Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
	2024 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team
First season	2003; 21 years ago
Head coach	Tim Beck ; 2nd season, 12–9 (.571)
Stadium	Brooks Stadium; (capacity: 21,000)
Field	James C. Benton Field
Year built	2003
Field surface	FieldTurf
Location	Conway, South Carolina
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East
Past conferences	Big South
All-time record	170–93 (.646)
Bowl record	2–2 (.500)
Playoff appearances	Div. I FCS: 6 (FCS)
Playoff record	Div. I FCS: 4–6 (FCS)
Conference titles	8 (7 Big South, 1 Sun Belt)
Division titles	2
Rivalries	Liberty (rivalry); Appalachian State
Consensus All-Americans	1
Colors	Teal, bronze, and black;
Mascot	Chauncey
Outfitter	Under Armour
Website	GoCCUsports.com

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represents Coastal Carolina University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Chanticleers are members of the Sun Belt Conference, fielding its teams at the FBS level since 2017. The Chanticleers play their home games at James C. Benton Field at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.

Their head coach is Tim Beck, who was hired to replace previous head coach Jamey Chadwell following his move to Liberty.

History

It was announced in the late 1990s that CCU would establish a football squad in the coming years. The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football program played its inaugural season in 2003 on campus at Brooks Stadium. The team's first coach was David Bennett, who held the position from the team's inception until December 9, 2011.

In the program's short history, the team has defeated such traditional Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powers as James Madison University (ranked No. 1 at the time), Furman University, Wofford College, and the University of Montana. The program has won seven Big South Conference championships and has had several former players enter professional NFL careers.

Coastal's primary football rivals in FCS play were Liberty and Charleston Southern.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Coastal Carolina's first season as a full FBS member was in 2017. In 2020, the team won a share of its first Sun Belt championship and made its first bowl appearance, a 37-34 defeat to rival Liberty in the Cure Bowl. Coastal won its first bowl game the following season, returning to the Cure Bowl and defeating Northern Illinois, 47-41.

David Bennett era (2003–2011)

In 2006, the Chanticleers made school history when the team received its first FCS playoff berth, also the first playoff berth for the Big South Conference, losing a first-round contest to Appalachian State. Appalachian State would go on to win the FCS national championship that season.

In 2010, Coastal went to the playoffs for the second time after winning the Big South Championship (a three-way tie with Liberty and Stony Brook) and received the Big South's first-ever automatic playoff bid.

On September 11, 2010, Coastal Carolina played a five-overtime game on the road against the Towson Tigers, the longest game in school history. Coastal would lose the game, 47–45.

Bennett was dismissed following the 2011 season. University president David A. DeCenzo cited a 29-28 record during the previous five seasons—including only three wins against teams with winning records—and declining attendance as reasons for Bennett's removal.^[5]

Joe Moglia era (2012–18)

The university named Joe Moglia, former CEO of TD Ameritrade, as its new head coach on December 20, 2011.^[6]

Moglia found immediate success, leading the Chanticleers to a share of three consecutive Big South titles in his first three seasons and playoff berths in each of his first four seasons. In 2014, the team earned its first number 1 FCS ranking in program history after starting the season 11-0.^[7]

The Chanticleers left the Big South Conference at the end of the 2015–16 school year and joined the Sun Belt Conference, initially as a non-football member.^[8] At that time, the football team began a two-year transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).^[9] The first season of the transition in 2016 was spent as an FCS independent; the Chanticleers officially joined Sun Belt football July 1, 2017, with full bowl eligibility following in 2018.^[10]

The Chanticleers earned the program's first win as an FBS program when they defeated the UMass Minutemen, 38-28, on September 2, 2017. The team had a tough time winning games during the 2017 season, losing its next nine games. Ending the 2017 season on a positive note, Coastal Carolina earned the program's first two Sun Belt Conference wins in the final two weeks of the season, a 13–7 victory over the Idaho Vandals and a 28-17 win against the Georgia Southern Eagles. Coastal finished the year with a record of 3–9. The 2017 team was led by interim head coach Jamey Chadwell, during a medical leave of absence from Moglia.^[11]

Building from their momentum at the end of the 2017 season, Coastal Carolina finished the 2018 season with an improved record of 5–7, with notable wins against the UAB Blazers, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, and Georgia State Panthers. Moglia retired from coaching following the 2018 season.

Jamey Chadwell era (2019–22)

Jamey Chadwell was introduced as the program's third head coach on January 18, 2019.^[12] He had previously served as the team's offensive coordinator and as its interim head coach for the 2017 season.

