BOONE, N.C. — College coaching veteran Mark DeBastiani is the newest member of the App State football staff, head coach
Shawn Clark announced Friday. DeBastiani will be an assistant coach with the defense.
"We're thrilled to welcome Mark and his family to the App Family," Clark said. "Mark was a part of our undefeated regular season in 1995 and has had tremendous success as a defensive coach at every stop since. He will be a great leader for the young men in our program."
DeBastiani coached the defensive tackles at App State from 1995-96, when Clark was an All-American offensive lineman. In 1995, App State went undefeated in the regular season, won the Southern Conference championship and advanced to the FCS quarterfinals.
"I'm coming home," DeBastiani said. "It's a tremendous opportunity to come back to such a special place with an unbelievable tradition and culture. This is where I started my coaching career under Jerry Moore, side by side with
Dale Jones and with
Shawn Clark when he played. I've always come back to visit Boone in the offseason, and I consider it home. I'm excited to get started."
DeBastiani coached linebackers at Central Michigan last season, helping the Chippewas to the second-biggest turnaround in college football with a seven-win improvement from the previous year. CMU finished 8-6 after earning berths to the MAC championship game and the New Mexico Bowl. CMU's rushing defense ranked top 25 in the country, and the Chippewas led the MAC and were eighth-best in the nation with 7.9 tackles for loss per outing. DeBastiani coached linebacker Troy Brown to first-team All-MAC honors and Michael Oliver to second-team accolades, with Brown topping all MAC players with 18 tackles for loss.
In 2018, DeBastiani served as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Alabama A&M, leading a unit that ranked second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in points allowed and third in total yardage, continuing a long-running trend of solid defense wherever he has coached.
DeBastiani was a defensive quality control coach at Florida from 2015-17, specifically helping coach the linebackers. He helped lead the Gators to the SEC East division championship and the Citrus Bowl in 2015.
DeBastiani-led defenses at Norfolk State annually ranked in the top 10 in total defense among FCS schools during his 10-year tenure from 2005-14. He was a finalist for the 2014 Coordinator of the Year Award when Norfolk State finished No. 2 nationally in total defense. His unit was also No. 2 among all FCS teams during the team's MEAC championship run in 2011 and No. 3 in 2012.
DeBastiani was the defensive line coach and video coordinator at Bethune-Cookman for eight seasons prior to the move to Norfolk State. There, he helped turn the Bethune-Cookman defense into a force. The Wildcats' 3-4 ball-hawking defense was a key to the team's ascent to the top of the MEAC. The Wildcats ranked 13th and eighth, respectively, in FCS total defense during their two national playoff seasons in 2002 and 2003. BCU ranked second in the conference in 2004 in scoring defense and total defense. He also helped tutor one All-American, defensive lineman Damion Cook, from 1997-2000.
DeBastiani coached the offensive and defensive lines at his alma mater, Division II Shepherd (W. Va.) College, in 1993 and 1994, helping the Rams to the 1994 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.
DeBastiani earned his bachelor's degree in health from Shepherd in 1993. He lettered three years for the football team and started two years at center. During his career there, he was a member of back-to-back WVIAC championship teams (1991-92).
A native of Arthurdale, W. Va., DeBastiani has two children, Ben and Maria.
