BOONE, N.C. — App State players receive the same wake-up text each morning.
Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay 6 feet apart.
Life has changed dramatically in the last five months because of COVID-19, but Thursday's official start to fall camp for App State's football program made things feel at least a little more familiar. With the Mountaineers moving forward under the direction of first-year head coach
Shawn Clark following a 13-1 season that included top-20 national rankings in both final polls, the first official practice is scheduled for Friday.
"We're very excited to get started — our players had an incredible summer," Clark said during a Virtual Media Day that occurred shortly after players began reporting for fall camp.
"We have a saying here to control the controllables," Clark added. "We'll get on the field tomorrow, and that's going to be our sanctuary. That's the only place we can go for two hours and take everything that's going on in the world and have fun. That's why you coach. That's why you play."
Clark, an App State alum who came back to Boone as an assistant coach in 2016, was named the Mountaineers' head coach eight days before leading his alma mater to a win in the 2019 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Since that December triumph, Clark and his staff have been preparing for a 2020 season that's taken on a different look in the eight months that have passed.
The Mountaineers return 13 of their primary 22 starters on offense and defense from the 13-win team in 2019. There are 12 returning offensive players and 13 returning defensive players who started at least one game in 2019, plus four scholarship players who spent time at running back last season and combined for 1,217 rushing yards while averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
After taking the field with small senior classes in 2018 and 2019, the 2020 roster has more than 20 seniors who have played prominent roles during their App State careers. Clark praised the maturity his veteran-led team has shown in dealing with the challenges that accompany these uncertain times.
"It's a trust factor," senior quarterback
Zac Thomas said of the offseason approach when team members were back home. "It's doing what you can do to be a better football player and checking up on other guys to make sure they're doing what they need to be doing. When football season happens, I think we're going to have a really good year."
"Everything we do is for our players, and we want this to be a world-class experience for our guys," Clark said. "You're talking about a four-year run for these seniors that's been incredible."
The fifth-year seniors already have contributed to four straight Sun Belt titles and a 4-0 bowl record. At this time, the full eight-game Sun Belt league schedule is fully intact, along with one non-conference game, after non-conference matchups with Morgan State, Wake Forest and Wisconsin have been removed from the schedule. Options to replace those games are being discussed and evaluated.
Senior standouts such as Thomas and defensive end
Demetrius Taylor are back from a record-breaking team that finished the 2019 season at No. 18 in the Coaches Poll and No. 19 in the AP Top 25. As far as position groups, the Mountaineers return four of five offensive line starters, two standout cornerbacks and four senior receivers.
The preseason Coaches Poll was released Thursday, and App State was 10th in the others receiving votes category — unofficially No. 35 overall and fifth among Group of Five programs.
"We've accomplished a lot of great things here, the seniors here, and it's because of the leadership that we had prior to," senior offensive lineman
Baer Hunter said. "We plan on leaving our mark on the freshmen and younger guys, too, so they can continue to achieve great things as well."
With a talented group of newcomers, plus the redshirt freshmen who gained valuable experience while App State was able to complete most of its spring practices in the second half of February and the first half of March, Clark has stressed to the freshmen that they need to enter camp with an approach that they will play, despite the presence of so many game-tested upperclassmen.
"We signed you here for a reason," Clark said. "We think you can be a difference-maker in our program and play at a championship level."
