By Lee Pace
Carolina's football program is populated with a handful of individuals with direct ties to their counterpart operation at Appalachian State. Mack Brown was head coach there for one year in 1983, has had a summer residence in Linville for more than two decades and even helped raise money with App State Athletic Director Doug Gillen at times during his five years away from coaching from 2014-18.
"To see what that program has turned into is just really, really rewarding for me," says Brown, who's watched from a distance as App State has collected three Football Championship Subdivision championships, won on the road at Michigan's "Big House" and since moved up to Football Bowl Subdivision level in the Sun Belt Conference.