Dec. 13, 2019 | Boone, N.C. | Kidd Brewer Stadium
App State Head Coach Shawn Clark
Opening Statement:
"It is a great day to be a Mountaineer. First of all, I'd like to say that I'm humbled and honored to stand before you as the 22nd head coach of Appalachian State University. There are so many people that I have to thank that contributed to making this dream become reality. First off, Chancellor Everts, thank you for this opportunity, the support you've shown me throughout the process. It will never be forgotten.
Doug Gillin, thank you for the opportunity. Our vision for this program is parallel. I look forward to working with you and our great administration to continue this unrivaled success. Also, I'd like to thank and recognize the Board of Trustees. Tommy [Sofield], I see you're here, vice chancellor Randy Edwards and of course the great governor [Philip] Byers. To my family, my wife Jonelle, my daughter Giana and my son Braxton, in 2004, we laid in bed and talked about this. I can't wait to be your coach. To my parents, Roy and Joyce Clark, they've been through it thick and thin. They traveled for five years from Charleston, West Virginia, to Boone, North Carolina, in rain, snow, it didn't matter they were here. That's what true parents are about. They showed me the right way to be a husband and a dad, so thank you. To my mother-in-law Jen, you traveled with us, hon. Thank you. Head football coach Jerry Moore, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here, and as long as I'm the head coach, you're always welcome in this building. Always. To Scott Satterfield, thank you for bringing me back. To start this journey as a head coach, he was a great friend and mentor. I wish him all the success and thank you for bringing me back. To Eli Drinkwitz, thank you for retaining me. He's been a great mentor throughout the way, but I won't be wearing a visor, though. To all my former teammates, I promise you I will get back in touch with you, and I promise you we'll make something proud for this program. To the Yosef Club, without you, this is not even possible. Thank you for all you do. And for all of App Nation, you've rallied this week like none other. Please continue to rally for this program. Please continue. Pack The Rock and make it the best home field advantage in college football. To our football staff, thank you for continuing to work. This bowl game is about our players, and every one of our coaches have promised me they will finish the mission for these players. They will coach in the bowl game. And, to our players, you know I love you. I can talk a million things about it. Vic[tor] [Johnson], we've been through it all. And Noah [Hannon], Zac [Thomas] and everyone else, you know I'm here for you. Whatever you need, I'm here, and you have my number 24 hours a day. There's a foundation that's been established here. A foundation by all that have worn the Black and Gold. A foundation that's spanned generations, and I am proud and humbled to be a part of the tradition that so many here respect. Let's state the obvious, I've inherited a great program. A program that broke many records in the 2019 football season. A program that made history. A program that ended up being ranked top-20 in college football. A program that I've been proud of being a part of as a player and as a coach. What can you expect moving forward you may ask? Well, the answer is pretty simple. You can expect a football team that holds up our winning tradition. A football team that is tough and exceeds expectations, and a football team that stands together because in destiny, you rarely arrive alone. In closing, my humility is a root of my success, and my passion drives me to pursue the absolute best in everything I do, and I will continue to do that. I will continue to give my all for Appalachian State University. Thank you, and go App."
On going through this week and the reaction of accepting the job:
"Well, there are always rumors, so it was business as usually. I was out recruiting in a home, and my phone wouldn't stop ringing. I turned the phone off and finished the home visit. I went to my car and understood what was happening, so we had to make a change of plans. I had to drive to Columbia, South Carolina, which was a three-hour drive to get ready for a home visit at 8 o'clock that morning. I went to bed around 1 o'clock that morning and woke up at 5 that morning and had 817 text messages, so I went to the home visit and Doug called me and said I needed to get back to Boone right now. I said, 'I'm on my way.' I was continuing up I-77 at a high rate of speed and my left front blew out on me, so I was calling Jonelle and our AAA had run out. I tried to change the tire and nowhere to be found was there a jack, and it was under the seat. An hour and a half later, I got back to Boone, sat down with Doug and
Jonathan Reeder and they explained what was going on and how I was the interim head coach and that I had a chance to interview. He was going through the process and had to get the right guy, and from that day forward, it's been surreal. What I've had from these players, former players, it's just been a whirlwind, not to count that we have recruits on campus. It's been a whirlwind and an excellent, excellent experience. I can't wait to get started."
