BOONE, N.C. — App State Football started Training Camp practices Friday, although inclement weather first forced an afternoon practice to be rescheduled for 11 a.m., then interrupted the late-morning session and required the team to move inside.
With less space available to operate inside, some plans had to change as head coach
Shawn Clark and his staff got their first look at the complete 2024 team on the field together at once.
"It's disappointing — we had to move practice from a 2 o'clock practice to 11 o'clock because thunderstorms were coming into the mountains, and we get halfway through practice, and we have to move to the indoor facility," Clark said. "It takes time to move and get adjusted, but I think we did a good job of adjusting to the elements, and that has to happen, because we have to have a (bigger) indoor facility. That's imperative for the future of App State Football."
In analyzing what transpired on the opening day, speed remained an asset for the Mountaineers, even as they've gotten bigger and more physical thanks to their offseason work with
Matt Greenhalgh's staff and the arrival of newcomers, particularly older ones via the transfer portal.
"Overall, I thought we showed a lot of team speed on the defensive side of the ball, especially up front," Clark said. "The defensive line with
Shawn Collins,
Santana Hopper,
Michael Fletcher and
Markus Clark really had some disruptive plays. On offense, I think we ran the ball well. Even though we were just in helmets, we had some good runs that were fit up just right. I think Joey (Aguilar) and the receivers were in line together and made some great timing throws. The point of emphasis right now is getting turnovers on defense and don't turn the ball over on offense."
With camp getting underway, moving forward from a 9-5 campaign in 2023, the Mountaineers rank 33rd nationally by returning 68 percent of the production from that determined squad.
Here's an early look at some of the questions being asked most frequently at the beginning of August:
What should we expect from a new-look offensive line?
Along the five-man line, App State is guaranteed to have new starters at left guard, center, right guard and right tackle. Returning linemen
Markell Samuel (tackle) and the versatile
Thornton Gentry (who played tackle last season despite having more experience at guard) combined to start the last 13 games of 2023 at left tackle, and they are working to be part of the line rotation again this season, although it's not guaranteed that one of them starts at left tackle. Other returners with noteworthy game experience include
Griffin Scroggs, a candidate to start at one guard spot, and
Jayden Ramsey.
The spring allowed newcomers such as 305-pound
Thomas Shrader (tackle from Florida State) to gain valuable experience with assistant coach
Mike Cummings, and center
Cayden Sweatt has worked back from an injury that slowed his development as a true freshman in the 2023 fall and 2024 spring.
In total, the Mountaineers added six linemen through the portal, including summer arrivals such as 315-pound
Luke Burgess (tackle who gained more than 20 pounds since transferring from Louisville), 300-pound
Garner Langlo (guard enrolled previously at Auburn), 300-pound
Jack Hollifield (interior lineman from Virginia Tech) and 340-pound
Andres Dewerk (big tackle from Southern Cal).
Will App State look different in the middle of its defensive line?
Last season, injuries played a role in defensive linemen such as
Santana Hopper and
Montez Kelley seeing time inside at nose even though their frames were more suited to play end. Both excelled, with Hopper starting the final five games following an injury to talented starting nose
Markus Clark, who is back and healthy heading into fall camp.
With assistant
Eric McDaniel taking over the defensive line, the Mountaineers have made a concerted effort to increase their size at the nose position. That includes bringing in transfers
Joshua Donald and
Nick Campbell.
The 320-pound Donald played last season at Southern before transferring for a spring cameo at Troy, where McDaniel was an assistant in 2023, while the 290-pound Campbell moved over from NC State.
How will the full-time switch to the "Star" scheme affect App State's inside linebackers?
The successful late-season switch to the "Star" alignment in 2023 increased the speed of App State's defense, essentially allowing an athletic outside linebacker from the 3-4 alignment (the "Anchor" position that had more coverage responsibilities than the pass-rushing "Dog" position) to move closer to the box in place of a more traditional inside linebacker. That created an opening for a "Star" defender, often a converted safety, with college veterans like
Avarion Cole,
Andre Hamilton and
Jalik Thomas fitting that mold this August.
The team's leading tackler in 2023 was inside "Mike" linebacker
Andrew Parker Jr., now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, so that group will look different as this preseason progresses.
Caden Sullivan performed well last season going from "Anchor" to an inside spot — remember the game-changing sack and forced fumble against Southern Miss — while
Kyle Arnholt and
Derrell Farrar now have opportunities to work at Parker's old spot after sharing time as "Will" linebackers before the 2023 scheme switch.
That said, nothing is set in stone, with younger returners such as
Brodrick Gooch and
Cahari Haynes, among others, attempting to expand their roles.
The wild card of the whole deal could be veteran
Brendan Harrington, a vocal leader and sixth-year senior who opened the 2023 season as the starting "Anchor" before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Game 2. An upper-body injury in the 2022 opener unfortunately ended that year for him, after he had played 36 games from 2019-21 and started a combined 19 games in 2020-21.
How much depth is there in App State's quarterback room?
The importance of quarterback depth was on display last year, when a first-quarter injury to the Game 1 starter quickly put then-backup
Joey Aguilar in the lineup. He had a record-setting debut while directing a high-powered offense for the rest of the season.
Since Aguilar received Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honors, a lot has changed in the quarterback room, with two scholarship quarterbacks departing at the end of spring practices.
The scholarship newcomers on the 2024 roster are
Billy Wiles, who arrived on campus early this summer after being Southern Miss' starter when the Golden Eagles visited Boone last season, and true freshman
Matthew Wilson, who went through spring practices with the Mountaineers.
Wiles has made a positive impression during his short time in Boone, with his Friday camp debut doing nothing to change that, plus he has game experience (with two years of eligibility remaining) to push Aguilar to be at his best this fall.
David Hernandez and
Cameron Estep have also been valuable behind-the-scenes contributors in practice.
