Early, but let's do it now

[Saint3333]

I was a defender of Coach Clark - not a defender of all his calls

Me too buddy.

I just got a chill. Ya’ll agree?

I've always been a fan of Clark. I support anyone that puts one of the loves of my life (App State) above their own interest. I know if successful he'll remain at App longer than most.

Anyone that doubts my priorities hasn't been on this board long or using a very poor version of the jump to conclusions mat.

[Black Saturday]

What's acceptable for this season?
Make me proud, win or lose with class. Give 'em Hell Apps!
Scott

I think we struggle to win half our games with pride, and easily lose at least half with pride.

[AppSt94]

What's acceptable for this season?
Make me proud, win or lose with class. Give 'em Hell Apps!
Scott

I think we struggle to win half our games with pride, and easily lose at least half with pride.

Curious as to why you feel this way.

[Saint3333]

Call me crazy but I view the Wyoming game as critical and will either be a wake up call or a confidence builder.

[appstate77]

This is how I see the ECU game.

[BambooRdApp]

If we are fortunate to beat both EasyU and the Cowboys, I feel like we should have some optimism going into conference play.
Conference play will be interesting as we all know. Conference play is tough. Everyone fighting for championship and, by then, have 3 or 4 games of film on each team..With that said, if we beat the two above, I feel like we have a chance to be a decent team.

[appgrad95&97]

2019 feels like A LONG time ago.

[Yosef1986]

My view is that there will be a lot of teams on our schedule that have the same questions marks as we do. This is a year that will show us how recruiting and the transfer portal has helped APP. We may be young - however, we have been young in the past and still won games. The youth and new players we have to me is optimistic.

Just the next chapter for APP.

[AppSt94]

My view is that there will be a lot of teams on our schedule that have the same questions marks as we do. This is a year that will show us how recruiting and the transfer portal has helped APP. We may be young - however, we have been young in the past and still won games. The youth and new players we have to me is optimistic.

Just the next chapter for APP.

Agree wholeheartedly with this. I don’t see anyone on our schedule, in conference, that I would deem as unbeatable.

[appstate77]

I don't see any game in 2023 that is unwinable. We have FBS talent now on the field and in the coaches booth.

[311neers]

2019 feels like A LONG time ago.

We were that unbeatable SBC team.

[appgrad95&97]

2019 feels like A LONG time ago.

We were that unbeatable SBC team.

A lot of momentum that built up to that.

[AppWyo]

Unbeatable? we lost to Georgia Southern.

2019 was a good year, but it does not compare to this past year. I bet we had more notoriety this past year than we did in 2019. This past year is a set up for even greater success in the future. Just like '04 and '93. Everyone talks about portal losses, but App has some great portal gains.

[BambooRdApp]

If we beat Stink in 2019, we would have started to be in more commentary on ESPN. Not saying as much as Cincy in their run ..but we get to 8, 9, 10 wins with no losses, we would have gotten more attention. If we won out, we would have gotten a better bowl game if our contracts allow for it. Not saying final four ..but better than typical.
But...would have, could have, should have ..did not happen
So, for two to three week last year, we had as much 15 minutes of fame, nationally, than we probably have ever had in a 3 to 4 week span

[AppWyo]

If we beat Stink in 2019, we would have started to be in more commentary on ESPN. Not saying as much as Cincy in their run ..but we get to 8, 9, 10 wins with no losses, we would have gotten more attention. If we won out, we would have gotten a better bowl game if our contracts allow for it. Not saying final four ..but better than typical.
But...would have, could have, should have ..did not happen
So, for two to three week last year, we had as much 15 minutes of fame, nationally, than we probably have ever had in a 3 to 4 week span

This past season will affect the future of Appalachian Football in a positive way. I mean we have picked up players from Texas A&M and Georgia that probably would never have given App a look that entered the portal and App gave them a new home. On top of that we are seeing students that would never have come to App before coming now.

[Yosef10]

If we have indeed fallen to the point that we can't even realistically talk about winning the division, then it's probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

I think we need, at minimum, 8-4 and a bowl win. Anything less than that might not be good enough.

