Will CCU football be back in the national spotlight this season? Here are the players to watch.
A season of change is on the horizon for a Coastal Carolina football team that erupted onto the national stage with back-to-back 11-win seasons the past two years.
The Chanticleers enter the 2022 season without several standouts – including a school-best 12 players that were either drafted, signed as free agents or received invites to professional football camps - and will count on some new names to step in as the team competes in a new-look Sun Belt Conference.
Returning quarterback Grayson McCall had the highest passing efficiency rating in the history of FBS football last year at 207.6, and was second in completion percentage at 73%.
McCall had surgery in the off-season, and while the school declined to give specifics on the injury, Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell said he expects his quarterback to be at 100% for the season opener against Army on Sept. 3.
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McCall, a two-time Sun Belt first-team selection and the 2022 Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, is on the watch list for every major quarterback award, including the Walter Camp, Manning and Unitas Golden Arm awards, and the school has already launched a Heisman Trophy campaign called “The Real McCall” for the redshirt junior.
Chadwell said the hype around McCall, which began during a standout 2020 season, and reached new heights when McCall dispelled rumors of transferring or entering the NFL draft with a Tweet that included the phrase “I piss teal,” hasn’t gotten the best of the standout passer.
“I think he’s had a pretty even keel temperament about it,” Chadwell said. “Which you need to have, because when you have that much on you, sometimes that can be a burden, but he’s not allowed it to be. He’s continued just to play and enjoy playing football.”
Gone from a 2021 team that won the program’s first-ever bowl game are Tight end Isaiah Likely (fourth-round pick, Baltimore Ravens) wideout Jaivon Heiligh (undrafted free agent, Cincinnati Bengals) and receiver Kameron Brown (invited to Tampa Bay’s mini-camp). Those three players accounted more than 2,600 receiving yards last season in the Chanticleers’ high-powered offense that averaged 495 yards per game and 40.92 points per game.
“We’re going to do it probably more by committee this year,” Chadwell said. “… I am excited about the guys that we have. They’re young, they’ve got a lot of talent, but unproven. More people are going to have to play and step up, but there have been some guys that bided their time, so we’re anxious to see them get out there and compete a little bit.”
The most likely targets for McCall in 2022 will be junior Tyson Mobley, who had six catches for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season, and redshirt senior Sam Pinckney, a transfer from Georgia State. Chadwell also expects a pair of redshirt freshmen, Chris Rhone and Jared Brown, to see significant snaps at receiver.
Redshirt sophomore speedster Braydon Bennett (74 carries for 636 yards and two touchdowns in 2021) and senior Reese White (72-515-7) both return to the Coastal Carolina backfield, and will be joined by Aaron Bedgood (R-Jr.) and CJ Beasley (R-So).
A revamped offensive line will be anchored by junior Willie Lampkin, an All-Conference second teamer last year who is moving from guard to center. Super senior and former Carolina Forest standout Antwine Loper moves to right tackle after starting at left tackle in 2021. Willie Moise, Will McDonald and Donnell Wilson are frontrunners to complete the front five.
Coastal’s “Black Swarm” defense will have some major holes to fill, especially at the linebacker and bandit positions, which lost significant star power and swagger from last season’s squad. Jeffery Gunter (seventh round pick by the Bengals), Enock Makonzo (selected by Edmonton with the fourth overall pick in the CFL Draft), Silas Kelly (signed as undrafted free agent with Cleveland) and a handful of others that earned mini-camp invites have given way to a new group that will count on Josaiah Stewart, the Sun Belt Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, who will move from defensive end to bandit. Corner D’Jordan Strong, a freshman All-American last season, and defensive lineman Jerrod Clark, who started 11 of 13 games for Coastal Carolina in 2021, are also back.
“The last year or two we’ve had a lot of guys that were good players, but we didn’t have a lot behind them, so we couldn’t rotate them in,” Chadwell said. “I think from a development standpoint, we’ve got some guys that have developed that you’ll see play. Not a lot of names people are going to recognize, but I think just good, solid football players.
Redshirt junior JT Killen, who moves into the starting spot at middle linebacker, said he is ready to carry on the defensive tradition for the Chanticleers.
“The Black Swarm, that’s something that we all take a lot of pride in,” Killen said. “Coach (Defensive Coordinator Chad) Staggs says we want to play fast, physical and nasty, so Black Swarm means a lot to all of us.”
All four new members of an expanded Sun Belt Conference are on the schedule for the Chanticleers. Old Dominion, James Madison and Marshall are in the East Division, along with Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State, Georgia State and Georgia Southern.
Southern Mississippi, is in the West Division with existing members Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy.
Chadwell said the new additions make the Sun Belt the strongest of the “Group of Five” conferences, and brings competitive teams with great traditions and fans that travel well into the fold.
“I think it was a win for this league, a win for fan bases, and it will be great to have new faces coming into Conway, people that you are familiar with but you don’t get to see often, and so I think that’ll be a big benefit,” Chadwell said.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football schedule
Sep 3, 2022 vs Army at 7 p.m. at Brooks Stadium
Sep 10, 2022 vs Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m. at Brooks Stadium
Sep 17, 2022 vs Buffalo at 1 p.m. at Brooks Stadium
Sep 22, 2022 at Georgia St.at 7:30 p.m. at Center Parc Stadium
Oct 1, 2022 vs Ga. Southern time TBA at Brooks Stadium
Oct 8, 2022 at UL-Monroe at 8 p.m. at JPS Field at James L. Malone Stadium
Oct 15, 2022 vs Old Dominion time TBA at Brooks Stadium
Oct 29, 2022 at Marshall time TBA at Joan C. Edwards Stadium
Nov 3, 2022 vs App. St. at 7:30 pm at Brooks Stadium
Nov 12, 2022 vs So. Miss time TBA at Brooks Stadium
Nov 19, 2022 at Virginia at David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium
Nov 26, 2022 at James Madison at Showker Field at Bridgeforth Stadium
