BOONE, N.C. — Head coach Jerry Moore officially announced changes to Appalachian State University's football staff on Thursday. The changes include two new coaches and a promotion.

Joining Appalachian's staff are new offensive line coach Bob McClain and defensive backs coach Scot Sloan. They replace former ASU coaches Shawn Elliott and John Wiley, who departed for positions at South Carolina and East Carolina, respectively. Additionally, longtime Mountaineer assistant Dale Jones has been promoted to defensive coordinator.

McClain comes to Appalachian from Tulsa, where he served as the Golden Hurricane's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for one year. Prior to his year at Tulsa, he spent one season in special teams and offensive quality control at Michigan, his second stint under head coach Rich Rodriguez. He previously served under Rodriguez for six years at West Virginia (2000-05), the final three as an offensive graduate assistant working primarily with the Mountaineers' offensive line and tight ends. At WVU, he helped lead the Mountaineers to three Big East championships and four bowl appearances.

Sandwiched between the two stints on Rodriguez's staffs was a two-year tenure (2006-07) as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Glenville (W. Va.) State. While at Glenville, McClain also coached the Pioneers' offensive line, tight ends and running backs. He received a bachelor's degree in business from Waynesburg (Pa.) College in 1996 and earned three master's degrees from West Virginia (secondary education, elementary education and educational leadership).

A 14-year college coaching veteran, Sloan most recently spent three years at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., including serving as the program's head coach last season. During his three-year stint at Riverside, which included two seasons (2007-08) as defensive coordinator, he helped lead the Eagles to three playoff berths and an 18-15 overall record. He also served as the defensive coordinator at Griffin (Ga.) High School in 2006, where his squad posted an 11-1 record and advanced to the second round of the Georgia state playoffs.

Prior to the last four years in the high-school ranks, Sloan was a successful college assistant at Georgia Southern (defensive backs, 2002-05), Georgia Military (defensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator/defensive backs, 1996-2001) and Clemson (graduate assistant, 1992-95). While at Georgia Southern, he helped lead the Eagles to two Southern Conference championships and three NCAA Division I-AA playoff berths and mentored three all-Americans, six all-conference selections and one NFL Draft pick (David Young — 2003 sixth round, Jacksonville Jaguars). Additionally, he led a Georgia Military defense that set a National Junior College Athletic Association record for total defense while winning the NJCAA national championship in 2001 and was a part of two bowl teams at Clemson. He holds bachelor's (1992) and master's (1994) degrees in education from Clemson.

Jones has been a part of ASU's staff for 15 years, joining the program as defensive line and special teams coach in 1996 before moving to linebackers coach in 2005. During his time at ASU, he has coached three SoCon Defensive Players of the Year (Josh Jeffries - 2002, K.T. Stovall - 2003 and Jacque Roman - 2008), eight all-Americans and 12 all-conference honorees. Eight former Mountaineers coached by Jones have gone on to play in the NFL, including current pros Jason Hunter and Marques Murrell. Additionally, Jones was named the Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by American Football Monthly in 2002.

One of the most popular and decorated players in University of Tennessee history, Jones was an all-America and two-time all-SEC performer as a linebacker for the Vols from 1983-86, as well as the Atlanta Touchdown Club's SEC Lineman of the Year in 1986. He graduated from UT in 1988 and served as an assistant with Tennessee (1989), the Parma Panthers of the Italian American Football League (1990), Florida (1991) and Georgia Military (1991-95).

Jones replaces Wiley, who was Appalachian's defensive coordinator for 12 seasons before becoming associate head coach at ECU in January. In addition to serving as ASU's defensive coordinator, Jones will continue to coach the linebackers.

“I'm excited about the make-up of our staff,” Moore said. “Scot Sloan and Bob McClain both have terrific backgrounds in the profession and are very good coaches. Dale Jones has been an integral part of our staff for many years and will do a fine job now that he has the reins of the defense.”