BOONE, N.C. — With the Aug. 1 start of fall camp, the 2019 football opener against East Tennessee State is only 19 days away. Today is the third installment of an eight-part, position-by-position breakdown series presented by Clean Eatz.
Part 3 of the series focuses on the Appalachian State special teams, which accounted for four touchdowns in the first three games of an 11-2 season in 2018.
With kicker
Chandler Staton and punter
Clayton Howell excelling as specialists,
Darrynton Evans and
Thomas Hennigan reaching the end zone as returners,
Steven Jones helping the Mountaineers block four punts and many other players also contributing to strong coverage, there's a lot of talent returning.
The most notable newcomer is
Erik Link, who was hired specifically as a special teams coordinator.
Some programs have an assistant direct special teams as well as another position group. Link brings impressive credentials to Boone from Louisiana Tech.
"We're just really trying to emphasize the importance of it, bringing great energy and effort, being the most excited team to be on the field and then executing at a high level in everything that we're doing," Link said. "We're trying to be extremely detailed and extremely focused in everything we're doing and understanding that special teams is an area that obviously can change games."
Like Louisiana Tech, which had three blocked kicks in the first four games of last season, App State benefited from a strong start in that area. Evans scored on a 100-yard kickoff return at Penn State, Hennigan had a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown at Charlotte and App State scored twice on special teams in Game 3 against Gardner-Webb. NFL rookie
Clifton Duck scored on a punt return, and Jones recovered one of his two blocked punts for a touchdown.
There was also a strong finish to the season, with
Caleb Spurlin recovering his own forced fumble on a fake-punt completion to help App State clinch the Sun Belt Conference's East Division title against Troy and Evans producing a 97-yard kick return early in the Sun Belt Championship Game win against Louisiana. Staton made three field goals of at least 42 yards in that 30-19 victory, and Howell's only punt in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl was a 60-yard effort that was downed at the 1-yard line.
Link said Howell, a Freshman All-American in 2018 thanks to a net average that ranked No. 8 nationally, and
Xavier Subotsch, who served as the team's holder in 2018 after being its primary punter in 2017, have had a healthy competition this offseason. With App State searching for someone new to kick off in 2019, Staton has been joined this fall by freshman
Ryker Casey, who has displayed a strong leg.
"Everything right now is a competition at every position on special teams, and adjusting to everything has been a really good experience," Staton said. "Overall, we have pretty good experience with Clayton coming back, I'm back and Xavier coming back. With everybody that's been back bringing everybody else in and teaching them, we haven't had any hiccups so far."
App State must replace
Elias McMurry, a four-year starter at long snapper, and the leading candidates at that spot are scholarship freshman
Christian Johnstone,
Jake Appling and
Reed Harper.
Hennigan remains an accomplished option in the return game, while the Mountaineers are evaluating options both young (
Raykwon Anderson and
Dashaun Davis are among the freshmen who could contribute there) and older (senior safety
Josh Thomas, graduate transfer
Keishawn Watson,
Jalen Virgil and
Malik Williams could potentially be threats with the ball in their hands).
On kickoffs, the versatile Evans averaged 32.7 yards per return last season. He was one of only two players nationally with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 400-plus return yards.
"This whole coaching deal, you can really overcomplicate things at times," Link said with a laugh. "We're going to try to let No. 3 touch the ball as many times and in as many different ways as we possibly can."
App State's coverage units were also a key to the special teams success in 2018. Some of the leaders from that group, particularly hard-hitting NFL rookie
Austin Exford, are gone.
Redshirt freshmen and other second-year players who provide depth offensively or defensively often have chances to thrive on special teams. That's been true at App State, but the Mountaineers also have depended on veteran standouts who are enthusiastic about those roles, and that should continue under Link's direction.
"The great thing about special teams, any time you're going 11 on 11, I'm evaluating all 22 guys on the field," Link said. "If it's punt team, I'm evaluating that scout punt return team. If it's kickoff, I'm evaluating that scout kickoff return team. Many times throughout my career, that's how guys have gotten noticed."
