Caleb Spurlin

Caleb Spurlin is an American former college football player who played defensive line for the Appalachian State Mountaineers.^[1][2] ESPN lists his birthplace as Galax, Virginia.^[1]

Galax High School

At Galax High School, Spurlin played many positions. His App State biography says he moved all over the defense and also played tackle, center, tight end, receiver, fullback and tailback on offense, and that he was an all-state center.^[2] A December 2015 Roanoke Times profile said he had been an all-state center in 2014 and that in his senior season he played mainly fullback and linebacker, as well as tight end.^[3] In a November 2015 playoff win over Hurley, he caught a 47-yard touchdown pass.^[4] As a senior he helped Galax win the Group 1A state football title and was named Group 1A player of the year. He made the Group 1A all-state first team at both linebacker and tight end, with 128 solo tackles on defense and 46 catches for 792 yards and 11 touchdowns on offense.^[2] He also played third base, catcher and pitcher in baseball.^[2][3]

He was a champion wrestler too, coached at Galax by his father, Kevin Spurlin. He won three state titles in all.^[5] The Roanoke Times reported that he had won the state title at 195 pounds in 2015.^[3] As a senior in February 2016 he won the Class 1A title at 220 pounds, beating a wrestler from Rappahannock County 7–2 to finish 37–0.^[6]

Appalachian State

Spurlin joined Appalachian State as a walk-on. A fact box in a December 2019 Roanoke Times article said he had been upgraded from walk-on to scholarship player during the 2018 season.^[7] He did not play in 2016.^[2] From 2017 to 2021 he appeared in 66 games, which tied the App State record he shares with Thomas Hennigan and Xavier Subotsch. He made 27 career starts at defensive end, including his last 26 in a row.^[2][8] In his six seasons in Boone the team went 62–17 and won four Sun Belt titles and five bowl games.^[2]

He also played H-back, as a blocker and a pass-catching threat. His four career catches all went for touchdowns: two in 2020 and two in 2021.^[2][8] He received honorable mention All-Sun Belt in 2020, when he started all 12 games at defensive end. In 2021 he made the All-Sun Belt third team as an all-purpose player and started all 14 games.^[2] He was a candidate for the Paul Hornung Award, which goes to the nation's most versatile player, and the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the top player who began as a walk-on.^[2]

Sports-Reference credits him with 125 career tackles (46 solo), 16 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.^[8] ESPN's totals are slightly different: 121 tackles, 45 of them solo.^[1]

Family

His younger brother, Joshua Spurlin, was a four-time Virginia state wrestling champion who went on to wrestle at Appalachian State.^[5]