"It's a blessing. It's basically just showing the young guys the way that John Law showed me, that Ronald Blair showed me, that Doug Middleton showed me. Those are guys I used to look up to, and now (the younger guys) are looking up to me."
— MyQuon Stout, App State Senior, Defensive Line
Moving forward from a 9-4 season in which Appalachian State claimed a second straight Sun Belt Conference title and a third consecutive bowl victory, the Mountaineers have adopted the #10Strong motto for 2018.
In the spring, head coach
Scott Satterfield and assistant athletics director of athletic performance
Mike Sirignano formed a leadership panel that included one player from each of the 10 assigned position groups and had weekly discussions about the contents of a Jon Gordon book called "The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy."
Today's position preview in the #10Strong Series leading up to the Sept. 1 opener at Penn State focuses on the defensive line, with senior
MyQuon Stout serving as that group's representative on the panel.
Of the six team captains in 2017, the two non-seniors were running back
Jalin Moore and Stout, whose vocal leadership helped motivate the Mountaineers as they surged to a 4-0 finish in which opponents averaged just 7.5 points per game. An emotional display at the team hotel a day before a late-season win at Georgia State captured his teammates' attention and earned their respect.
"He's got that inside of him, and MyQuon really had that when he got here," Satterfield said. "He was a good leader when he first showed up."
Stout, a defensive tackle, ranks first among the Sun Belt Conference's returning interior linemen with the 41 tackles he posted last season. He plays in the middle of App State's three-man defensive line, with depth coming from the likes of returners
Markell Clark,
E.J. Scott,
George Blackstock and
Brody Barrett. The newcomers in the middle are
Jordon Earle and
Chris Washington.
To keep his players fresh, defensive line coach and assistant head coach
Mark Ivey is comfortable going three-deep at each line spot, as he used a nine- or even 10-man rotation last season.
Okon Godwin is back after making six starts at defensive end as a junior, when he totaled 5.5 tackles for loss, and sophomore
Elijah Diarrassouba has performed well at another end spot.
Chris Willis,
Caleb Spurlin,
Jermaine McDaniel Jr. (who spent his true freshman season recovering from injury),
Demetrius Taylor and
Tommy Dawkins are among the returners at end. That group also includes walk-ons such as
Cameron Pack,
Josh Houser and
Will Israel as well as true freshmen in
Hansky Paillant,
Harrison Taylor,
Zareon Hayes and
Brock Mattison.
"Our starters have been intact since the spring, but they can't rest easy because the guys behind them are battling like crazy," Ivey said. "As far as who'll be second off the bench, third off the bench and in a couple cases even fourth, there's some really intriguing battles going on because there's a lot of talent and some kids performing at a high level.
"It's a day-to-day deal where you have to grade and evaluate how they perform. It changes a lot, and I imagine it's going to continue, not only through camp, but I would be willing to bet throughout the season you'll see differences, because they are so neck and neck."
