2023 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

The 2023 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team represented Appalachian State University during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers were led by fourth-year head coach Shawn Clark. Appalachian State played home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium on the school's Boone, North Carolina, campus, and competed as a member of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team drew an average home attendance of 34,734 in 2023.

2023 Appalachian State Mountaineers football
Cure Bowl champion
Sun Belt Championship, L 23–49 at Troy
Cure Bowl, W 13–9 vs. Miami (OH)
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Record	9–5 (6–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Shawn Clark (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Frank Ponce (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro tempo
Defensive coordinator	Scot Sloan (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Kidd Brewer Stadium
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

2023 Sun Belt Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
James Madison* x		7	–	1					11	–	2
Appalachian State y		6	–	2					9	–	5
Coastal Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	5
Old Dominion		5	–	3					6	–	7
Georgia State		3	–	5					7	–	6
Marshall		3	–	5					6	–	7
Georgia Southern		3	–	5					6	–	7
West Division
Troy xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Texas State		4	–	4					8	–	5
Arkansas State		4	–	4					6	–	7
South Alabama		4	–	4					7	–	6
Louisiana		3	–	5					6	–	7
Southern Miss		2	–	6					3	–	9
Louisiana–Monroe		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Troy 49, Appalachian State 23
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules

Offseason

Coaching changes

On November 28, 2022, defensive coordinator Dale Jones left the program.

On January 13, 2023, the Mountaineers hired Scot Sloan to be their defensive coordinator.

On January 16 Appalachian State hired Frank Ponce to be their offensive coordinator after 2022 offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay left to become the offensive coordinator at Mississippi State.

Media poll

In the Sun Belt preseason coaches' poll, the Mountaineers were picked to finish in second place in the East division.

Offensive lineman Isaiah Helms and right safety Milan Tucker were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team. Offensive lineman Damion Daley was named to the second team.

Schedule

The football schedule was announced on February 24, 2023.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 (FCS) Gardner–Webb*	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN+	W 45–24	36,075
September 9	5:15 p.m.	at No. 17 North Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN	L 34–40 ^2OT	50,500
September 16	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina*	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN+	W 43–28	40,168
September 23	7:00 p.m.	at Wyoming*	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	CBSSN	L 19–22	21,169
September 30	8:00 p.m.	at Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	ESPN+	W 41–40	19,919
October 10	7:30 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN2	L 24–27	34,252
October 21	7:00 p.m	at Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	NFLN	L 21–28	20,017
October 28	3:30 p.m.	Southern Miss	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN+	W 48–38	32,601
November 4	6:00 p.m.	Marshall	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC (rivalry)	NFLN	W 31–9	34,057
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN+	W 42–14	14,260
November 18	2:00 p.m.	at James Madison	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (College GameDay)	ESPN+	W 26–23 ^OT	25,838
November 25	3:30 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 55–27	31,248
December 2	4:00 p.m.	at Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy, AL (Sun Belt Championship Game)	ESPN	L 23–49	20,183
December 16	3:30 p.m.	vs. Miami (OH)	FBC Mortgage Stadium Orlando, FL (Cure Bowl)	ABC	W 13–9	11,121
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

