After bittersweet season, Coastal Carolina football sets sights on next year

CONWAY -- This time last year, the Coastal Carolina football team was coming off the high of a late-season surge into the FCS playoffs and brimming with optimism that the program might just be taking off again after several quiet seasons.

Then came the 4-1 start this fall, the first national ranking in more than four years and, yes, more optimism for what was to come.

But such visions were not to be for the Chanticleers. Not this year, at least.

As they wrapped up their season last weekend in Cullowhee, N.C., the Chants were left to take satisfaction in a season-ending three-game winning streak and a 7-4 record that is their best since 2006 – although not exactly what they had in mind.

So as the FCS playoffs started again this weekend – without Coastal this year – the CCU coaches were already looking ahead to 2012.

“I think in the end, we ended on a good note to carry into the offseason to recruiting and winter conditioning and spring training and summer camp,” CCU coach David Bennett said. “Again, we’ve got a big vision.”

Yet plenty of work remains to close the gap between where the Chants are as a program and where they hope to be.

So given a few days to digest the season and start looking ahead, offensive coordinator Kevin Brown, defensive coordinator Curtis Walker and special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton shared their thoughts on how Coastal looks heading into the offseason and beyond.

Offense

Coastal ranked fourth in the Big South in scoring (24.6 points per game) and total offense (323.7 yards per game), but those overall numbers are skewed somewhat by an anemic performance in adverse weather conditions at Stony Brook.

All things considered, the Chants look to be in good shape offensively heading into 2012.

There should be no quarterback debate this offseason as Aramis Hillary will return for his senior year after completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 1,749 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions as a first-time starter while also rushing for seven touchdowns.

“He’s just got to learn to be consistent, try not to be greedy, take what the defense gives you,” Brown said. “Sometimes he’d want to … force some things over that middle where we should have just thrown a check down or thrown it to the five-yard stop outside. Hopefully he will learn he doesn’t have to make every big play every time he’s out there.”

After all, he’ll have plenty of experienced help around him.

The running game didn’t take off until the end of the season when Coastal faced some weaker defenses, but the Chants will have a stable of experienced rushers returning with Travis Small (team-high 432 yards on the ground) and Marcus Whitener (171 yards over the final two games) likely leading the way.

The team’s top five wide receivers – led by junior-to-be Matt Hazel (32 catches for 488 yards and six touchdowns) – all return as well.

“We feel like we’ve got some talent [at the skill positions], but we’ve got to mature there and be able to take care of some things on and off the field and be consistent people,” Brown said.

The key questions on the offensive side are at tight end and along the offensive line.

The Chants are hopeful that two-time all-conference tight end David Duran will be granted an extra year of eligibility after having his senior season cut short by a shoulder surgery. Otherwise, they will be counting on a group of second-year players to fill in at what has been a pivotal position in the team’s offensive game-planning.

Up front, Coastal loses two veteran starting offensive linemen in right tackle Bryan Brooks and right guard Tim Franklin.

So offensive line, receiver and perhaps tight end are the team’s offensive priorities on the recruiting trail, Brown said.

Defense

There are considerably more holes to plug on the defensive side, meanwhile.

Gone is standout cornerback Josh Norman, a three-time all-conference selection who finished as one of the most productive defensive players to ever come through the program. As a senior, he led the team with 62 tackles, 12 pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and tied for the lead with two interceptions.

Gone also is three-year starting linebacker Desmond Steward, who ranked second on the squad with 51 tackles this year. As well as fellow starting linebacker Derrick Frasier, who led Coastal with 4.5 sacks and tied for the lead with 10 tackles for loss.

And gone is veteran safety Marcus Lott, another three-year starter and defensive anchor.

“In some areas, you do have some players who are in place to carry the torch, but then there are some other areas you’ve got to look at some opportunities to try to get some immediate help there,” Walker said. “Those are the things we’re looking at right now.”

Cornerback looks to be the most glaring of the team’s needs.

Not only do the Chants lose Norman, but they were unsettled at the other corner throughout the season due to inconsistent play from juniors Tre Henderson and Dontavious Johnson. They ended up letting true freshman Denzell Rice start the season finale, and he’ll be in position to prove he’s ready for a full-time role next season.

But the Chants, as a whole, will have much to prove in the defensive backfield.

“When you lose a guy like Josh at one corner who has been an all-conference player for us, could very well have been our defensive player of the year in our conference just in my opinion … it’s going to take some recovery as far as finding someone who can step in immediately and give us a boost,” Walker said.

Safeties Philip George and Johnnie Houston, meanwhile, battled through some growing pains as sophomores this season but should be better for the experience next year.

Linebacker Andrae Jacobs – a first-team all-Big South pick this year and the conference’s defensive player of the year in 2010 – will be back as a senior to lead the defense and should be healthy after dealing with a nagging groin injury this fall. Freshman Quinn Backus and sophomore Mike McClure both impressed at times and should be ready to fill the voids at linebacker.

And the Chants return a bevy of defensive ends – led by seniors-to-be Chris Thomas (3.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss), Jamel Davis and Quinton Davis.

The concern up front is on the interior defensive line. Coastal struggled against the run at times this season – allowing 167.2 rushing yards per game – and loses veteran starting defensive tackle Chad McField and key reserve Dexter Holman.

So cornerback, linebacker and interior defensive line top the team’s needs in recruiting.

Special teams

And then there’s special teams.

No unit gave the Chants more cause for concern than this one – whether it was missed field goals, inconsistent punting, turnovers in the return game or costly penalties on kickoff coverage.

“It was a tough year. Tough year,” Drayton said. “We’re not going to [pull] any punches. We have to have better production out of our place-kicker, our kickoff individuals as well as our punter. So we are going to have to get better in those regards – no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Sophomore Grant Clayton finished 9 of 16 on field goals while missing six straight at one point late in the season. Drayton said the kicker was nagged all fall by lingering discomfort from a preseason sports hernia surgery, but he will likely face competition for the job heading into 2012.

Redshirt-freshman Austin Cain averaged 34.5 yards per punt in an up-and-down first season handling that role for Coastal and will also have to win the job again going into next season.

“This is a beautiful place. A lot of people want to come to school here. So you won’t believe right now, we’ve got hundreds – literally, with no exaggeration – hundreds of specialists … who would like to have the opportunity to come walk on,” Drayton said.

Sophomore Niccolo Mastromatteo remains locked in as the team’s return specialist while finishing strong after battling some fumbling woes in the middle of the season, but as Drayton said, all areas of the special teams unit need to get better between now and next fall if the Chants are going to take a step forward in 2012.

“It has to be [better]. Because if it’s not, I’ll fire myself. It has to be,” Drayton said. “We can not repeat what happened this year.”