On some of the 'milestone figures' that helped prepare him for this opportunity:
"There's a couple in this room right now, including coach Jerry Moore. In 1994, we got beat by Boise State, and the way he addressed the team that day, I told myself I wanted to be a football coach to affect someone's life like that. So, that was the biggest influence. Mike Kent got me into coaching and taught me what it was like to work. We worked as a graduate assistant. Danny Hope, who gave me my first shot. He hired me for the players that liked me. He said, 'you're the right coach, and the players like you. I'll teach you how to coach.' He taught me from ground zero how to coach, and the biggest thing he taught me was to make sure you treat your players like they're your own kid, and that's something I always try to do is to be fair, consistent and to be honest. We will always have tough conditions, but they know it's coming from the heart. Stacy Searels, he's at the University of North Carolina, he was my offensive line coach at Appalachian State. I thought I knew what hard work was until I got here, and he really took it to the next level. As far mentors, those have been big mentors in my life and guys I fall back on all the time. It's just an honor to carry on what they taught me."
On how much has played out since coaching the New Orleans Bowl a season ago:
"This is what the good lord has put me on this Earth to do is to coach football. It's not just X's and O's, it's changing lives. That's my main goal. If they leave here and all they know is football, then I've failed them. Every year I prepared myself for this opportunity to be the head coach, and it's here. I can't wait to get started."
On how important this bowl streak is to the App State program:
"It goes back to tradition and what this place was built on and what coach Moore built here. What these players built here. We take a lot of pride in what we do, and we expect to win every football game. I don't care who we're playing. If we were playing the Dallas Cowboys, we expect to win. We don't go anywhere to be second fiddle, so that's what makes us special. It's what makes us unique.
On what he learned from coach Moore and Stacy Searels:
"From coach Moore, I learned how to treat people, and that's what it's all about. When I retire from coaching, and all I can say is that I'm an X's and O's guy, then I have failed everyone I've coached. If they say I treated them right and that I was fair, then I learned that from coach Moore. Don't let this sucker fool you over here now, he was tough on us. There were many times we had 24-period practices, and he didn't like how it'd go, and at period 18 we'd start it over again. But, he was always fair to us. He taught us how to be men. Stacy Searels, you talk about toughness, and that was we hung our hat on in the 90s. We weren't very good to be honest with you as an offensive line group, but we were tougher than you. We'd go four quarters or as long as it took, and nobody wanted to go against us. So, that's what I try to instill to these guys right here. They play hurt, they play sick, they play tired, but when it comes to Saturday, they're ready to go, and that's what I'm so proud of these guys for."
App State Director of Athletics Doug Gillin
"I appreciate everybody being here. This is truly a great day to be a Mountaineer. I could not be more excited being up here to talk with y'all today. It takes a village, not just those folks that, I want to take credit for '#Clark2020,' but that was not my idea. It went viral, and we appreciate it. This is one of those days that makes you proud to get up here and take about all the history and tradition and success that is Mountaineer football and to really have the next leader identified in such a quick time frame. It does not happen without great leadership at the top of the university. I'd really like to recognize the head of university, Chancellor Sheri Everts for allowing this to all happen today. We also have the Board of Governors here, thank you Philip Byers for your support. Board of Trustees member, Tommy Sofield, thank you for all your support. And, the man that we will build a statue after, coach Jerry Moore. Thank you for being here. And finally, last but not least Roachel Laney, ex-athletic director, he knows what it's like to be up here. We have some of our players here. I really appreciate y'all coming out. Adam [Witten] talked about it, but I want to expand on the success you all have had. Twelve wins, the most in the history of the state of North Carolina. For the second year in a row, we will be ranked the highest football program in the state of North Carolina. So, not to put any pressure on the next head football coach or anything, but there's a few things we've got going on here. I won't be longwinded, but I really am excited for Jonelle, Giana and Braxton to be a part of the head coaching family. We wanted to do an efficient search. We wanted to do a quick search, but we wanted to get the right person to lead this program. And obviously, with doing this in the last 12 months, we had some time to identify the key characteristics and those will always be academic integrity, we're going to recruit student-athletes that can compete in the classroom first and foremost. We're going to be good community partners and good campus partners. We're going to be competitive on the field, and we're going to provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes. Those were the four pillars as we looked to who'd be the next football coach. We wanted to make sure we checked all those boxes like we always had in the past with 14 straight semesters with over a 3.0 GPA across all our programs. We wanted that to continue. We wanted the right person to be able to be on board for that. But, most importantly for our student-athletes, as I mentioned to them on Monday, I wanted to make sure we identify the coach in an expeditious manner so that they could get busy to go win us another bowl game. We really worked hard to make that happen fast. I will say it again. We got the right guy at the right time to lead this university. I'd like to introduce you to our next head football coach,
Shawn Clark."