2023 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 0 Milan Tucker  Jr RB 1 Anderson Castle Jr WR 2 Kaedin Robinson  Jr RB 3 Ahmani Marshall Jr QB 4 Joey Aguilar Jr RB 5 Nate Noel Jr WR 6 Dashaun Davis  Jr WR 11 Grant Tucker Fr WR 12 Michael Hetzel  So WR 13 Christian Horn Jr RB 14 Kanye Roberts  Fr WR 15 Makai Jackson So QB 16 David Hernandez Sr QB 17 Mason McHugh Fr QB 18 Ryan Burger  Fr QB 19 Cameron Estep Fr RB 20 Jaylon Calhoun Fr WR 21 Reece Larson  Fr RB 27 Michael Dipasquale Fr RB 28 Maquel Haywood Jr TE 35 Dylan Castoria  So OL 51 Cayden Sweatt Fr OL 53 Jake Ganoe  Fr OL 54 Isaiah Helms Sr OL 55 Seth Williams  So OL 58 Blake Bradford Fr OL 59 Jack Murphy  So OL 60 Ethan Ryan  So OL 62 Bucky Williams  Sr OL 63 Jayden Ramsey  So OL 70 Thornton Gentry  So OL 72 Markell Samuel  So OL 73 Jaden Lindsay  So OL 74 Griffin Scroggs  Fr OL 75 Damion Daley  Sr OL 76 Logan Randolph Fr OL 77 Daniel Davis Fr OL 78 Joseph Solomon  So TE 80 Max Drag Fr TE 81 Miller Gibbs  Sr WR 82 Chris Lawson Jr. Fr WR 83 Coen Sutton  So WR 84 Ayden Burkey  Fr TE 85 David Larkins  So TE 86 Kanen Hamlett  Fr TE 87 Eli Wilson Jr WR 88 Luke Hale  Fr TE 89 August Drews  So	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 2 Tyrek Funderburk  Sr DB 4 Nicholas Ross Sr DE 5 Michael Fletcher  Jr S 6 EJ Jackson Sr ILB 7 Andrew Parker Jr.  Sr OLB 8 Brendan Harrington  Jr CB 9 Jarrett Paul  Sr DB 10 DJ VanHook Sr DB 11 Jordan Favors  So DE 12 Shawn Collins  So CB 13 Trenton Alan Yowe  So ILB 14 Jayden Bethea Fr OLB 15 Thomas Davis  So CB 16 Omari Philyaw  Fr S 17 Jalik Thomas Jr CB 18 James Edwards  Fr CB 19 Ethan Johnson So OLB 20 Nathan Kibambe  Sr S 21 DJ Burks  Fr CB 22 DJ Porter Fr OLB 24 Cahari Haynes Fr S 25 Jackson Greene  Jr OLB 26 Caden Sullivan  So S 27 Ronald Clarke Jr S 28 Zyeir Gamble Fr DE 29 Santana Hopper  Fr S 30 Carter Greene  Fr S 31 Dyvon McKinney  So ILB 33 Derrell Farrar  Fr S 34 Colton Phares Fr ILB 35 Jack Scroggs  Jr DL 36 Kevon Haigler Jr DB 37 Andre Hamilton  So DB 39 Tony Harris  Fr ILB 40 Cole Becker  Fr ILB 42 Braxton Veiga Fr ILB 43 Ryan McKinnis Fr OLB 44 Brodrick Gooch  Fr ILB 45 Trevor Moffitt  So ILB 46 Isaiah McGuffin Fr OLB 47 Romelo Bell Fr DL 48 DeShawn McKnight Jr ILB 49 Randy Marion III Fr DE 50 DeAndre Dingle-Prince Jr ILB 52 Orlando Leon  Fr DL 54 Danny Stevens Fr ILB 56 Kyle Arnholt  So OLB 88 Donovan Spellman So OLB 90 Nate Johnson Fr DT 91 Markus Clark So DE 92 AJ Mebane Fr DE 94 Stephen Passeggiata  So DE 95 Montez Kelley Jr DE 96 Josiah Wyatt  Fr DE 97 Kevin Abrams-Verwayne  So DT 98 Jason Hertz Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 22 Cash McVay  So K 37 Carter Everett  Fr P 41 Conner Maynard  Jr LS 42 Christian Johnstone  Jr LS 44 Jake Mann  So P 49 Mitchell Lake Fr K 57 Austin Shook  So K 99 Michael Hughes Jr	Head coach Shawn Clark (Appalachian State) Coordinators/assistant coaches Frank Ponce (Arizona Western) Offensive coordinator/QB Scot Sloan (Clemson) Defensive coordinator/Safeties Justin Watts (Clemson) Passing game coordinator/TE Victor Cabral (Georgia Southern) Defensive Line Mike Cummings (Buffalo) Offensive Line Travis Cunningham (Gardner–Webb) Inside linebackers Lawrence Dawsey (Florida State) Wide receivers Brian Haines (Marietta College) Special teams coordinator/RB AJ Howard (Appalachian State) Outside linebackers Rod West (Alabama State) Defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks Matt Greenhalgh (Rhode Island) Director of athletic performance for football Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster