Dowell Loggains has a lost coordinator and an offensive assistant set to be replaced on his second Appalachian State staff, FootballScoop has learned.
Sources tell FootballScoop on Monday that Loggains is poised to hire Tyler Zielenske as the Mountaineers' special teams coordinator while Tyler Kelley is expected to come aboard as the running backs coach.
Zielenske is slated to replace Jeff Crosby, who departed last month to become special teams coordinator for Neal Brown's inaugural North Texas staff. He comes to Boone, North Carolina, by way of Football Championship Subdivision program Samford, where he served on Chris Hatcher's final Bulldogs staff as special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
Zielenske also had prior experience at FCS program Murray State after serving as a special teams analyst in Shane Beamer's South Carolina Gamecocks program during the 2023 season.
Kelley was on Tulane's record-setting 2025 staff under Jon Sumrall that won the American Conference Championship and earned the school's first-ever bid into the College Football Playoff. Kelley was an offensive analyst and recruiting specialist for the Green Wave.
In Year 1, Loggains -- the former South Carolina and NFL's Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator -- led AppState to an 5-7 regular season and also navigated the team into the postseason when it was selected to participate after other bowl-eligible programs withdrew from consideration. The Mountaineers lost to rival Georgia Southern last week.
The Mountaineers are slated to open Year 2 under Loggains Sept. 5, 2026, against FCS program Maine. App State then also has non-conference games against East Carolina, Charlotte and North Carolina State before diving into Sun Belt Conference play.