Appalachian St. Mountaineers' Trail to the Top

The roots of Appalachian State's current success are built upon the same foundations most dynasties at the Division I level of college football are built upon—hard work,  a passionate following, and top tier talent at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.

After missing the playoffs for the second-consecutive season in 2004, ASU’s seeds of success were sewn in the most unlikely of places: the visiting locker room at Western Carolina.

The Mountaineers had just dropped a 30-27 decision to the Catamounts, which meant the Mountaineers would miss the playoffs for the second straight season and finished the campaign with just a 6-5 overall mark.

It was an evening where the silence in the locker room was deafening after suffering defeat to their archrival, but the loss proved to be a necessary step in the right direction for the Apps.

The Mountaineers were in their first year running the wide-open spread offense they run to this day, and a young team was able to put together a 6-5 mark. 

However, while most programs would see such a record as progress toward a winning record in a season running a new offense, that was not the case at Appalachian State—a school that had almost treated playoff appearances as second-nature during the Jerry Moore era.

After finishing with a 7-4 record in 2003, the Appalachian coaching staff decided to make the first of several drastic changes that would pay off in a major way two years later.

The Mountaineers had run a basic Power I formation mixed with a solid play-action passing game for 15 seasons under Moore.  Moore wasn’t much for change, however, with the Mountaineers’ struggles to maintain their billing at the top of the SoCon ladder.

Moore knew it was only a matter of time before ASU’s SoCon brethren would eventually be on even ground with the Mountaineers.  A trip to West Virginia in the spring of 2004, and the Mountaineers now had a new recipe for success, as the Apps would be running the Rich Rodriguez spread offense.

In the first trial run for the spread offense in ‘04, the Mountaineers were able to do some pretty good things on the offensive side of the football, and finished the season ranking third in the league in total offense (425.5 YPG.), scoring offense (33.3 PPG.), and led the league in passing offense (322.6 YPG.).

There were, however, a number of concerns in the inaugural season utilizing the new offensive scheme.  The Mountaineers’ running game had virtually been non-existent, as the Mountaineers ranked last in the league in rushing offense (102.9 YPG.).

Another concern which was not directly attributed to the offense was the play of a young defensive unit, which accounted for the worst defense Appalachian State has fielded in the storied history of the tradition-rich football program.

The Mountaineers’ young defense yielded 400.7 YPG., ranking seventh of eight in the SoCon in total defense and also ranked seventh in scoring defense (32.5 PPG.).

All five of Appalachian’s losses in 2004 came on the road, which could be attributed to youth more than anything else, and it showed in lopsided losses on the road to Wyoming (53-7) and Georgia Southern (54-7).

Despite the glaring warning signs on defense and in the running game on offense, the Mountaineers did offer some glimpses of what the very near future could hold at times during the ‘04 season.

None was more apparent than the Mountaineers’ breathtaking performance in an Oct. 9 meeting against the second-ranked Furman Paladins.

In that particular contest, the Mountaineers were able to come away with a thrilling, 30-29 win over the Paladins.

Junior QB Richie Williams put forth a record performance, completing 40-of-45 passes for a then school-record 413 yards, with a TD pass and a TD run with 35 seconds remaining to help the Apps clinch the historic win over the Furman Paladins.

Williams completed an astounding 28 consecutive passes in the contest—a streak that lasted early in the first quarter to the fourth quarter.

However, as is the case with most successful programs with a hearty fanbase used to playoff appearances and SoCon title banners, moments like the one ASU enjoyed against Furman were quickly forgotten.

After all, when it came down to it, Furman was still the team going to the playoffs and ASU was the school sitting home to watch the postseason as a spectator.

In the spring of ‘04, the Mountaineers brought in a new athletic director, Charlie Cobb, who came from North Carolina State, where he served as an Associate Athletics Director under Lee Fowler.

The former Wolfpack offensive lineman brought new energy to the program, targeting facilities upgrades and improving the tailgate environment, making Appalachian again an attractive venue in all respects to take in a football game on a Saturday afternoon.

However, the rest would be up to Moore and the Mountaineers to keep the new fervor surrounding the football program with the excitement created by Cobb and staff intact.

Cobb’s first move was to sit down with Moore and have a heart-to-heart meeting with the cagey veteran about the state of the football program.  After the two exchanged ideas in a candid conversation, the Mountaineers would be well on their way to rising to the top of FCS mountain.

One of the seemingly small improvements that came out of that particular meeting between Moore and Cobb was new uniforms for the players—a request made by some of the seniors during the spring and a promise kept by Moore.

With things headed in a positive direction, off-the-field concerns struck the Appalachian program just prior to spring drills, as starting running back Alan Atwater failed his second drug test and was kicked off the team.

The Mountaineers, who fielded one of the league’s worst rushing attacks in ‘04, now had to look to walk-on Kevin Richardson for leadership in the backfield.

Tweaks were made on both sides of the football by the coaching staff to ensure the Mountaineers wouldn’t again experience such difficulties in the running game and on defense that they had incurred in ‘04.

One of those changes included moving Jeremy Mayfield from the defensive end position to wide receiver. That would prove to be one of the bigger decisions made by the coaching staff and would enable the Black and Gold offense to have some depth at wide receiver.

In addition to Mayfield, the Mountaineers also welcomed back Jermane Little to the fold, who had quit the team for personal reasons in ‘04, and his reinstatement gave the Apps another big-play threat on offense.

There were plenty of positives just beneath the surface as the Mountaineers headed into the 2005 season.  One of those positives was the return of Corey Lynch in the secondary, who was forced to miss nearly the entire 2004 season after suffering a severe elbow injury in the second week of the season against Eastern Kentucky.

Also making a much-anticipated return to the lineup for the Apps was Jason Hunter, who had missed the ‘03 and ‘04 seasons due to injury and academic issues.

Three national titles and four SoCon titles later, the struggles that once were seemingly sure to usher head coach Jerry Moore into an early retirement serve as only a distant memory now.

After all, Appalachian has compiled a 50-9 mark since that ‘04 season in which the Mountaineers made so many drastic changes to better the program.  Such drastic changes are a real risk and for many coaches end up costing them their jobs.

However, it’s important to note that Moore isn’t just any coach; he was a proven winner even before the Apps experienced struggles in the middle of this decade.

Now the Mountaineers sit on the brink of finding themselves in even rarer company, looking to win their fourth national title in five seasons and also favorites to claim their fifth-straight league crown.

Moore’s retirement now would surely be on his terms, however, there are now signs that the 70-year-old coach is slowing down and will look to add to 205 wins as a head coach for at least a couple more seasons in the High Country.