BOONE, N.C. –– Appalachian State University athletics is pleased to announce the inaugural 'Legends Gala' event to be held on Friday, June 23rd in Linville, N.C. The evening was created to grow support for App State athletics and will be held at the breathtaking mountain resort of Camp Yonahnoka, which is located at The Eseeola Lodge at Linville Golf Club in Linville, N.C.
The event will feature keynote remarks from legendary college football coach Mack Brown, while also being joined by numerous legends such as Bob Griese, Jerry Moore, Bobby Cremins, Dino Hackett, Sparky Woods, Larry Hand, Ben Sutton of ISP/IMG, Melissa Morrison and many others with a connection to the High Country and Appalachian.
A table of six sponsorship is $4,000, while individual seats for the event are $500. A table sponsorship includes six seats and a "legend" to host your table. Register online by clicking HERE.
You can complete and return the registration form HERE, or contact Jenn Bass in the Yosef Club office at (828) 262-3108 or by email at bassjl@appstate.edu. Please RSVP by June 15.
Legends Bios
Former college football coach, Mack Brown, is one of the most accredited college football coaches in the nation. Mack started his career at Alma alter, Florida State where he was a wide receiver coach. In 1979 he joined the staff at Iowa State. In 1982 he coached quarterbacks at LSU. His first head coaching job came in 1983 when he led Appalachian State to a 6-5 record. After Appalachian State, Brown went onto other schools such as Oklahoma, Tulane and North Carolina before he landed at Texas. Brown led the Longhorns to bowl games in his first six seasons at Texas. In 2005, Texas beat USC in the Rose Bowl, 41-38, to win its first national championship in 35 years. He has coached legends such as Ricky Williams, Colt McCoy and Vince Young.
A bona fide legend in the college football coaching ranks, Jerry Moore coached 24 seasons at the helm of Appalachian State University's football program. In 24 seasons, Moore compiled a 215-87 record, making him the winningest coach in Southern Conference history. In 30 years as a head coach, he is 242-135-2. Moore has enjoyed success at nearly every stop of his 51-year coaching career, but his two-plus decades at Appalachian State has cemented his standing as one of the game's all-time great mentors. Moore led Appalachian to three-consecutive NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS — formerly Division I-AA) national titles from 2005-07, making Appalachian State the first program to ever win three-straight championships at the FCS/I-AA level and the first Division I program, FCS or FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision — formerly Division I-A) to accomplish the feat in 61 years. He also led Appalachian to six-straight SoCon titles from 2005-10, which is tied with Georgia Southern (1997-2002) for the most consecutive conference championships since the venerable league began crowning a champion in 1933. The Mountaineers won 26-straight SoCon games —the second-longest run of league victories in league history — from 2007-10.
From 2005-10, Moore's Mountaineers compiled a 71-15 record (joining Virginia Tech as the only Division I programs to win 10 or more games during each season during that span) and etched themselves in the record books with a number of other "firsts." Most notably, Appalachian became the first institution from the state of North Carolina to ever win an NCAA football championship at any level when it defeated Northern Iowa, 21-16, in the 2005 Division I-AA national title game — a feat it repeated with wins over Massachusetts (28-17) and Delaware (49-21) in the 2006 and '07 NCAA Division I national championship tilts. Additionally, Appalachian became a household name when Moore led his troops to perhaps the biggest upset in college football history, a 34-32 triumph over Michigan in the 2007 season opener. The victory over the Wolverines, college football's all-time winningest program which came into the contest ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll, marked the first time that an FCS team ever toppled a nationally ranked FBS opponent. In 2014 Moore was selected into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame as well as the College Football Hall of Fame.
Bobby Cremins began coaching basketball at the collegiate level in 1971 when he was assistant coach at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 27, Cremins became one of the youngest NCAA Division I head coach's when he became coach at Appalachian State after serving as an assistant coach at South Carolina for Frank McGuire. Over the next five years, Cremins brought home three Southern Conference Regular Season Championships. In 1979, Cremins led the Mountaineers to a 23-6 mark, SoCon regular season and tournament titles en route to earning an NCAA Tournament bid into the Mideast Region. Three seasons prior to Cremins' arrival in Boone, the program had gone 16-64 - losing 23 games the year before he got there. Four years after his arrival and App State had turned that around and won 23 games en route to its 1979 NCAA tournament debut. Following his time at Appalachian State, Cremins coached at Georgia Tech where he became a three time recipient of Coach of the Year. He retired in 2012 after six years at College of Charleston. He retired with a 579-375 overall record.
As one of the most dynamic college football players, Bob Griese was Purdue's most decorated player. He not only played football at Purdue but also participated in baseball and basketball. On the football team, he played quarterback, punter and also the kicker en route to being named a two-time All-American. In 1967, Griese was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. He was known as the "Thinking Man's Quarterback" because he called all his own plays. Griese threw for 25,092 yards, 192 touchdowns and rushed for 994 yards. Griese was a two-time Super Bowl Champion and six-time Pro Bowler with an NFL MVP to boot in 1971. The Miami Dolphins retired his No. 12.
