List of Appalachian State Mountaineers football seasons



This is a list of seasons completed by the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Mountaineers fielded their first team in 1928 under Graydon Eggers and are currently coached by Jerry Moore. The Mountaineers celebrate their 80th season in 2009 and have played over 800 games, appeared in nine bowl games, and participated in the FCS (formerly I-AA) playoffs a total of 16 times. Historically, Appalachian State has had a successful college football program, winning over 500 games. In 1931 the Mountaineers joined the North State Conference and finished in first place under coach C. B. Johnson. Kidd Brewer took over coaching duties of the Mountaineers from 1935 to 1938, winning another North State Conference championship. An All-American at Duke, Brewer's 1937 squad is best remembered for going unbeaten and unscored upon during the regular season, outscoring opponents 206–0 before losing a postseason game to the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss, 7–0.

E. C. Duggins coached the Mountaineers from 1947–50 and again from 1952–55. Appalachian State went to seven bowl games and won three North State Conference championships under Duggins. After three coaches during a five year span, the Mountaineers got back to their winning ways under Jim Duncan, who coached for five years, 1960 to 1964, and won 31 games. In 1961 the North State Conference became the Carolinas Conference and Appalachian State left after the 1967 season to play as an independent for four years. Jim Brakefield was hired as head coach in 1971, vacating the same position he held at Wofford. A year later, in 1972, Appalachian State accepted an invitation into the Southern Conference. Credited as overseeing the transition into Division I football, Brakefield had his most successful season in 1975, guiding the Mountaineers to wins over East Carolina, Wake Forest, and South Carolina.

Appalachian State won the first of nine Southern Conference championships in 1986 under Sparky Woods, who also led the Mountaineers into the playoffs for the first time. Another conference championship and playoff appearance followed in 1987. Woods won the Wallace Wade Coach of the Year Award three straight years in 1985, 1986, and 1987, becoming the only coach in conference history to do so. Woods left to coach South Carolina after five years and Jerry Moore was hired as the Mountaineer's 19th coach in 1989. Moore is the winningest coach in conference history, and under his leadership the Mountaineers have won seven conference championships. In addition, the Mountaineers have posted nineteen winning campaigns to go with one losing season during his tenure, allowing Moore to claim Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors a record six times. He was also the 2006 recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the division's most outstanding coach. Under the stewardship of Moore, players such as two-time Buck Buchanan Award winner Dexter Coakley have gone on to play in the National Football League.

Appalachian State became the first team since the playoffs began in 1978 to win three straight national titles in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and the first team to accomplish the feat since Army in 1944, 1945, and 1946. They are also the first Division I school in modern times to claim three straight undisputed national titles. On September 1, 2007, in what was hailed as one of the biggest upsets in United States sports history, the Mountaineers shocked the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 34–32. The win helped Applachian State become the first FCS team to ever receive votes in the final Associated Press (AP) college football poll on January 8, 2008. The Mountaineers received five points in the poll, tying South Florida for 34th. The conclusion of the 2008 season saw quarterback Armanti Edwards win Appalachian's first Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the most outstanding offensive player.

Playoff results
When Division I-AA was formed for football in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams, doubling to eight teams in its fourth season of 1981. In 1982 the I-AA playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals. In its ninth season of 1986, the I-AA playoffs were expanded again, to the present 16-team format, requiring four post-season victories to win the title. In April 2008 the NCAA announced that the playoff field will again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010.