Shawn Clark
Shawn Clark (born August 16, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Appalachian State University. He had been an assistant with the program since 2016, and was promoted to head coach following the departure of Eliah Drinkwitz.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Appalachian State |
| Conference | Sun Belt |
| Record | 29–17 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | August 16, 1975 Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.[1] |
| Alma mater | Appalachian State University |
| Playing career | |
| 1994–1998 | Appalachian State |
| Position(s) | Offensive lineman |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2002 | Louisville (GA) |
| 2003–2008 | Eastern Kentucky (OL) |
| 2009–2012 | Purdue (OL) |
| 2013–2015 | Kent State (OL) |
| 2016–2018 | Appalachian State (co-OC/OL) |
| 2019 | Appalachian State (AHC/OL) |
| 2020–present | Appalachian State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 29–17 |
| Bowls | 2–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Sun Belt East Division (2021) | |
Clark has cited the "culture, traditions, and family" of Appalachian State football being its greatest characteristics, and it is hoped that Clark will bring back some Jerry Moore-esque stability to a program that had lost Scott Satterfield to Louisville and Drinkwitz to Missouri in consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, as those coaches used successful tenures at Appalachian as stepping stones into "power conference" programs.[2] In a nod to the Boone legend, Clark said at his introductory press conference there will always be a place for Jerry Moore at the Appalachian State football program as long as Clark is the coach.[2]
Playing career
An offensive lineman in college, Clark was a two-time All-American (1996 and 1998) and three-time all-conference selection (1995, 1996, 1998) for teams that went a combined 45-16 during his first five years in Boone. In fact, as a player during the 12-0 start in 1995 and a coach for the 2019 team that has set a single-season record for wins by an FBS program in the state of North Carolina, Clark has been part of the two App State teams to post 11 regular-season victories.
Clark graduated from App State with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1998 and earned a master's degree in education from Louisville in 2003.
Coaching career
Clark joined the Appalachian staff as offensive line coach in 2016 under head coach Scott Satterfield, then becoming an assistant head coach in 2019. Upon the departure of Eliah Drinkwitz for Missouri, Clark became the 22nd head coach in program history on December 13, 2019. Clark led the Mountaineers in their bowl game that year to a 31–17 victory over UAB Blazers in the New Orleans Bowl. Clark's first full season as head coach of the Mountaineers was met with complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many changes to schedules and football operations around the country. The team persevered and Clark finished 9–3 and lead the team in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl and defeated the North Texas Mean Green with a dominating 56–28 performance.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State Mountaineers (Sun Belt Conference) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019 | Appalachian State | 1–0 | 0–0 | W New Orleans | 18 | 19 | |||
| 2020 | Appalachian State | 9–3 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | W Myrtle Beach | ||||
| 2021 | Appalachian State | 10–4 | 7–1 | 1st (East) | L Boca Raton | ||||
| 2022 | Appalachian State | 6–6 | 3–5 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2023 | Appalachian State | 3-4 | 1-2 | (East) | |||||
| Appalachian State: | 29–17 | 17–10 | |||||||
| Total: | 29–17 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
- Brocato, Joe (April 3, 2020). "GW grad Shawn Clark settles into first head coaching opportunity at Appalachian State". WV MetroNews. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- Ethan Joyce. Why was Shawn Clark the right guy for App State? Let team captains tell you why". Winston-Salem Journal, December 16, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2021.