Austin Michael Appleby (born June 4, 1993) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, who is the current wide receivers coach for the

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of Conference USA (C-USA) and participates in Division I of th ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

from 2012 to 2015 for coaches

Danny Hope Charles Daniel Hope (born January 7, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2007, and Purdue University from 2009 to 2012, compiling a career colleg ...

and

Darrell Hazell Darrell Ivan Hazell (born April 14, 1964) is a former American football college and National Football League (NFL) coach. Hazell has been a head coach twice, with Kent State from 2011 to 2012, and Purdue from 2013 to 2016. A native of Cinnamin ...

, before graduate transferring to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

where here he played for coach

Jim McElwain James Frank McElwain (born March 1, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Central Michigan University. He previously served as the head coach at Florida from 2015 to 2017, and Colorado State from 2012 to 2014, ...

in 2016 and played in the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

in 2019. He was a consensus 3-star high school prospect as a senior.

Early years

Appleby attended Hoover High School in

North Canton, Ohio North Canton is a city in central Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 17,842 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area. History In 1831, the Community of North Canton first began as the Villag ...

. While at Hoover, Appleby played three sports (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and football) during his freshman and sophomore years. As a member of the varsity football team in 2009, Appleby served as a backup quarterback for the Vikings, who would go on to lose in the State Semi-Final game. As a junior in 2010, Appleby was named the starting quarterback but eight weeks into the season, he suffered a torn ACL, ending his season. Despite his injury, Appleby was invited to the

ESPN RISE Elite 11 The Elite 11 is a quarterback competition for high school quarterbacks across the United States. Elite 11 was founded in 1999 by Andy Bark and continues to be run by his company, Student Sports Inc, hosted at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaver ...

Camp in 2011, after qualifying at a regional camp at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. Appleby was named the best in chalk talk during the camp. Following his Elite 11 performance, Appleby's recruiting picked up momentum, landing his first power conference scholarship offer from

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. Just a few days following the Louisville offer, Appleby was offered by

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, and Appleby made his commitment to the Boilermakers on June 29, 2011.

College career

Purdue

Appleby was redshirted as a true freshman in 2012. In 2013, he appeared in one game as a reserve. In 2014, Purdue had a quarterback position battle in fall practice, this time between Appleby,

Danny Etling Daniel Patrick Etling (born July 22, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue and LSU, and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the se ...

, and true freshman

David Blough David Marshall Blough (born July 31, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was Purdue's backup quarterback in 2015 and led the Boilermakers to a win against Nebraska. As a r ...

. Appleby pushed hard for the starting spot over the entrenched Etling, but fell just short and was named the backup on August 18. Etling would lead Purdue to a 2–3 record of the first five games of the season, before

turned to Appleby to start Purdue's 6th game against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Appleby led Purdue to a 38–27 victory, Hazell's first Big Ten Conference victory. On August 25, 2015, head coach Darrell Hazell named Appleby the starting quarterback for the opening game of the 2015 season. On September 22, 2015, it was announced that Appleby will be replaced as the starting quarterback in favor of redshirt freshman, David Blough. Appleby returned to his starting role when Blough was injured during the November 21, game at

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Following the conclusion of the season, Appleby was given his release to explore transfer options as a graduate student.

Florida

On January 4, 2016, Appleby announced his decision to play his final year of college football at the

as a graduate transfer. Under head coach

, Appleby competed with

Luke Del Rio Luke Del Rio (born November 6, 1994) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an assistant coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Alabama, Or ...

for the starting quarterback position, and lost out to Del Rio. After an injury early in the season to Del Rio, Appleby started seven games for the Gators in the 2016 season. Despite finishing with a 4–3 record as a starter, Appleby helped lead Florida to an SEC East title and a berth in the

2016 SEC Championship Game The 2016 SEC Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 3, 2016 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, and determined the 2016 football champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game was played between the Eastern Division ch ...

. In the 2017 Outback Bowl and his last game as a Gator, Appleby passed for 222 yards in a 30–3 defeat of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Statistics

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Appleby was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

after the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

on May 12. On June 5, he was waived and was replaced with quarterback

Zac Dysert Zac Dysert (born February 8, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Miami RedHawks. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft, and subsequently played for a num ...

Orlando Apollos (AAF)

In 2018, he signed with the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football franchise based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home ga ...

of the

. On November 27, Appleby was selected by the

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectrum ...

in the third round of the AAF QB Draft. He was a backup behind

Garrett Gilbert Garrett Antone Gilbert (born July 1, 1991) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. The son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, he played college football at Texas and SMU. Joining the NFL in 2014, Gilbert was primarily ass ...

until the league folded in April 2019. Appleby tried out for the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

in a summer showcase on July 3, 2019, but was not selected in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

in October 2019.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL)

Appleby signed a futures contract for the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

on November 1, 2019. He retired from playing professional football on March 18, 2020.

Coaching career

Appleby was hired by

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

as a quality control coach after the AAF folded in April 2019. He resigned from his position after the 2019 season, to sign with the Blue Bombers. On March 18, 2020, Appleby accepted the wide receivers assistant coach position at

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

, where he remained for three years. In December 2022, he accepted the wide receivers assistant coach position at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

References

External links

*
Purdue Boilermakers profile

Florida Gators profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appleby, Austin 1993 births Living people People from North Canton, Ohio Players of American football from Stark County, Ohio American football quarterbacks Purdue Boilermakers football players Florida Gators football players Dallas Cowboys players Orlando Apollos players Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Missouri State Bears football coaches Mount Union Purple Raiders football coaches