Appalachian State University men's soccer head coach Jason O'Keefe announced the addition of assistant soccer coach Brad Franks to the staff on April 18, 2018.

In Franks' first season with the Mountaineers, they posted their first winning season since 2012 with an 8-6-3 mark and a 2-1-1 record in the Sun Belt. Appalachian also defeated then-No. 22 Coastal Carolina for its first win over ranked opponent since 2009. The Black and Gold at one point was one of only 19 undefeated teams in the 
nation. 

Franks played a pivotal role in the offense making a resurgence, posting an eight-goal increase from 2017 (12 goals) to 20 goals in 2018. The 20 goals scored were the most since the 2014 campaign. In addition, App State attempted 88 shots on goal, a vast improvement from the 53 shots on goal in 2017. The Mountaineers had seven players make the All-Sun Belt team, which were the most for App since 1980 and also led the conference.
 
The Mountaineers followed up the 2018 season with a standout 2019 season, posting 11 wins, the most for the Mountaineers since 2002, along with eight shutouts, the most clean sheets since 2011. Over the course of the season, App State took down four top 60 teams including Central Arkansas, High Point, Loyola Maryland and RV North Carolina. App State’s win over the Tar Heels was its first since 1980, and marked the second straight season the Mountaineers beat a ranked team (def. No. 22 Coastal Carolina in 2018).
 
The Mountaineers consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Southeast region in the United Soccer Coaches poll, ranking as high as No. 4. App State’s RPI took a huge leap as well, jumping from 145 in 2018 to 68 in 2019. The Mountaineers ranked as high as 43 in the RPI during the 2019 season. App State scored 26 goals over the course of the season, the most since 2009.
 
Kelan Swales and Nick Rogers both made their presence known offensively under Franks, as Kelan Swales, a sophomore transfer, scored four goals and tallied two assists in his first season as a Mountaineer. Nick Rogers, a freshman forward, scored three goals in his rookie season and also managed one assist. Camden Holbrook, coming off a standout freshman season, had four goals as well, including three game-winners which ranked him fourth in the Sun Belt.  
 
"I am very excited for Brad to join our staff here at App State," coach O'Keefe said.  "I would like to thank Shaun Utterson for his time as he helped our program grow tremendously while he was here.  I have known Brad and his family for about 12 years.  I coached his brother Jamie at Wake Forest and then coached Brad at Elon.  Brad will help our program continue to strive for excellence every day and help us achieve all our goals in the future.  Brad is a tremendous young coach who has an excellent eye for the game.  Brad accomplished many things at Elon (as a player and asst. coach) that we want for our players here at App State. He will be a huge support for them as we continue in the process we are in.  He will be instrumental in our players' development as young men and athletes."

The newly-hired assistant coach has been successful at all of his stops before arriving to the High Country, where High Point (2011-13) and Elon (2014-17) were a combined 66-46-24 and 31-17-15 in conference action. 

In his most recent stint of four seasons at Elon, the Phoenix amassed a solid 37-23-15 overall mark and a 16-8-8 record in the Colonial Athletic Association. In 2015, Franks contributed to 14 wins en route to a share of the CAA regular-season title while also seeing Elon achieve the program's highest national ranking ever at No. 8 in the country. Franks and the Phoenix returned to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence and recorded the program's first-ever victory in the national tournament after a 3-0 win over Winthrop. 

In 2014, Franks helped the Phoenix to nine victories during its first season in the Colonial Athletic Association. Franks was also critical in the development of Miguel Salazar becoming first team All-CAA while helping five other members to All-CAA accolades.

As a volunteer assistant at High Point, Franks' role included taking care of the Panthers' day-to-day operations, the planning and execution of practices and all video analysis. High Point won 21 games and achieved its first NSCAA national ranking during Franks' first tenure with the squad.

A four-year starter under Powell at Elon from 2007-10, Franks appeared in 77 matches for the Phoenix and tallied 22 points on five goals and 12 assists throughout his career. He earned first-team All-Southern Conference as a senior and second team accolades as a junior. 

"A sincere thank you to Jason (O'Keefe), Doug Gillin and Appalachian State for this tremendous opportunity," Franks mentioned. "I am incredibly excited to get the chance to work with Jason and help continue to transform the App State Men's Soccer program. Through my time as a player at Elon, I watched Jason help turn Elon into a top program through the culture and accountability on and off the field. Jason shares my belief in developing these young men in all aspects of their lives. I wish my alma mater nothing but the best and want to say thank you to Dave Blank and Marc Reeves Reeves for the unbelievable working environment during my time at Elon.

Franks earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Elon in sport and event management in 2011. He also holds a National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).