Mountaineers talk culture, college playoff at SBC Media Day

NEW ORLEANS — A day after being named the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference football championship for the East Division, Appalachian State spent July 23 participating in the conference’s media day, the first of the two-day event.

In addition to Keith Gill, the Sun Belt Conference commissioner, addressing the media about the conference’s state, Appalachian State head football coach Shawn Clark was onsite to answer questions.

Clark, who enters his fifth season as the Mountaineers’ head man, was joined by quarterback Joey Aguilar and wide receiver Kaedin Robinson and addressed several areas.

One of the main areas he addressed was the change to the College Football Playoff format, which tripled in the off-season from four teams to 12 to compete for a national championship.

The four highest-ranked conferences will be seeded one through four and receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team.

The new format could potentially have a team from one of the Group of Five Conferences, like the Sun Belt. Before the expansion, a team from one of the Group of Five was guaranteed a spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowls, which would now be the CFP opening round.

“I like the setup. It gives us a chance to make a run at being in the College Football Playoffs, and that’s what you want an opportunity to do. In the years previously, you had to be undefeated, be a Power Five program,” said Clark. “You still have to have a great resume’ but whoever the highest ranked non-power four program has the opportunity to play in the college football playoff — that’s what you want. Our goal is always to win conference championships, bowl championships, and now this gives you an opportunity to make the College Football Playoffs.

“We play in one of the best conferences in all of college football. I believe our conference is set up for one of our teams to make a run and get a berth in the College Football Playoffs.”

The Sun Belt Conference had a good resume in 2023 as 12 of the 14-member schools played in a bowl game, winning five of them. That included the Mountaineers, who bested the University of Miami at Ohio in the Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl championship.

As Appalachian State looks to make a run at a fifth Sun Belt Conference championship and the first since 2019, the team brings back 70 percent of its production on both sides of the ball, which includes 14 starters (as opposed to 10 losses).

Clark stated that several players had offers to transfer elsewhere but elected to remain in Boone to help continue to build on what the Mountaineers have built throughout the years.

“We had certain players who had offers or had been contacted by other programs to leave and I do believe we had a great culture at Appalachian State. I think it started back in the 80s with Coach (Jerry) Moore there, along with myself and Coach (Scott) Satterfield were able to continue that,” said Clark. “I think we treat our players the right way; I think we have their best interest in mind, and they knew that we have unfinished business in 2024, and they wanted to come back and put their name on the program, put a stamp to be conference champions.”

Aguilar, who took over under center early in the 2023 season, was named the Conference’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and echoed his head coach’s sentiments.

Aguilar was a junior college transfer who enrolled at Appalachian during the Spring 2023 semester.

“Like coach said, one of my biggest reasons for coming back was unfinished business, just for the community, the fans, coaches, teammates at App State,” said Aguilar. “Coach gave me to the opportunity to come play at App State all the way from California — I’m a firm believer in finishing what you started. The goal is to win everything that there is to win and finish off strong.”

Robinson, like Aguilar, had a similar story in coming to Boone as a transfer from Central Florida after the 2021 season.

Also named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team, Robinson played his prep career at Christ School in Asheville before playing two season’s at NJCAA member ASA Brooklyn.

“Coach gave me an opportunity when I left Central Florida, and he didn’t have to do that. I’m big on loyalty; he gave me an opportunity, and I wouldn’t be here in front of you guys if it wasn’t for him,” said Robinson. “There’s no place like Boone — it’s home for me, and I love it, and that’s why I stayed.”

Another thing that Clark feels makes the Appalachian State culture what it is includes the atmosphere at Kidd Brewer Stadium, which was recently named one of the top 25 College Football Stadiums by ESPN.

Also known as The Rock, Kidd Brewer came in at No. 23, ahead of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas.

The Mountaineers and Kidd Brewer were the only non-Power 5 schools to be named to the list.

“Mountaineer fans have broken the Sun Belt attendance record for three straight years, and I won’t be surprised if they do it again this fall. We cannot thank our fans enough for being the best in college football; just in general, our conference, this is one of the premier conferences in all of college football, especially with rivalries,” said Clark. “The App State-Marshall rivalry dates back to the Southern Conference days, the Georgia Southern game, that’s one of the best rivalries in college football, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Georgia State, the East side is very competitive, and it’s going to be a great season. It’s going to be very competitive, very challenging, and we look forward to the 2024 season.”