record and a perfect 13-0-1 conference record. They won the SoCon in both seasons but lost in the playoffs each time. Woods left after the 1984 season and accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina.

The Best Coach in Mountaineers History

Jerry Moore is the best coach in Mountaineers history and maybe the best coach in FCS history. He coached the Mountaineers for more than 20 seasons. The Mountaineers made the playoffs 18 times during his tenure. They won 10 SoCon championships and three National Championships. The Mountaineers’ 2005-2007 seasons were perhaps three of the most dominant seasons in college football history. Led by Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback Armanti Edwards, the Mountaineers won three straight National Championships. During that time they posted a 39-6 overall record. Outside of the championships, the Mountaineers had plenty of big moments and beat some really good teams. Their biggest win during that time was a 34-32 win over Michigan. Michigan was ranked #5 at the time. They became the first FCS team to receive votes in the AP. Moore coached five more seasons but they never won nor reached another championship during his tenure. The year 2012 was his last season. He finished with 215 total wins.

Filling Moore’s shoes would be a tall task. Scott Satterfield took over. In his first season, the Mountaineers went 4-8. In his second season, the Mountaineers moved from the FCS to the FBS (Sun Belt.) Satterfield and the Mountaineers were clearly up for the challenge. They finished with double-digit wins three out of his last four years. Additionally, they won the Sun Belt three years in a row from 2016-2018. He finished his career with a 51–24 overall record and a 3-0 bowl record. After the 2018 season, he accepted the head coaching job at Louisville.

Eliah Drinkwitz and Shawn Clark are the two most recent coaches. Drinkwitz led the Mountaineers to a 12-1 overall record in 2019 and left to become head coach at Missouri. Clark has been head coach since then. He’s posted a 26-13 record and a 2-1 bowl record.