2020 season

On October 14, 2020, Coastal Carolina got its first win against a ranked FBS team by defeating No. 21 Louisiana 30–27.^[13] Following the win, the AP ranked Coastal Carolina No. 25, making it their first time as a national ranked team.^{[citation needed]} The same week, the College Football Playoff rankings listed Coastal at No. 20. For the remainder of the regular season, Coastal remained in the AP Top 25. Their highest AP ranking that year was #14 in the fourteenth week, with a CFP ranking of No. 18 the same week. Their original opponent for Week 14 (Dec 5th) was Liberty, but Liberty canceled the game citing concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coastal’s new opponent for that week became No. 13 BYU.^[14]

The undefeated Chanticleers created national attention and interest in the team, and their matchup with BYU led ESPN to broadcast College GameDay from Conway on December 5.^[15] Coastal won 22–17, with the game ending when BYU was stopped one yard short of the goal-line. The victory resulted in Coastal Carolina ranked No. 11 by the AP Top 25 Rankings and No. 13 by the CFP Playoffs for Week 15. With the conference championship game scheduled for December 19, CCU was set up for another showdown with Louisiana. However, they would have to settle for a co-championship with Louisiana, with both named champions after the Chanticleers found themselves unable to play when a positive COVID-19 test was found within the CCU team.^[16]

Coastal ended its season against Liberty in the first bowl game in team history, the Cure Bowl, losing 37–34 in overtime.^[17]

2021 season

CCU was ranked No. 22 to start the season, and won their first six games to rise up to No. 15 before a loss to Appalachian State ended the streak.^{[citation needed]} They won four of their next five games but finished second in the East Division. They were invited to the 2021 Cure Bowl where CCU defeated Northern Illinois 47-41 to earn the first bowl game victory in school history.^[18]^[19]

A game between Coastal Carolina and Army at Brooks Stadium in 2022

2022 season

In 2022, Coastal finished 9-4, with losses to Troy in the Sun Belt championship game and East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl. Prior to the bowl game, Chadwell announced that he was departing Coastal to accept the head coaching position at Liberty.

Tim Beck era (2023–)

On December 4, 2022, Tim Beck was announced as the program's fourth head coach following Chadwell's departure. Beck had most recently served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for NC State.^[20]

The Chanticleers went 8-5 during Beck's first season in 2023. The team ended the season with its second bowl victory in program history, a 24-14 win against San Jose State in the Hawaii Bowl.

Conference affiliations

Big South Conference (2003–2015)
Sun Belt Conference (2016–present)

Championships

Conference championships

Coastal Carolina has won seven Big South Conference championships, winning two of them outright and five shared, and has won one Sun Belt Conference championship which was shared with Louisiana in the 2020 season. The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game was not played when Coastal Carolina was unable to participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21]

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
2004	Big South Conference	David Bennett	10–1	4–0
2005†	Big South Conference	David Bennett	9–2	3–1
2006	Big South Conference	David Bennett	9–3	4–0
2010†	Big South Conference	David Bennett	6–6	5–1
2012†	Big South Conference	Joe Moglia	8–5	5–1
2013†	Big South Conference	Joe Moglia	12–3	4–1
2014†	Big South Conference	Joe Moglia	12–2	4–1
2020†	Sun Belt Conference	Jamey Chadwell	11–1	8–0

† Co-champions

Division championships

Coastal Carolina won their first division championship in the 2020 season.

Year	Division	Coach	Opponent	CG result
2020	Sun Belt Conference - East	Jamey Chadwell	Louisiana	No Contest
2022	Sun Belt Conference - East	Jamey Chadwell	Troy	L 26–45

^ The 2020 championship game was not played due to Coastal Carolina being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic^[21]

Rivalries

Liberty

Coastal Carolina maintains a football rivalry with Liberty which began in 2003. The teams played every year from 2003 to 2016 and met in the 2020 Cure Bowl.

Appalachian State

Coastal Carolina maintains a football rivalry with the Appalachian State Mountaineers football program. The two Carolinas schools last met on November 7th, 2024 with Coastal Carolina defeating the Mountaineers 38-24.

Postseason games

NCAA Division I FCS playoffs

Coastal Carolina made six appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs before moving to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2017, going 4–6.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2006	First Round	Appalachian State	L 28–45
2010	First Round	Western Illinois	L 10–17
2012	First Round Second Round	Bethune–Cookman Old Dominion	W 24–14 L 35–63
2013	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Bethune–Cookman Montana North Dakota State	W 48–24 W 42–35 L 14–48
2014	Second Round Quarterfinals	Richmond North Dakota State	W 36–15 L 32–39
2015	First Round	The Citadel	L 38–41

Bowl games

Coastal Carolina has participated in four bowl games, going 2–2.

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
2020	Jamey Chadwell	Cure Bowl	Liberty	L 34–37 ^OT
2021	Jamey Chadwell	Cure Bowl	Northern Illinois Huskies	W 47–41
2022	Chad Staggs (interim)	Birmingham Bowl	East Carolina	L 29–53
2023	Tim Beck	Hawaii Bowl	San Jose State	W 24–14

Head coaches

Coastal Carolina has had five head coaches.

Years	Coach	Record	Pct.
2003–2011	David Bennett	63–39	.618
2012–2016, 2018	Joe Moglia	56–22	.718
2017†, 2019–2022	Jamey Chadwell	39–22	.639
2022^	Chad Staggs	0–1	.000
2023–present	Tim Beck	8–5	.615

† Interim head coach in 2017 due to medical sabbatical taken by Joe Moglia.

^ Interim head coach for the 2022 Birmingham Bowl