By Bret Strelow | App State Athletics
BOONE, N.C. — Dowell Loggains and his family arrived on App State's campus Monday at 10:15 a.m.
Carrying a suit jacket with his right hand and a bundle of other items with his left, Loggains and his wife, Beth, were in danger of being left behind by their four children, who darted ahead to the main entrance of the Ricks Athletics Complex.
Excitedly reaching the lobby, one of their daughters, Aven, looked forward, saw a television displaying an image of her father and told one of her sisters, "There's dad!" She scanned the lobby, noticed another TV with the same display and said, "There he is again!"
A few feet behind his sisters, wearing athletic gear that included a black App State hoodie and gold App State socks, Ryne was carrying a football like a fumble-conscious running back.
A new chapter of App State Football began this week with the arrival and official introduction of "Team Loggains," as Beth affectionately described the family. Perhaps the only thing that covered more ground than the 44-year-old Loggains on a busy, point-to-point marathon of Day 1 duties was that youth-sized football being carried or thrown by Ryne at every stop along the way.
After a family photo was completed at midfield of Kidd Brewer Stadium, Ryne pitched the football to his dad and took off on a deep route toward the end zone. Loggains lofted a 25-yard spiral over one of his daughters — the coverage was decent, to be fair — and into Ryne's hands before he ran toward the end zone.
Loggains has joked — we think — about going deep on his first play as App State's head coach. This was the first touchdown at The Rock with him calling the shots.
"I've got a great picture from when we went through the interview process," Loggains said. "I'm upstairs with Doug (Gillin) and some of the people from the board — we're still in the interview process — and I see my kids outside the window playing football, throwing it back and forth. Aven and Ryne, they're playing catch, so I went over and took a picture.
"That's what defines us. This game has given us so many great relationships. And whether it be players, former players, coaches or coaches' families, it gives you an unbelievable platform to affect other people's lives. So, we're definitely a football family. We're a faith family, and my wife is my best friend. We share this battle."
Through 17 seasons working in the NFL, plus four seasons as an SEC assistant leading up to his arrival at App State, Loggains speaks as eloquently and excitedly about the personal relationships as his many on-field accomplishments as a coach — a hard-working walk-on in college, he went on to earn a scholarship and appear in 50 games as a quarterback/holder at Arkansas, completing his one and only pass attempt on a fake field goal in a win against Boise State.
That background explains the mutual respect expressed from the testimonials celebrating his first opportunity to be a head coach. The list of references is impressive, whether it's Penn State coach James Franklin noting his "humble leadership style" or Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck praising creative play-calling on third downs.
Loggains served as either an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach for five NFL franchises from 2012-20 before returning to his alma mater for two seasons and continuing in the SEC as South Carolina's offensive coordinator/QBs coach from 2023-24.
Spencer Rattler followed the 2023 season in Columbia, S.C., by becoming a fifth-round NFL Draft pick who has started games this season as a rookie, with Rattler saying "DLo will always be family," while 2024 starter LaNorris Sellers was named the SEC Freshman of the Year for his efforts in leading a top-15 team during the regular season.
Yes, Loggains is cool with the DLo nickname, so don't do a double-take when you hear App State's head coach called that by any of his former or current players. His full name is actually Danny
Dowell Loggains Jr. — his father goes by Danny, while Dowell goes by his middle name, which is also his grandmother's maiden name, and his son is Danny Ryne Loggains.
"He's just a really good guy, man. A good human being and a family man," said App State alum Daniel Kilgore, who played center for the Miami Dolphins when Loggains was Miami's offensive coordinator in 2018 and traveled from Johnson City, Tenn., to Boone on Monday to support the new head coach at his alma mater. "What stood out to me then was his ability to command a room in a team setting or an offensive team meeting. He literally went to bat for his guys every day, and his vision was clear every week.
"He's somebody that does a lot of homework, and that comes from his years in the NFL. He dives into each individual, each team, each offensive system and each coach."
When Loggains stepped in front of a big crowd gathered in the North End Zone facility's Grandview Ballroom on Dec. 9, with roughly 50 band members playing the fight song to accompany his entrance, App State was 262 days away from its Aug. 28 opener against Charlotte in Bank of America Stadium.
Days turn into weeks, then into months, as the process of assembling a full roster and staff unfolds, with a need to work quickly in this era of college football despite the knowledge that circumstances change daily in a world with NIL and transfer portal uncertainty.
Given the ever-increasing impact of the portal and the leadership change in Boone, this will be the most overhauled roster in the history of a program that's enjoyed more stability through retention than its peers.
Players who seem like they're staying could still end up departing. Maybe players who seem like they're departing end up staying? There will be lots of newcomers, with high school signees joining college transfers to make up a new-look team for the 2025 season, with the identity of that group being anyone's guess at this point.
Loggains understands the transactional nature of high-level football from his time in the NFL and SEC. He also understands his charge to lead a tradition-rich App State program into this next cycle of the college sports landscape.
"This community knows how to win, and this football program knows how to win," Loggains said. "It's nationally known for their brand. We all know what an App State team is supposed to look like, and we know what we should be doing on conference championship weekends. It's been proven. There's tradition, and there's history, and it can be repeated."
