EDIT: Less than 30 minutes after posting, “Hey, Myles Farmer is coming back.” Damnit. So that’s updated.

When App State fired Shawn Clark, it was expected there would be a massive roster overhaul. That’s typical with a coaching change in this NIL and unlimited transfer world, moreso with coaches taking new jobs, but still common. The portal opens up for that school when a coaching change happens, and we fans become slaves to The Portal.

Unlike other fan engagement centers such as message boards, Facebook groups and whatever the withered husk of Twitter brings now, this won’t be a metaphorical shredding of garments over The Ever-Changing Landscape of College Football.

Guess what? You’re gonna continue watching college football no matter how many posts you write on Yosef’s Cabin dot com saying you hate it.

New Head Coach and Very Short Man Dowell Loggains was hired because he proposed solutions. He’s not whining about The Portal and The Landscape. This is his first head coaching job and he’s got some points to prove!

After less than two months (it’s felt longer, hasn’t it), here’s where we stand. This could be outdated by the time you see this.

Honestly, I expected worse.

Here’s the crazy thing. Normally, as App State fans, you expect players leaving to go “down.” Like to FCS, or schools us App State fans see as lesser, like FIU or Kennesaw State. Despite going 5-6, power conference teams and peer schools saw value in this team.

Without knowing where Hetzel or Harrington are going, there are seven transfers going to the Power Four (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC). Two of those are Aguilar and Robinson to UCLA, benefits of the Diego Pavis court ruling and subsequent NCAA rule change that allows extra eligibility for NCAA athletes who played in Junior College. If not for that, both would be in the second column.

Eight more transfers are going to other Group of Five schools (Sun Belt, American Athletic, Conference USA, Mountain West or MAC). Only two are going to FCS schools. In the past, that number would be higher.

As far as the Done column, the ones with ????? are likely walk-ons who will stay enrolled but not play anymore. That’s normal every offseason. Thorton Gentry could come back but decided against it.

To replace those players, here’s the incoming.

There’s still a late high school signing day upcoming, so this could change very soon. App State Athletics Director Doug Gillin recently bemoaned the number of portal players the team had in 2024, which I believe was 38. Gillin thought the same many others already did. Those transfers are eroding the culture of this fine football program! We lost our way! We need good ol high school croots with strong families whose parents love the area!…..or something to that effect.

All nine of those high schoolers signed literally not knowing who the head coach was, as Loggains was named coach that Saturday after the Wednesday-to-Friday signing period. Nine are enrolled and the 10th is coming this summer.

The portal list (which grew by one as I was writing this) has impressed many. The focal point will be on the Offensive Line, which was always “improving” but never really “improved” this past season. Those were mostly portal guys as well, some of who are in the outgoing list further up.

With the two transfers and one HS commit, App State now has six quarterbacks. Of which, we have no idea who will be starting. We can make the easy guess of Kohl or Swann, but there’s still three others remaining.

Yeah I had to edit parts of the 105 max cap argument below after seeing Farmer was coming back.

Bet you didn’t think this list would be this long. Four of these (Roberts, Favors, Cole and Collins) tested the portal but did their own version of the Wolf of Wall Street speech that everyone misuses.

The big Q will be the defensive front seven, or however many it ends up being. New Defensive Coordinator and Certified App State Guy DJ Smith said he wants to utilize a four-man front. This changes over a decade-plus of App State using the 3-4 base. More football-savvy people can break down what it means, but in the near term it means that unless there’s a late roster overhaul, there likely will be some linebackers being converted to down linemen.

By my count, Poindexter’s commitment puts the roster at 106, which is one over the possible maximum number for the future.

Under the House Settlement (which hasn’t been ratified yet and with federal administrative changes can be discarded entirely), the maximum roster size for FBS football would be capped at 105. Under House, teams can offer 105 full scholarships if they want to, but that would leave no room for walk-ons. It’s doubtful many teams, even the super rich, would immediately start offering 105 full scholarships for FBS football.

Currently, the FBS scholarship limit is 85, but roster sizes are essentially uncapped. The average in FBS is 128. App State has typically been well below that average, which is ballooned mostly by Power Conference schools (Clemson being a primary example).

Back to App State. These rosters are fluid. Spring practice is still a little while off (Spring Game is April 12, so practice won’t start until mid-March at the earliest). You have attrition after Spring Practice once certain players learn and dislike their depth chart position. The House Settlement might not happen at all and roster management changes. And that’s not even when you add Kurt Angle to the mix.

In the meantime, you may return to bickering about the basketball team’s free throw percentage.