By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Even after a showcase season, the Chanticleers remain ready for more.

Coastal Carolina made history last season. The Chanticleers, captivating college football, made quite the impression along the way. A program that had just debuted at the FCS level less than two decades ago had suddenly burst into the FBS top ten, emerging as both one of the best teams in the country and one of the best stories as well.

With a campus warming by the beach, a teal field and a proud rooster mascot from Canterbury Tales, Coastal Carolina would go on to host ESPN College GameDay, win one of the most dramatic and extraordinary contests of the year and finish the regular season at 11-0. In an era where the landscape of the sport is changing towards more national opportunities for Group of Five schools, the Chanticleers, toes in the sand, became a powerful part of that rising tide.

Last season, for Coastal Carolina, was years in the making.

“I think what it did is it allowed our brand to finally get a national stage,” explained head coach Jamey Chadwell. “We feel like we’ve been building a program here and there is a lot of positive things about it, but we were literally the only ones that knew what we were about. To have the opportunity to be on national television ten times, have GameDay here, obviously the BYU game, we were able to really put who we are out there in front of a national audience and that has opened up so many doors for us and our program.”

Even after a showcase season, the Chanticleers remain ready for more. Coastal Carolina returns 19 total starters, star quarterback Grayson McCall included, to a team that finished this past year ranked 14th in the country. Expectations are understandably at an all-time high for the Chanticleers, regulars in the various pre-season polls of this summer. Looking ahead, Coastal Carolina will likely be favored in every game on the schedule.

Though goals within the program have long been in place, this pre-season comes with new national attention. In addition to the sunlight, there is now a bright spotlight, too. The Chanticleers not only have college football’s full attention, but the focus of each of their opponents, even months in advance. Coastal Carolina is the team to beat. To maintain their spot amongst college football’s elite, the Chanticleers will have to maintain their edge.

“That’s a different burden,” Chadwell acknowledged. “The expectations were high in our program but not on the outside. Now, there’s a lot more expectations from the outside. Our main focus, especially as coaches, is keeping us focused on us and what we’ve got to do. When you have success and you get a lot of eyes on you, there’s obviously a lot of positives with that, but sometimes it adds more stress, more pressure. We’ve got to make sure we put that focus back on us and what we do well so we can continue to win games at a high level.”

There is so much to like about this Coastal Carolina team. Fresh off the experiences of a year ago, this is a side with talent and experience, confidence and momentum. The Chanticleers, in a dozen games last season, were nearly-perfect. Somehow, that has to be the standard and the starting point alike. What is next at Coastal Carolina is as important as what has been. This spring and summer has been focused on improvement, finding a way to continue to make the most of every opportunity.

As proud as Chadwell and the Chanticleers are of last season, the process is just now getting started.

“Anytime you climb a mountain…I think what most people do when they get there is stop and look back. And when you stop and look back, you’re in trouble,” he continued. “And we’ve really challenged our guys on we’re going to try to get better and keep climbing because now we’re circled. We were circling everybody last year, now we’re going to be the ones circled.”

Success, in many ways, can be found in standings and statistics. As Coastal Carolina knows, the journey to the national stage, however. starts on the practice fields.

“If we can focus on us and what we need to do better, that takes the focus off the other things that we can’t control. For us, what we can control is how we prepare, how we show up, all those different things, the attitude that we come with everyday. Our whole emphasis has been about being better everyday,” Chadwell added. “If we can do that, then I like our chances to continue to improve and hopefully go out and do some special things again.”

One of the signature moments of the Chanticleers’ 2020 season was a thrilling early December triumph over quarterback Zach Wilson and BYU. In a season where everything, schedules included, were impacted by covid, a late addition resulted in one of the games of the year in college football. Mid-week, remarkably, Coastal Carolina and the Cougars were able to create a sudden matchup out of national contenders, one featuring teams who were a combined 18-0. ESPN College GameDay came to Conway.

The finish, with the Chanticleers stopping BYU at the 1-yard line while holding a five-point lead as time expired, did not disappoint.

“Thursday morning, 9am, we found out that this is what’s happening and to try to get ready for it. It was a full-out sprint Thursday and Friday,” Chadwell reflected. “It was definitely unique. Add GameDay here on top of that and all of the expectations from that, but one of those you will never forget. Whether you are a fan of us or them or just college football, it was a great game. Obviously came down to the last play right there on the 1-yard line, basically one yard away. Just a great game to be a part of.”

That afternoon, Coastal Carolina took an early fourth quarter lead on a CJ Marable touchdown run, then held one of college football’s top offenses, one featuring the number two overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, without a point in the final period. Clutch play was a season-long theme for the Chanticleers. Whether Massimo Biscardi’s last-second field goal at Louisiana, McCall’s game-winning strike to Jaivon Heiligh at Troy or the BYU stop, Coastal Carolina was often at its best when it mattered most.

Finding a way to finish was a key development for the Chanticleers, who, in 2019, were quite competitive but lost four games by a touchdown or less. That foundation took further shape a year ago, with Coastal Carolina beating two nationally-ranked foes with key plays late.

“There’s a confidence there, from a coach, when those guys believe that they’re gonna win no matter what the situation. Sometimes you just start making those plays that you just scratch your head, ‘how in the world did they do that?’. Those guys really believed that we were never out of anything, that we could find a way to win,” Chadwell stated.

