BOONE, N.C. - Week one of Appalachian State spring football practice is in the books, and while the season is still seven months away, progress has already been made.
Throughout a week that mixed snow flurries with 50-degree sunny days and rain, the Mountaineers began adjusting to new roles, incorporating seven early enrollees from the December 2017 signing period and balancing new and old coaches in different roles.
"We are getting better from day one to day four," head coach
Scott Satterfield said. "If you go back and watch film, you can see little glimpses of guys getting better. That's the key to continue seeing success."
Capping off a four-practice week on Saturday, the Mountaineer defense that shut out Toledo in the Dollar General Bowl continued to impress in practice drills against the App State offense.
Despite losing three of four starting linebackers from last year's team, newly promoted defensive coordinator
Bryan Brown returns linebacker
Anthony Flory and nose tackle
Myquon Stout on the front seven and All-Sun Belt cornerbacks
Clifton Duck and
Tae Hayes in the secondary.
"To me, defense is always a little ahead early on. When you're not tackling, you get a little false sense of security," Satterfield said. "That always happens in spring and August. We don't game plan our defense. We aren't trying to scheme them. We are very basic and we will end up doing eight days of install and we may slow it down more than that. I just want to get the fundamentals down and get as good as we can get."
Offensively, the Mountaineers continue to see progress with the six quarterbacks on the roster looking to replace four-year starter
Taylor Lamb.
Zac Thomas and
Jacob Huesman have led the group so far, with
Peyton Derrick and early enrollee
Stephon Brown in the mix.
With the loss of
Beau Nunn and
Colby Gossett on the offensive line, App State will be losing some size, but have used the speed of
Victor Johnson, Tobias-Edge Campbell and
Noah Hannon, among others, to fill the voids.
On the ground,
Jalin Moore is back and healthy after an injury-riddled 2017 season in which he still ran for over 1,000 yards.
Thomas Hennigan will return for his second year at wide receiver alongside
Jalen Virgil and
Corey Sutton, who redshirted this past season.
"Offensively we do things outstanding. We've been running the ball well. We are where we need to be offensively," Satterfield said. "Zac [Thomas] has been great and we need to get other guys at that level. Offensive line wise, we are not as big, but more athletic as far as speed goes. We are quick up front."
App State will get back to work on Monday for the fifth of 15 practices this spring.
To renew or purchase 2018 season tickets for Mountaineer Football, visit AppStateSports.com/tickets.
