BOONE, N.C. — With the Aug. 1 start of fall camp, the 2019 football opener against East Tennessee State is only 10 days away. Today is the seventh installment of an eight-part, position-by-position breakdown series presented by Clean Eatz.
Part 7 of the series focuses on the Appalachian State defensive backs, who have helped the program tie for first place nationally with 73 interceptions in the last four seasons.
The Mountaineers return a pair of starting safeties in
Josh Thomas and
Desmond Franklin to safeties coach
Greg Gasparato, who received national recognition as a 2018 FootballScoop Defensive Backs Coach of the Year, and first-year associate head coach/cornerbacks coach
Charlie Harbison will have two new starters at cornerback.
"I think we're doing pretty good, but it's still a learning process, and every day we're getting better within the scheme of the defense and that what (defensive coordinator)
Ted Roof calls will be executed," Harbison said. "The main thing is being assignment sound, being attentive and being aggressive when the ball is thrown."
With both seniors named to the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, Thomas (strong safety) and Franklin (free safety) intercepted four passes apiece in 2018 for a defense that ranked fourth nationally at 15.5 points allowed per game, set a Sun Belt Conference record with only 20 defensive touchdowns allowed and tied for first place nationally with only eight passing touchdowns allowed. App State also led the nation by allowing only 10 plays of 30 or more yards — including just one play of 50-plus yards.
Those numbers contributed to App State having the three highest-rated safeties in the Sun Belt Conference, according to PFF College.
Austin Exford is currently a rookie with the Houston Texans after excelling as another Appalachian safety in 2018, and other depth at safety came from returning players such as
Kaiden Smith (first career interception vs. Gardner-Webb) and
Ryan Huff. That's a deep group with more depth coming from the likes of players such as
Kaleb Dawson,
Jeremy Level and true freshman
Nicholas Ross.
Thomas intercepted passes in the New Orleans Bowl win against Middle Tennessee, the Sun Belt Championship Game win against Louisiana and two road victories in which App State didn't give up a defensive touchdown. Franklin's four picks included a touchdown against Georgia State and a long return at Charlotte, and he totaled 51 tackles during his junior season.
"We take it upon ourselves every day to make sure we're doing something to get better, because we knew what it takes to get to this point in our careers," Franklin said. "We're trying to help bring the younger guys along, so extra field work every day, watching film every day. Little things we can do to help enhance their game, help them understand the defense and make them play faster, it helps because we need everybody to get where we want to get."
Counting Exford, the Mountaineers have produced three defensive backs who are making strong training camp impressions as NFL rookies in 2019.
Clifton Duck (Chicago Bears) started for three straight seasons in Boone, and
Tae Hayes (Jacksonville Jaguars) started 33 games during his 52 appearances over four seasons.
The most experienced App State returner at cornerback is junior
Shemar Jean-Charles, who has appeared in 24 career games and seen meaningful time in passing situations with five defensive backs. He has broken up six passes in his career, contributing in that category during big games against Wake Forest as a redshirt freshman and Penn State as a sophomore.
App State sophomore
Shaun Jolly and
Willie Edwards, a graduate transfer from Illinois State, are among the other game-experienced options to play prominent roles defensively. Jolly appeared in 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman, and Edwards started the previous two seasons for a program that attained a top-10 ranking at the FCS level.
Redshirt freshman
Mike Price and sophomore
Steven Jones, a special teams standout who blocked two punts last season, are also back for the Mountaineers. In addition to Edwards, the list of available newcomers includes true freshman
Milan Tucker.
"Any time you play on the back end, you have to be aggressive, and you have to have poise every play," Harbison said. "You have to strike at the ball and strike at the runner.
"The group I have is a tight-knit group that continues to work and push one another. That's one good luxury about this group – that they're pushing each other."
