The 2018 season will be Scott Satterfield’s sixth as Appalachian State’s head coach and 23rd as a player or coach with the Mountaineers.
Satterfield, 45, has taken the Mountaineers to new heights as they have made the move to the FBS level in impressive fashion. They won their final six games to close out their first FBS season in 2014, posted a Sun Belt Conference-record 11 overall wins during the program’s first bowl-eligible season in 2015, captured their first Sun Belt championship during a 10-win season in 2016 and won another Sun Belt title during a 2017 season in which a Dollar General Bowl shutout of Toledo capped a nine-win campaign.
With a 27-5 league record in four Sun Belt seasons and a 3-0 record in bowl games, Satterfield has quickly established App State as one of the nation’s premier programs. The Mountaineers are 35-6 against G5 opponents in their four seasons at the FBS level under Satterfield, including a 31-29 victory against Ohio in the 2015 Camellia Bowl, a 31-28 win over Toledo in the 2016 Camellia Bowl and the 34-0 victory against the Rockets in the 2017 Dollar General Bowl.
Those postseason victories have allowed App State to become the first program in FBS history to win bowl games in each of its first three eligible seasons.
Satterfield was named Appalachian State’s 20th head coach on Dec. 14, 2012, becoming the sixth Appalachian alumnus to serve in the role. In 17 seasons as an App State player (five seasons from 1991-95) and assistant coach (1998-2008, 2012), he helped lead the Mountaineers to three NCAA Division I FCS national titles and eight conference championships.
As a quarterback at Appalachian, Satterfield made 27 starts from 1992-95 after redshirting as a true freshman in 1991. He earned first-team all-conference recognition as a senior in 1995 after passing for 1,461 yards and rushing for 649 more to help lead the Mountaineers to the only undefeated, untied regular season (11-0) in school history and a 12-1 final record. He graduated from Appalachian State with a B.S. in physical education in 1996.
Satterfield spent the first 11 seasons of his professional career in Boone, coaching the Mountaineers’ wide receivers (1998), running backs (1999-2002) and quarterbacks (2003-08). He was an integral part of Appalachian’s transition from a Power-I to a Spread offense in 2004.
With Satterfield serving as the Mountaineers’ primary play-caller, Appalachian ranked among the nation’s top 20 in five major offensive statistical categories (scoring, rushing, passing, passing efficiency and total offense) 17 out of a possible 25 times from 2004-08, highlighted by an explosive 2007 campaign in which the Mountaineers led the nation with a school-record 488.3 yards of total offense per game.
As Appalachian State’s quarterbacks coach, Satterfield coached both Richie Williams (2003-05) and Armanti Edwards (2006-08) to All-America recognition and was Edwards’ mentor for the first of his back-to-back Walter Payton Awards (FCS Player of the Year) in 2008.
Prior to his return to Appalachian as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator on Jerry Moore’s staff in 2012, Satterfield spent one season as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Toledo (2009) and two as the offensive coordinator at Florida International (2010-11).
In his only season at Toledo, the Rockets ranked 20th nationally in passing (278.5 ypg) and 14th in total offense (438.3 ypg), averages that were 89 and 104 yards better than the season prior to his arrival. In his two seasons at FIU, Satterfield helped lead the Golden Panthers to the first two bowl appearances in school history, including a victory over Toledo in the 2010 Little Caesars Bowl.
In 2017, during a 9-4 season that included a 7-1 run through the Sun Belt, the Mountaineers ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in fewest sacks allowed (No. 2 with eight), defensive three-and-outs, first downs allowed, fewest passes picked off by opposing defenses, defensive interceptions, sacks and turnover margin.
App State put together one of the most statistically complete seasons in league history in 2016. The Mountaineers allowed 94 points in their eight Sun Belt games, marking the fewest points allowed in conference play in the FBS. The Mountaineers finished 7-1 in league play, leading the conference in scoring defense (17.0 ppg), total defense (326.0 ypg), rushing offense (245.6 ypg), turnover margin (+8) and time of possession (33:25). In conference games, App led the league in total offense (452.5 ypg).
App’s strong showing in 2016 was an extension of the record-breaking success from 2015, as the win total during an 11-2 season was the highest by an FBS program in its first season of bowl eligibility after completing the transition. The Mountaineers ranked among the Sun Belt’s top two in 19 of the league’s 33 statistical categories during the season and beat Ohio 31-29 in their first bowl appearance.
The 2015 campaign came on the heels of a breakout season in 2014, when Satterfield led the Mountaineers to an impressive 7-5 record in their first full season in the FBS ranks.
Satterfield and his wife, Beth, a former track and field runner at Appalachian, reside in Boone and have three children —Bryce, Isaac and Alli.
SATTERFIELD AT A GLANCE
Full name: Fredric Scott Satterfield
Birthdate: Dec. 21, 1972
Hometown: Hillsborough, N.C.
High School: Orange H.S., 1991
College: Appalachian State, 1996 (B.S., physical education)
Wife: Beth (Burleson)
Sons: Bryce and Isaac
Daughter: Alli
Twitter: @AppStCoachSatt
Playing Experience
1991-95: Appalachian State (quarterback)
Coaching Experience
1998: Appalachian State (wide receivers)
1999-2002: Appalachian State (running backs)
2003-08: Appalachian State (quarterbacks)
2009: Toledo (passing game coordinator/quarterbacks)
2010-11: Florida International (offensive coordinator/QBs)
2012: Appalachian State (assistant head coach/off. coord/QBs)
2013-present: Appalachian State (head coach)
