Shawn Clark is a Mountain State native who played college football for the Mountaineers - the Appalachian State version.
The 40-year-old Clark, who once aspired to be a West Virginia state policeman, is making the steady climb up the coaching ranks. He's back with App State as the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, perhaps a step or two away from running his own program.
The Charleston native and former George Washington High School multi-sport star was an assistant at Kent State last season and then got the call to interview for the job with the Boone, North Carolina school, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference.
"It was nuts," Clark said of January's overture from his alma mater. "I interviewed the 16th, got offered the job on the 17th and started recruiting the 18th."
It's not like Clark needed a tour of the campus or to hear a recruiting pitch. He played football at the school from 1994-98, and Appalachian State's current head coach, Scott Satterfield, was a quarterback when Clark played on the offensive line there.
Satterfield has been in charge during the Mountaineers' ascent from Football Championship Subdivision program - playing in the Southern Conference - to the Football Bowl Subdivision. App State's records during Satterfield's first three seasons: 4-8, 7-5, 11-2.
Clark will be in charge of the run game this season, far away from where he thought he'd be two decades ago.
When Clark finished his collegiate career he returned to West Virginia to begin his path toward joining the state police force.
"When I was waiting for the entrance exam I was offered a job and it was too good to turn down," Clark said. "I felt like it was my call to make a difference in the lives of young people."
He started at Louisville in 2001 as a graduate assistant. He later coached the offensive line at Eastern Kentucky, Purdue and Kent State.
Clark said he hasn't coached with many who have state ties, although he did sort of follow in the footsteps of Marshall assistant coach and Poca native Bill Legg at Purdue. Legg worked with the Boilermakers from 2003-2007, the final two of which he was the offensive coordinator. Clark started there in 2009 and left in 2012.
Clark hasn't been bashful, however, about pursuing West Virginia recruits.
At EKU, Roane County's Derek Hardman played a significant role and parlayed that into an NFL career with the Buccaneers and Lions. At Kent State, Clark tapped into his high school alma mater for David Smith, an offensive lineman and state champion wrestler.
"I think there are good players who are under-recruited in the state," Clark said. "I think there are guys if they get the chances to get out on the field, they can have a successful career."
He added about Smith: "I think he'll be a very good football player at Kent State."
Clark said recruiting trips here are infrequent, but he does "try to come back at least once a year." His mother and father still live in the Charleston area.
Finally, he said, his family is with him in Boone, too.
His wife, Jonelle, was teaching at the University of Akron when he landed the Appalachian State job, so he had to wait for her and his two children, Braxton and Giana, to arrive last Friday.
Clark watched as his family decorated their new home.
It could be his home for a while, although he'll keep moving up the ladder and hoping to one day receive the opportunity to lead his own program.
"I think that's every coach's dream," Clark said. "In today's world you have to make sure you're a good fit. You always want to position yourself to be a head coach. You want to market yourself to be a head coach; it goes a long ways in how you present yourself and how you carry yourself.
"I think, in time, I'll be in a position to be a head coach one day."