Exclusive: CCU quarterback made $15K in the largest known CCU NIL deal. What we know.

Former CCU quarterback Grayson McCall was still on a billboard in teal and white months after he transferred to NC State in December 2023. Here’s what we know about that deal aimed at “helping Coastal players stay.”

The NCAA does not require disclosing the terms of specific deals; schools and players typically don’t reveal them either. A name, image and likeness deal, also known as NIL, compensated one of Coastal’s athletes with thousands of dollars.

Emails show a CCU quarterback received $15,000 for appearing in marketing material for Monarch Roofing, a South Carolina-based roofing firm. The Sun News obtained this information via emails using the Freedom of Information Act.

Grayson McCall was in a significant marketing campaign for Monarch Roofing.

Martin Pettigrew owns Monarch Roofing and said the company was approached for the deal —McCall’s first foray into the transfer portal in late 2022 and the desire to keep players like McCall at CCU were motivating factors to do the deal. He said that McCall’s presence did not boost sales, adding that the basis for the agreement was focused on branding and marketing rather than driving up revenue.

“Nobody called (saying) ‘I want to get a roof from Monarch Roofing because (we’re) helping Coastal Carolina players stay at Coastal Carolina,’” Pettigrew added. “There are a lot of people here, so we need to constantly resell ourselves to our employees so they can stay engaged. So that’s a big part of it.”

Despite the university’s disclosures redacting the player’s name —referred to as the quarterback at times in some of the emails disclosed— Teal Collective Co-Founder and former CCU running back Patrick Hall confirmed that the collective had negotiated the Monarch Roofing deal for McCall in an August 2023 interview.

McCall’s deal is the biggest known NIL contract signed by a CCU player. While CCU athletes could have signed bigger deals than McCall’s, Coastal has not disclosed the terms of any other deal.

Since NIL was adopted on June 30, 2021, CCU athletes have made $77,344 in reported NIL income, according to the university. Indeed, the university is spending a million dollars in partnership with the NIL consulting firm Altius Sports Partners to assist its athletes in their ongoing efforts to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness opportunities, according to the university.

What promotions did McCall do for Monarch Roofing?

The extent of McCall’s deal with Monarch Roofing is visible across social media and the Grand Strand. Along U.S. Highway 501, close to Carolina Forest, a massive billboard emblazoned with a picture of McCall in a white and teal uniform next to a Monarch Roofing logo resided close to the road.

The billboard still stood as of April 1, 2024, but has since been replaced. It wasn’t the only promotion McCall did with the company. He appeared at the Monarch Roofing Myrtle Beach location, on social media, and in promotional videos for the company.

He also attended Monarch Roofing’s exhibit at the 2023 Myrtle Beach Home Show at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, where he talked with fans and signed autographs. Monarch Roofing also auctioned off McCall-signed helmets; even a flag with the quarterback’s face on it was hung outside the company’s Myrtle Beach site.

Monarch Roofing made a Grayson McCall trading card, coloring book, T-shirt, miniature football and cardboard cutout. McCall also attended a meet-and-greet at Monarch Roofing’s Myrtle Beach location on Oct. 1, 2023.

McCall ultimately left CCU anyway, but his billboard remained in the community for a short time afterward. Pettigrew also said he would be open to doing more deals with CCU players in the future but has not done so since due to scheduling conflicts.

Here’s how former CCU quarterback Grayson McCall made $15,000

The Teal Collective, Coastal’s first NIL group that ceased operations at the end of 2023, negotiated the Monarch Roofing deal with McCall’s representatives’ Everett Sports Marketing, also known as ESM, during the spring of 2023. Emails detail a back-and-forth negotiation between the Teal Collective and the Greenville, S.C.-based sports marketing agency.

The deal turned from a $20,000 payday into a $15,000 one, although getting to that final number seemed to frustrate the Teal Collective.

“Are we really going to nitpick this final tidbit to risk losing an easy $15k?” Hall wrote in an April 18, 2023 email.

The Sun News contacted McCall’s representative, ESM Partner — NFL/NIL Athlete Strategy Jeff Hoffman, for comment. He declined, citing scheduling conflicts.

According to a March 29, 2023 email obtained as part of The Sun News’ FOIA request, The Teal Collective contacted Hoffman with the proposed Monarch Roofing Deal. The initial proposed payment was $20,000, and the deal called for McCall’s participation in a billboard and television commercial photo shoot, several appearances for Monarch Roofing, a T-shirt with his image on it and other activities.

ESM returned with a counteroffer from the initial terms Hall provided, which included McCall participating in fewer events. Hall replied that Monarch Roofing balked at the new proposal due to the reduced number of events. Monarch Roofing dropped the payment it was willing to make from $20,000 to $15,000.

In an April 11, 2023 email, Hoffman contended that the original agreement’s number of appearances was too time-consuming.

“Yes he may appear for the 1 hour but to travel to and from for 8 events just is not commiserate with his value or time,” Hoffman wrote. “There becomes a diminishing return for his participation at the separate days and events and hours included.”

Hoffman further contended in the April 11 email to Hall that the terms of the proposed deal needed to fully capture his client’s value. As a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Hoffman emphasized that McCall chose to return to Coastal and would be highly valuable in the transfer portal.

“(Redacted) is the most sought-after quarterback in the portal this year. He has won POY (player of the year) multiple times. He chose to come back. He will be drafted extremely high next year, and we have to maintain that value,” Hoffman concluded in his April 11 email . “How do we get Monarch to see that value for one of the most decorated college QB’s (quarterbacks) over the past three seasons?”

Hall countered that Monarch Roofing’s Myrtle Beach location is close to CCU’s campus — less than 20 minutes according to Google Maps— and that Hoffman’s claims were “a little extreme” in an April 11, 2023 reply.

The terms of the quarterback’s involvement were eventually settled, but the payment schedule remained a thorny subject. The initial deal called for Monarch Roofing to make monthly payments, but McCall’s rep countered with different payment schedules.

Hall wrote the monthly payment structure needed to stay in place.

“When we pitched this deal to the partner (Monarch Roofing) we told him he could make monthly payments. We’re already taking $0 out of this deal for (Redacted),” Hall wrote in an April 18, 2023 email. “Are we really going to nitpick this final tidbit to risk losing an easy $15k?”

Hoffman agreed, and the deal went through. It wasn’t the only deal the two sides negotiated for McCall. Hall added in his August 2023 interview with The Sun News that the collective negotiated an agreement between McCall and Conway Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

McCall received a truck with his name and number decals on it, according to a Feb. 2, 2023 email.

Bill Klouser is the executive manager at Conway Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, and he said the truck gifted to McCall cost $59,000. The dealership, which supplies cars to some Coastal coaches and staffers as well, gave the truck to McCall for a year before the quarterback returned it after transferring to NC State, Klouser said.

“(McCall) didn’t pay me a dime, and I just wrote the car off as advertising,” Klouser added. “He got it back right on time.”

Klouser, a CCU fan who frequently goes to games, said the Teal Collective approached him about providing McCall with a vehicle after the quarterback entered the transfer portal for the first time.

“When there was an opportunity for him to possibly go somewhere else ... I said ‘We’ve got to do something here,’” he added.

Klouser said he did not regret the deal, as it helped him promote his business, and helped keep McCall in Conway for a final year before departing.