Snow’s on the ground in parts of North Carolina, but Appalachian State has us thinking about spring football. The Mountaineers announced this week that its annual spring game would return under new coach Dowell Loggains.
The “Battle at the Rock” spring intrasquad contest will be held Saturday, April 12 at Kidd Brewer Stadium. The Mountaineers opted not to have a spring game under previous coach Shawn Clark. This will be the first spring game since 2019. More details will be forthcoming.
Loggains was hired in December to replace Clark after App State suffered its first losing campaign since 2013. Loggains and company have been busy on the mountain since then, building the new roster and coaching staff.
Here are other App State football news updates:
Appalachian State football transfer class grows to 16
The school issued an official release noting that 16 transfers will join an eight-member high school recruiting class for 2025.
Of the transfers, 10 are coming to Boone from FBS “Power 4” programs. Only one, though, lists a North Carolina hometown: defensive lineman Joseph Bakhole from Charlotte, who was all-state and all-conference at Myers Park.
Bakhole already has 40 collegiate games under his belt at Chattanooga, UL-Monroe and Coffeyville Community College.
App State has beefed up both lines through the portal, signing three transfers on the offensive side and two on defense. Senior offensive lineman Will Flowers played at East Tennessee State from 2020-23, then started all 14 games at center for Valdosta State last season. The Blazers finished 13-1 and advanced to the Division II title game.
The Mountaineers must find a new starting quarterback to pilot the offense. Joey Aguilar, who lit up the stat sheets in 2023 and 2024, has opted to transfer, committing to home-state UCLA in December. Loggains is bringing in a pair of Power 4 transfers to compete for the starting role in 2025: redshirt junior AJ Swann (LSU) and redshirt sophomore JJ Kohl (Iowa State).
Swann, a four-star prospect coming out Cherokee High in Georgia, started 12 games at Vanderbilt in 2022-23 before spending last season as a reserve at LSU. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. Swann threw 22 TD passes during his time at Vandy and completed 222 of 394 passes for 2,731 yards.
Kohl saw the field in four games for Iowa State the past two years. He will have three seasons of eligibility.
Three transfer wide receivers join the App State fold: junior Jaden Barnes (Austin Peay), redshirt sophomore Davion Dozier (Arkansas) and redshirt sophomore Jackson Grier (Boise State). Barnes made 12 starts at Austin Peay, finishing with more than 1,000 receiving yards and nine TDs in 2024. Dozier saw limited action for the Razorbacks. Grier won a 7A state title in Florida as a prep player.
Another Arkansas transfer, senior Rashod Dubinion, will join the running back room, along with redshirt sophomore Khalifa Keith (Tennessee).
Dubinion averaged 6.7 yards per carry and finished with 888 rushing yards and two TDs with the Razorbacks. He had a 112-yard day against Louisiana Tech last fall and went for 98 yards and a TD against Mississippi State.
Keith saw spot duty in 16 games during his time at Tennessee, finishing with 21 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown in 2024.
A third transfer from Arkansas, redshirt sophomore linebacker Brooks Yurachek, spent a year at Wake Forest before moving to Arkansas for the 2024 campaign.
The Complete Transfer List
- Joseph Bakhole (DL, R-Sr., Chattanooga)
- Jaden Barnes (WR, Jr., Austin Peay)
- Garrison Butler (DL, R-Fr., Cincinnati)
- Cristian Conyer (DB, Jr., Coastal Carolina)
- Davion Dozier (WR, R-So., Arkansas)
- Rashod Dubinion (RB, Sr., Arkansas)
- Will Flowers (OL, R-Sr., Valdosta State)
- Jackson Grier (WR, R-So., Boise State)
- Dylan Hasz (DB, Jr., Arkansas)
- Shamarr Jackson (OL, R-Sr., New Mexico State)
- Khalifa Keith (RB, R-So., Tennessee)
- JJ Kohl (QB, R-So., Iowa State)
- Brayshawn Littlejohn (LB, R-So., Missouri)
- AJ Swann (QB, R-Jr., LSU)
- Lance Williams (OL, R-So.,Virginia Tech)
- Brooks Yurachek (LB, R-So., Arkansas)
For complete bios on Appalachian State’s incoming transfers, see the school’s full release HERE.
App State football coaching staff coming together
Loggains has announced several assistant coaching hires in recent weeks. He has not named someone specifically as offensive coordinator but has brought aboard an assortment of offensive minds. Loggains served as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past two seasons before being hired to the App State job.
Clyde Christensen will serve as App State’s associate head coach. He has nearly 27 years of NFL experience and 17 in college coaching. He spent the past two seasons at North Carolina as an analyst/senior advisor. Christensen played for the Tar Heels in 1977-78.
DJ Smith, a Charlotte native and former standout Appalachian State linebacker, returns to Boone as defensive coordinator. Smith made 525 tackles during his time as a Mountaineer (2007-10) and played four years in the NFL. He coached outside linebackers at App State for two seasons and most recently worked for five years on former ASU coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s staff at Missouri.
Other assistant hires include
- Jeff Crosby (special teams coordinator)
- Joe Daily (offensive assistant)
- Curtis Fuller (defensive assistant)
- Keith Jones Jr. (defensive assistant)
- Aashon Larkins (offensive assistant)
- Allen Mogridge (offensive assistant)
- Anthony Shakir (defensive assistant)
- Riley Watkins (offensive assistant)
- Ryan Yurachek (offensive assistant)
- Matt Greenhalgh (director of athletic performance for football)
Greenhalgh has ties with Appalachian State. He was the assistant director of strength and conditioning in Boone from 2014-17. The Mountaineers compiled a 37-14 record during that frame and won two Sun Belt titles.
Fuller most recently coached cornerbacks at Coastal Carolina. He also has been on the Carolina Panthers staff (2015-17). He was the head coach at Myers Park in 2019-21.
Shakir served as a defensive analyst and quality control assistant at App State in 2018-20. He played at Brevard in the early 2010s when the Tornados competed in the D2 ranks. He was a four-year starter at outside linebacker.
Mogridge played four different positions at UNC from 1996-99, helping the Tar Heels win three bowl games.
For more bio information on Appalachian State’s coaching staff, plus other support staff, visit the ASU coaches page HERE.
Still waiting on completed App State 2025 schedule
Appalachian State knows each of the 12 opponents it will face this season. The Mountaineers don’t yet know in what order the conference opponents will appear. The Sun Belt has said it will release its complete schedule before March 1.
The 2025 campaign will begin for the Mountaineers with a Thursday night, Aug. 28 contest against Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. App State will play Lindenwood and Oregon State at home, and will travel to Boise State.
For more on the upcoming schedule and future football opponents beyond 2025, visit App State’s schedule page.
