A veteran of the college coaching ranks with over two decades of experience,returns to Statesboro to serve as Georgia Southern's defensive coordinator for the 2018 season under head coach, as announced Monday."I feel very fortunate and blessed to be named the defensive coordinator at Georgia Southern," Sloan said. "The opportunity to be back with Coach Lunsford and to work with him again is exciting. He and I spent nine years together at three different places, so we're very familiar with each other and there's a trust factor with him. I'm also excited for the opportunity to be back in Statesboro where I spent four years. It's a great university where football is important, and that's a big deal to me. I'm looking forward to getting on the field and working with those players. I recruited some of them, so there's already a familiarity there, but I'm looking forward to getting down there and getting to know them and have them get to know me."Sloan ( @Coach_Sloan ) has spent the past eight seasons as Appalachian State's secondary coach and was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in the spring of 2017. He also has served as Appalachian's recruiting coordinator since 2012. In his eight seasons at Appalachian State, Sloan mentored App's first FBS Freshman All-American in Clifton Duck in 2016, two NCAA Division I FCS all-Americans (Mark LeGree in 2010 and Demetrius McCray in 2011) and 16 all-conference honorees."I am fired up to bringback to Statesboro as our defensive coordinator," Lunsford said. "Scot is a guy who has worked at Georgia Southern before and he understands this place. He's familiar with the traditions and expectations that go with being an Eagle and has enjoyed success at many of his previous stops. Scot brings a wealth of football knowledge and recruiting expertise to our proud program and with that brings instant value. I'm excited to get him in town and let him hit the ground running."Sloan mentored one of the nation's top secondaries and pass defenses the last three seasons at App, helping lead the Mountaineers to a pair of Sun Belt titles and three bowl games. App State had 53 interceptions his last three seasons at Appalachian, second-most nationally behind San Diego State.In 2017, seven defensive players earned first-team all-conference honors, including three from his secondary, as the Mountaineers were ranked in the top 20 nationally in interceptions, sacks and turnover margin.App finished 2016 with 20 interceptions, the sixth-most in the FBS and was No. 11 nationally in pass efficiency defense. Duck would earn FBS Freshman All-American honors and Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors to highlight 2016. He was joined in the All-Sun Belt defensive backfield by senior corner Mondo Williams. Defensively in '16, a recruiting class Sloan helped largely build, App led the FBS allowing only 91 points in conference play. En route to going 7-1 and capturing the 2016 Sun Belt Championship, App State allowed only 10.8 points per game in Sun Belt play.The impressive showing in 2016 came on the heels of a strong 2015 in which 12 of the team's 18 interceptions in 2015, including seven from Latrell Gibbs while returning a pair of interceptions for touchdowns. Gibbs went first-team All-Sun Belt while senior safety Doug Middleton was All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention, finishing the year with 53 stops, a tackle for loss, three pass breakups and three pass deflections. Appalachian finished tied for 12th in the nation in interceptions and first in the SBC. Four of the top-10 tackles leaders from 2015 were defensive backs in Alex Gray, A.J. Howard, Middleton and Gibbs. In Sloan's first season with the Mountaineers (2010), his defensive backfield was a catalyst to App State ranking among the nation's top 30 FCS teams in pass defense, pass-efficiency defense and interceptions. Appalachian went on to lead the Southern Conference in interceptions each of the next two seasons (2011-12).In all, Sloan coached two National Football League Draft picks (LeGree and McCray) in his eight seasons at Appalachian. Former safety Doug Middleton played with the New York Jets and Alex Gray signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.As the program's recruiting coordinator, Sloan has helped nail down four highly regarded signing classes, the first (2012) coming despite him not taking over as recruiting coordinator until just six weeks prior to National Signing Day. The Mountaineers' 2014 recruiting class — its first as an NCAA Division I FBS program — was ranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference by 247Sports while Sloan was tabbed as the Sun Belt's top recruiter by Scout.com.Immediately preceding his arrival at Appalachian State in 2010, Sloan spent three years at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, culminating with him serving as the program's head coach in 2009. During his three-year stint at Riverside, which included two seasons (2007-08) as defensive coordinator, he helped lead the Eagles to three playoff berths and an 18-15 overall record. He was also the school's athletics director for two years (2008-09).Prior to his stint at Riverside, Sloan was the defensive coordinator at Griffin (Ga.) H.S. in 2006, where his squad posted an 11-1 record and advanced to the second round of the Georgia state playoffs. The team's lone loss came at the hands of then-QB/FS, now Chiefs All-Pro Eric Berry.Before spending four years in the high-school ranks, Sloan was a successful assistant at Georgia Southern (defensive backs, 2002-05), Georgia Military (defensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator/defensive backs, 1996-2001) and Clemson (graduate assistant, 1992-95).While at Georgia Southern, he helped lead the Eagles to two Southern Conference championships and three NCAA Division I-AA playoff berths. He mentored three All-Americans, six all-conference selections and one NFL Draft pick (David Young — 2003 sixth round, Jacksonville Jaguars) at GS.At Georgia Military, he coordinated a defense that set a National Junior College Athletic Association record for total defense while winning the NJCAA national championship in 2001.Sloan's four-year stint as a graduate assistant at Clemson included two bowl appearances and came on the heels of a successful playing career for the Tigers. He played defensive back at Clemson from 1988-91, was a member of four bowl teams and helped lead the squad to the 1991 Atlantic Coast Conference championship.Sloan is married to the former Stephanie Crisco. They have two sons: Seth and Samuel.