BOONE, N.C. — With last week's start of fall camp, the 2019 football opener against East Tennessee State is only 24 days away. Today is the first installment of an eight-part, position breakdown series presented by Clean Eatz.
Part 1 of the series focuses on the Appalachian State linebackers, a group that includes the outside linebackers coached by App State alum
D.J. Smith and the inside linebackers coached by new defensive coordinator
Ted Roof.
Part of 13 bowl appearances during his accomplished career, Roof worked previously as a defensive coordinator at Auburn, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Duke, Minnesota and UCF.
"Coach Roof is a great guy, and we have a very good relationship," said senior
Jordan Fehr, a 2018 starter at one of the two inside linebacker spots. "I can walk into his office and talk about anything. We talk about Xs and Os a lot, but we also talk about life a lot. He's a great figure, very experienced, very smart both in defense and life."
App State has a small senior class for the second straight year, but returning starters Fehr,
Akeem Davis-Gaither (outside linebacker) and
Noel Cook (outside linebacker) account for three of those 11 seniors (counting graduate transfers).
Fehr produced 86 tackles and a team-high 5.5 sacks in 2018 for a defense that ranked fourth nationally by allowing just 15.5 points per game.
The departure of 2018 senior
Anthony Flory has created additional competition at one of the two inside spots.
Trey Cobb, who followed an encouraging true freshman season with a strong spring, is part of a talented group of young inside linebackers on the Mountaineers' roster. He played in the final 12 games last year and had four tackles in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game.
Members of the same recruiting class,
Logan Doublin and
Tyler Bird also played last season as true freshmen, with Doublin posting 25 tackles, and
D'Marco Jackson is coming off a 25-tackle season as a redshirt freshman. The scholarship newcomer to that group is
Jourdan Heilig, who possesses a 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame.
"Playing with Akeem and Noel last year is big, so coming back, we have that leadership experience both inside and outside, especially for the younger talent that we have, and we have a lot of it," Fehr said. "Anybody who's playing beside us, it's going to be a great fit because we have a lot of talent. We're just excited to go out and play together again."
With both 2018 starters at outside linebacker still in the mix, Smith enters his second season as the leader of that position with quality experience at his disposal.
Davis-Gaither amassed 105 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 2018, while Cook ranked fourth on the team with 75 tackles and led the Mountaineers with 11.5 tackles for loss even though an injury sidelined him for the opener at Penn State.
Like the trio of Cobb, Doublin and Bird, outside linebacker
Nick Hampton showed flashes of his potential last season as a true freshman who played in both the opener at Penn State and the Sun Belt Championship Game.
Tim Frizzell is back following a sophomore season in which he started the Penn State opener, and Smith has a pair of scholarship newcomers in
Brendan Harrington and
KeSean Brown to provide even more depth.
"We've got great kids, and they've bought in," Smith said. "Whatever we ask them to do, they do it with a full head of steam and do it at 110 percent. It's a new scheme, but with the football IQ that our guys have, and the front seven on the back end, it makes the transition pretty easy."
The cycle of emerging leadership continues on the inside for Fehr, who played alongside a senior as a first-year starter in 2018. The year before, Flory was a first-year starter playing alongside 2017 senior Eric Boggs, who had learned a lot during his junior year from 2016 senior John Law.
"This year, I'm not only trying to be the quarterback of the defense, but a leader for this team," Fehr said. "It's a huge obligation I take very seriously, so I've learned a lot from John Law, Eric Boggs and Flo last year.
"We have a lot of young guys in the room. It's a great opportunity to lead them and help coach them up and get them better, and they get me better every day."