Exactly. Whether we'll win the SB not idk, but anything less than competing for championships is unacceptable for App imo. Anything other than competing for championships is a failed season.

I get what people are trying to say, and are trying to be positive and supportive, and there are legit reasons like a new QB etc...but the tone of the thread is concerning to me as it's already showing me the slow erosion and lowering of standards for the program. Just being competitive? Showing growth? Come on. That's just a small step away from a participation trophy. Programs don't fall off a cliff into mediocrity, they just steadily keep heading downhill, and people just accept it as it happens.

Having said that, prediction wise I think we are looking at somewhere around 8-4 at best vs a total disaster 2 or 3 win season at worst. I guess that's a way of saying something similar to this season, around .500

This post perfectly sums up my reservations about just hiring alums to be the head coach. Folks start giving passes because he’s “An App Guy”. Once you get in a hole, without top flight resources, can become a pretty long road to get back on top.

[Yosef10]

So how many games in before we start hearing from the "fire the coach" crowd again? IMO, he won the offseason again which quieted things down for now. But I'm already sniffing it in this thread.

I’m with you that there’s a crowd that exists in college athletics where the hyperbole about firing the coach goes too far too soon. But Clark, and this program, has regressed in all 3 seasons now. At what point do you start to look at the CEO of the organization?

[mike87]

So how many games in before we start hearing from the "fire the coach" crowd again? IMO, he won the offseason again which quieted things down for now. But I'm already sniffing it in this thread.

I’m with you that there’s a crowd that exists in college athletics where the hyperbole about firing the coach goes too far too soon. But Clark, and this program, has regressed in all 3 seasons now. At what point do you start to look at the CEO of the organization?

What's regressed? Revenue, coaching staff, recruiting, portal management, graduation rate, facilities, Strength & Conditioning, off-field issues all are in the plus. Firing a coach blows up the process. Those that think because the W's aren't there it's best to blow up the program because then, then we will get the W's, they must have government jobs.

[Yosef10]

So how many games in before we start hearing from the "fire the coach" crowd again? IMO, he won the offseason again which quieted things down for now. But I'm already sniffing it in this thread.

I’m with you that there’s a crowd that exists in college athletics where the hyperbole about firing the coach goes too far too soon. But Clark, and this program, has regressed in all 3 seasons now. At what point do you start to look at the CEO of the organization?

What's regressed? Revenue, coaching staff, recruiting, portal management, graduation rate, facilities, Strength & Conditioning, off-field issues all are in the plus. Firing a coach blows up the process. Those that think because the W's aren't there it's best to blow up the program because then, then we will get the W's, they must have government jobs.

What’s regressed? App just went 4-6 against FBS competition. Including getting blown out by Texas State. If that was the case in 2023, sure OK that’s understandable. But the 2022 team should not have went 4-6 against FBS schools. No one’s talking about blowing up the program, we can stop with the extremes. We try to have level headed conversations and y’all resort to the extremes.

[BambooRdApp]

So how many games in before we start hearing from the "fire the coach" crowd again? IMO, he won the offseason again which quieted things down for now. But I'm already sniffing it in this thread.

I’m with you that there’s a crowd that exists in college athletics where the hyperbole about firing the coach goes too far too soon. But Clark, and this program, has regressed in all 3 seasons now. At what point do you start to look at the CEO of the organization?

What's regressed? Revenue, coaching staff, recruiting, portal management, graduation rate, facilities, Strength & Conditioning, off-field issues all are in the plus. Firing a coach blows up the process. Those that think because the W's aren't there it's best to blow up the program because then, then we will get the W's, they must have government jobs.

Agreed
We went through 3 coaching changes in 3 years (which includes some assistants going with coaches that left). I would think that those recruiting classes were impacted and overall administration of the program. You add COVID for a new D-1 coach to deal with along with the financial impact to a non P5 school that does not have a major TV contract, there have been some interesting events that have impacted the product and success on the field.
Although I do not follow in detail as much as others on this board, it seems our recruiting classes have been some of the better classes over the last 2 years for App. St. I am interested to see what we got this year for sure....but maybe more next year....but hope I am surprised this year, a year early..