After Disappointing 5-8 Season,
All Eyes On Loggains, New QB

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Aug. 27, 2026)

Appalachian State football leader Dowell Loggains is a 45-year-old man whose résumé includes an impressive, long-term track record as an offensive/quarterbacks guru … but also a disappointing 2025 head coaching debut (5-8) with the Mountaineers.

New App State quarterback Malachi Singleton is a 22-year-old transfer who was celebrated as a high school All-American in 2022 but wasn’t able to secure much playing time at either Arkansas (SEC) or Purdue (Big Ten) during his three seasons at the Power Four level of college football.

Now the futures of Loggains and Singleton are clearly and intricately linked.

Singleton, a fourth-year college player whose eligibility will expire in 2027, is running out of time to live up to his considerable hype.

He made considerable money at Purdue last year, even as a backup, but he saw the opportunity at App State — under Loggains, who worked wonders with QBs Spencer Rattler and LaNorris Sellers during his recent two-year stint (2023-24) at South Carolina  — as his best fit.

Loggains, meanwhile, needs to live up to the #1 reason he was hired in Boone, and he must do so as quickly as possible.

While his 5-8 record last season was disappointing, his offense’s 24 points per game output — which ranked just 10th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference — was far more alarming, given his background as a relatively young coach who already has served as an offensive coordinator for four different National Football League franchises.

“I do believe in the old saying, if you think you have two quarterbacks, you probably don’t have one. Last year, I didn’t coach well enough,” Loggains said. “I didn’t get the position, the productivity and the winning results out of that position. We went back and forth (between AJ Swann and JJ Kohl) because no one would separate themselves. The players set the depth chart, not the coaches.”

This year, there is absolutely no doubt about the QB depth chart in Boone. Swann is now a backup at Mississippi State. Kohl recently won the starting job at Florida International, which plays in a lesser FBS league (Conference USA).

Singleton is not only App State’s clear-cut QB starter, he’s one of the team’s three 2026 captains, along with fourth-year linebacker Colton Phares (a returning All-Sun Belt performer) and fifth-year defensive back Ammo Robinson, as voted by the Mountaineers players.

“Malachi came in there and did a really good job and earned the team’s respect. He was a unanimous captain and played really well (in the spring),” Loggains said. “He was the first guy we ever had to come up and visit here. Purdue threw the bag at him, as the kids say, and he had a chance to go play in the Big Ten for a lot of money. Sometimes kids realize, through experience and maturity, that sometimes the best opportunity is the one where you can do the most.”

Loggains’ longer-term directive, of course, is to put the App State football program back where it’s been for most of the past 40 years — and that’s competing for championships, whether it was national titles back in App State’s FCS days or Sun Belt titles at the FBS level.

Remember, as recently as 2016-19, first Scott Satterfield (three), then Eli Drinkwitz (one), led the Mountaineers to four straight Sun Belt titles. In stark contrast, in the preseason this year, it just felt strange to see App State picked to finish next-to-last in the Sun Belt’s East Division, although the fans, coaches and administration in Boone certainly don’t view their own program that way.

Loggains has a whopping 73 newcomers (see highlights below) this season: 40 major college transfers, 30 high school signees and three junior college transfers. That represents one of the highest roster-turnover rates in the entire FBS ranks, making this season that much more difficult to predict.

The Mountaineers do have a fun in-state schedule this year — trips to East Carolina and NC State, plus a home game against Charlotte — but Loggains’ #1 assignment is to show that he has App State pointed back toward contender status in the Sun Belt, because that’s where the Mountaineers are expected to be on a consistent basis.