In his fifth season as head coach of the Appalachian State football program, Scott Satterfield has led the Mountaineers to new heights. Under Satterfield, App State is 27-5 in its last 32 games, which includes a 20-4 overall mark in the Sun Belt Conference and back-to-back Camellia Bowl titles, making Appalachian the first program in FBS history to win bowl games in each of its first two full-fledged seasons. In college, Satterfield served as a quarterback for the Mountaineers under legendary head coach Jerry Moore from 1991-96. Satterfield made 27 starts as the Mountaineers' signal caller and earned first-team all-conference recognition as a senior in 1995 after passing for 1,461 yards and rushing for 649 more to help lead the Mountaineers to the only undefeated, untied regular season in school history (11-0) and a 12-1 final record. In 1998 he joined Appalachian State as a wide receiver coach before advising running backs and then eventually quarterbacks. He spent one year at the University of Toledo and two years at Florida International University before returning back to his alma mater as offensive coordinator in 2012.
Being only one of four individuals at App State who have had their numbers retired, Larry Hand began his college football career at Appalachian State University in 1962. At the end of his junior season he was unanimously selected as first team tackle on the All Carolina Conference Football team. After his senior year he was selected MVP of the Carolina Conference. His number 71 jersey was later retired at the end of his career in 1964 Hand was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 10th round. He appeared in all 14 games from 1965-1967. Due to injury Hand missed the 1968 season but later played until 1973 in all 14 games. Hand would play the rest of his career with the Lions retiring with them in 1978.
Doug Middleton began his collegiate football career at Appalachian State when he appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman. Middleton missed out on the 2012 season due to an ankle injury, but returned in 2013. In 2014 Middleton started all 12 games as a free safety and earned first-team All- Sun Belt after tying for third in the Sun Belt with four interceptions, fourth in passes defended (10) and tied for 24th in the league in total tackles (74). He was the only Sun Belt player with a least four interceptions, 10 passes defended and 70 tackles. Middleton helped App State finish the regular season with the Sun Belt's No. 1-ranked defense. In 2015, Middleton earned honorable-mention all-Sun Belt Conference - starting all 12 games at strong safety for a defense that ranked among the nation's top 30 in total defense. Led the defensive backs and tied for sixth overall on the team with 53 tackles, including five in the Mountaineers' Raycom Media Camellia Bowl victory over Ohio. Following his career, Middleton was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets and posted six tackles and scored his first NFL touchdown on a kickoff when a Buffalo Bills return man declined to pick up the ball. Middleton recovered the ball in the end zone.
App State football alum Kendall Lamm came to App State in 2010 and has left his mark on the program as a prolific offensive lineman. After redshirting his freshman year, Lamm started the first seven games of the season at left tackle. In his sophomore season, he started eleven of the twelve games at left tackle where he did not commit a single penalty all season while not surrendering a sack. In 2013 he was named All-Southern Conference by coaches around the league. In his senior season he started all twelve games where he recorded 46 knockdowns and allowed only two sacks. In 2015 Lamm was signed as rookie free agent for the Houston Texans, and this upcoming season will be his third with the Texans. In 2016, appeared in fifteen games for the Texans while making three starts.
Sparky Woods joined Appalachian State's football team in 1983 as an assistant coach. He took over the head coaching position in 1984 winning conference titles in 1986 and 1987. He went on to coach at South Carolina from 1989-1993 before going to work as an assistant coach for the New York Jets. Before taking over at VMI Woods had more than thirty years of experience coaching on either the college or professional level.
Hailing from Greensboro, NC, Dino Hackett began his college career at Appalachian State in 1981. He earned All-Southern Conference in 1984 and 1985, as well as, All-American in 1985. His No. 38 jersey was retired in 1985. In 1986, Hackett was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round. He recorded three sacks in both 1988 and 1990 for the Chiefs. Hackett was selected to the Pro Bowl team in 1988. Hackett finished out his career with the Seattle Seahawks in 1991.
Finishing his college football career at Appalachian State University with 103 tackles, four interceptions and four blocked kicks, Steve Wilks made his name even more known throughout his career in the NFL. He began coaching in the with the Chicago Bears as their defensive backs coach from 2006-08. After Chicago, he went to San Diego where he spent three seasons with the Chargers (2009-11). Wilks, a Charlotte native, returned back home in 2012 with the Charlotte Panthers. In 2012, the pass defense under Wilks improved from 24th in 2011 to 13th. In 2015, Wilks was Pro Football Focus's second runner-up to their Secondary Coach of the Year award and was instrumental in the Panthers' run to Super Bowl 50. Wilks was recently promoted to defensive coordinator in Carolina under head coach Ron Rivera - who Wilks has worked with in Chicago, San Diego and now Carolina.
From her hometown of Mooresville, NC, Melissa Morrison-Howard graduated from Appalachian State University in 1993. Morrison won 12 individual Southern Conference championships during her time on the women's track and field team as a 100-meter hurdler. In 1993 she was named an All-American in the 100-meter hurdles. After school she went on to compete in the Olympics where she won two bronze medals in the 100-meter hurdles in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. She also made appearances in the USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. She won three gold medals from 1997-2002 and a bronze in 2003.
Phil Ford was a four-year starter for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When his sophomore season concluded, Ford started for the U.S Olympic Team that won the gold medal in 1976. In 1978 Ford finished his career at Carolina as the number one all-time leading scorer in UNC history with 2,290 points. In May 1993 he was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. In 1979 he was the second overall pick in the first round of the draft and was eventually named NBA Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Kings. In 1988 he returned to North Carolina as an Assistant Coach and helped lead UNC to their 1993 title.
Deemed the sports marketing guru, Ben Sutton has created a sports image and marketing enterprise known as IMG. IMG, based in Winston Salem, North Carolina, is a marketing, broadcasting, publishing and sponsorship service for more than ninety universities, conferences in the NCAA. Partnerships in North Carolina include East Carolina, Elon, UNC Wilmington and Appalachian State. In June of 2015 Sutton was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.