Even as the pressure mounted, the Chanticleers stayed true to their preparation, their process and, most importantly, stayed true to each other.

“I really credit our leadership, our seniors and now the super-seniors. They were tremendous all year along at keeping our guys focused, especially after we started getting some attention nationally. They never let that go to their heads and they just kept going what they were capable of,” Chadwell detailed. “There was just always a calm, there was never really a panic or ‘hey this game looks like it’s in doubt’. It was also just something that those guys believed and we went out and found ways to make it happen.”

Though just a redshirt freshman, McCall was also part of that perspective. He finished 5th nationally with a passer rating of 184.32, completing 68.8% of his passes for 2,488 yards, 26 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He also added 569 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground. Impressively, McCall is one of just eight quarterbacks this millennium with a passer rating of at least 180, 25 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores in a single season, joining Justin Fields, Robert Griffin III, Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, Kyler Murray, Cam Newton and Wilson.

McCall was one of the best signal callers in the country this past year and enters this fall as a clear standout. Despite breaking his thumb in the Troy game, McCall set numerous records in helping to lead Coastal Carolina to the national forefront. After an injury at the quarterback position in the pre-season, McCall responded and took charge. He promptly scored five total touchdowns in a win at Kansas in his college debut.

“In fall camp, he just really took control and we were like, ‘this guy gives us the best chance to win a championship’. Those were the exact words we used,x9d Chadwell recalled. x9cAnd I think he is really just scratching the surface. The thing that he’s got about him is he does have those intangible qualities that great quarterbacks have. Everybody is talking about the ‘it’ factor and he has it. He’s really improved this off-season. He’s the best quarterback that I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach, from just his intangible pieces and the love of the game that he has.”

In addition to McCall, the Sun Belt Player of the Year, offensive tackle Steven Bedosky, Biscardi, defensive tackle C.J. Brewer, linebacker Teddy Gallagher, edge Jeffrey Gunter, Heiligh, linebacker Silas Kelly, guard Willie Lampkin, offensive tackle Antwine Loper, linebacker Enock Makonzo, safety Alex Spillum, corner DJordan Strong and running back Reese White all return after earning all-conference honors last season. Likely is getting pre-season All-American attention. Coastal Carolina is one of the most accomplished teams in the game.

Repeating as Sun Belt East champions will be a challenge. Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Georgia State all had winning records a year ago and Troy was just one victory shy. Each of those teams bring back a considerable amount of talent. The Chanticleers will play in Boone and Statesboro and have cross-division road games at Arkansas State and South Alabama. The Sun Belt, in recent years, has become part of the big picture.

“The conference is arguably the best in G5. Top to bottom, there’s not one week where you feel like you have an off week where you can just roll the ball out and win. It’s really good, people care about football here,x9d Chadwell nodded. x9cOne publication put our east division as the toughest division in all of G5 football. Really good coaches, good players, people that support it, good traditions. If you come through this one and you can win games in this one, you’ve done something.”

All that Coastal Carolina does this fall will come with major momentum, both national and local. Wherever the Chanticleers go, Brooks Stadium is where it all starts.

“Last year, it was tremendous. We only had 5,000 because of covid and it was always loud. They announced here recently that we’re going back to full capacity, 20,000. Our ‘Surf Turf’ here is a special place to play. It gets loud in here. I don’t know if it’s the beach and the salt air or what, but man it echoes all through Conway. It’s a special place to play and our fans are excited about what we’re doing,x9d Chadwell shared.

Joining the Sun Belt in 2017, conference familiarity has become an important part of Coastal Carolinas brand. Now that the Chanticleers have won nine league games in a row, there is an added intensity to every contest on the schedule.

x9cWhen you stink like we did, you can’t beat nobody, you’re nobody’s rival, you’re everybody’s homecoming, basically. Now that we have turned it around and we’ve beat some of these teams that we never have before, we’re starting to become some rivals for some people. Possibly pissing everybody off on Twitter, too, so that helps,x9d Chadwell added. x9cOur fans are excited about that. People coming in, knowing the teams, knowing what they’re about, learning about this league the last four years. As we continue to build this, I think you’re going to see that this is going to be a tough place to play for years to come.”

Coastal Carolinas influence has been micro and macro and last years run is now a common talking point in postseason hypotheticals. Recent news of an almost-certain upcoming expansion of the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12 has come with a proposal that would guarantee entry for the Group of Five. A potential game-changer is on the horizon. G5 programs may soon have direct chances to compete for a championship.

Last season, the Chanticleers were part of the fun; in future years, they could be a part of the field.

x9cObviously, that’s above my pay grade and it makes my head hurt sometimes so I try not to think too much about it, but I felt like last year we were very deserving obviously and so was Cincinnati and it came down to basically an eye test and I hate that,x9d Chadwell concluded of possible expansion. x9cYou hope that what you do on the field matters and who you beat matters. If we can get to the point where there is an automatic bid for a G5, but there is also the opportunity for an at-large too as well, I think that’s the best way to go.x9d

Coastal Carolina has made great strides on the Grand Strand. Having already made a splash, more waves, for the Chanticleers, are on the way.