2026 APP STATE FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Dowell Loggains, 2nd season (5-8 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt, 1 bowl trip)

Offensive Coordinator: Mike Anthony (1st season with Mountaineers, 1st season as Mountaineers’ OC)

Defensive Coordinator: DJ Smith (6th season with Mountaineers, 2nd season at Mountaineers’ DC)

Returning Starters/Offense (2): fifth-year G Trent Ramsey, senior G Cayden Sweatt

Returning Starters/Defense (2): senior DE Aiden Benton, senior LB Colton Phares (2nd-team All-Sun Belt)

Returning Starters/Special Teams (0): none

Most Accomplished Incoming Transfers (12): senior Gardner-Webb WR Chris Lofton (1st-team All-OVC/Big South, 934 career receiving yards, 5 TD), fifth-year Charlotte S Cary Grant (starter, 45 career tackles), fifth-year Lindenwood TE Darrin Fugitt (HM All-OVC/Big South, 697 career receiving yards, 5 TD), senior Pitt K James London (1st-team All-MVC at Murray State in 2024), fifth-year Middle Tennessee LB Alex Mitchell (2-year starter at Chattanooga), senior NC Central S Eric Adams (starter, 54 career tackles), junior Towson DT Aaron Clark (starter, 36 career tackles), junior Findlay LB Kevin Henderson (1st-team All-GMAC/D2, 115 career tackles), junior Samford LB Carson Sloan (starter, 54 career tackles), senior Purdue QB Malachi Singleton (prep A-A, 797 career passing yards, 6 TD), fifth-year Tulsa LS Parker Stone (2024 starter), fifth-year Kennesaw State QB Tommy Ulatowski (2,201 career passing yards, 23 TD)

Other Intriguing Incoming Transfers (13): junior Houston RB J’Marion Burnette, junior North Carolina CB Khalil Conley, sophomore Boston College WR Semaj Fleming, junior Kansas OT Greydon Grimes, junior UCF S Jakob Gude, junior UCLA QB Henry Hasselbeck, fifth-year UCF CB Ja’Cari Henderson, senior Cal WR Dazmin James, sixth-year Florida OT Devon Manuel, senior Virginia Tech CB Joe Reddish, junior Arkansas WR Zachary Taylor, junior Virginia CB Dre Walker, junior Florida RB Treyaun Webb

NFL Draft Departures (0): none

NFL Free Agent Departures (0): none

Key Transfer Portal Departures (17): CB Emory Floyd (HM All-Sun Belt, 59 career tackles), Colorado; DT Rondo Porter (HM All-Sun Belt, 36 career tackles), Rutgers; K Dominic De Freitas (3rd-team All-Sun Belt, 21-27 FG), North Texas; S DJ Burks (12 career starts, 125 tackles), Tennessee; DE DeNigel Cooper (part-time starter), Wisconsin; WR Davion Dozier (starter), NC State; DT Dylan Manuel (starter), Colorado; DT Saint Farrior (20 career tackles), Auburn; QB AJ Swann (18 career starts at three schools), Mississippi State; S Zyeir Gamble (starter, 100 career tackles), East Carolina; WR/PR Jaden Barnes (starter, 608 career receiving yards, 7 TD), Charlotte; CB Elijah Mc-Cantos (starter, 77 career tackles), Colorado State; LS Jacob Poff (starter), North Texas; P Ian Ratliff (starter, 44-yard average), North Texas; LB/DE Thomas Davis (starter, 90 career tackles), Tulsa; QB JJ Kohl (part-time starter), Florida International; OG Griffin Scroggs (9 career starts), UNLV; RB/KR Khamani Alexander (starting KR), Charlotte

2026 App State Schedule

Sat., Sept. 5—Maine, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sat., Sept. 12—at East Carolina, noon (ESPNU)
Sat., Sept. 19—Charlotte, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sat., Sept. 26—at NC State
Sat., Oct. 3—OPEN
Sat., Oct. 10—Old Dominion
Fri., Oct. 16—at Coastal Carolina, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Thurs., Oct. 22—James Madison, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sat., Oct. 31—at Georgia Southern
Sat., Nov. 7—Georgia State
Sat., Nov. 14—at Marshall
Sat., Nov. 21—ULM
Fri., Nov. 27—at South Alabama, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

Preseason Media Poll: App State = 6th among 7 teams in Sun Belt East Division
DG/NCSN Regular-Season Prediction: 5-7