By Bret Strelow. BOONE, N.C. — Mark Speir is returning to Boone for his third stint on App State’s football staff, as he will serve as senior assistant to head coach Shawn Clark, who made the announcement Friday, Feb. 9.
Speir spent nine seasons as a title-winning assistant at App State from 2003-11 before becoming an FCS head coach, and he served as a senior analyst under Clark at App State in 2021. Over the last two seasons, Speir was Scott Satterfield’s chief of staff at Louisville (2022) and Cincinnati (2023).
“We are excited to welcome Mark back to Boone,” Clark said. “He and his family are true Mountaineers. Mark’s experience as a Division I head coach and his familiarity with our program and culture will make his presence a tremendous asset to App State Football.”
As a member of Jerry Moore’s staff at App State late in the program’s FCS era, Speir helped the Mountaineers win three straight national championships and six conference titles in nine seasons. That success led to him being hired as the head coach at Western Carolina, where he was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National FCS Coach of the Year award during his 10 years with the Catamounts.
“I am beyond humbled and blessed to be back home in Boone,” Speir said. “App State has been such a special place for my family. I am grateful to Coach Clark for the opportunity to be back as part of App Nation!”
A Kannapolis, N.C., native, Speir has spent three decades in coaching. He and his wife, Paige, have maintained close ties to App State, where their son Zeb was a quarterback under Satterfield from 2015-18 and their youngest son, Jackson, is currently a student. Zeb is the tight ends coach at Chattanooga.
In addition to serving as App State’s recruiting coordinator from 2004-11, Speir coached running backs (2003-04), defensive linemen (2005-08), defensive ends (2009-10) and inside linebackers (2011) in Boone. In 2009, he was named the national FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
App State posted a combined record of 92-28 during Speir’s nine seasons as an assistant, and he was the position coach for six All-Americans: DL Jason Hunter, DL Marques Murrell, DL Gary Tharrington, DL Anthony “Whopper” Williams, DL Jabari Fletcher and LB Jeremy Kimbrough.
Speir also coached as an assistant at Western Carolina, Presbyterian and Elon.
Off the field, Speir has made an incredible impact through his involvement in many charitable causes, including raising more than $100,000 to rebuild the Memorial Christian Hospital in Bangladesh. Part of the fundraising came through his participation in the 2008 Music City Marathon in Nashville, the 2009 Boston Marathon (which he completed in less than four hours) and the 2010 Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.
