Why CCU football coaches are relying on more freshmen than players in other classes

Head coach Joe Moglia and recruiting coordinator Cory Bailey have boasted about the past two recruiting classes being possibly the best in Coastal Carolina history as the team moves up to the Football Bowl Subdivision level, and their belief is playing out on the field.

More freshmen have played in the first two games of the season than players in any other individual class.

A total of 15 freshmen – 12 redshirt freshmen and three true freshmen – played in the season-opening win over Massachusetts, compared to 11 sophomores, 13 juniors and 14 seniors.

“Our philosophy is we’re going to play the best guys,” said CCU offensive coordinator and interim head coach Jamey Chadwell. “As we went through fall camp we felt those guys are people that we can count on and can contribute to us. Some of them started and some of them were role players.

“As you look at it long-term throughout the season, we know as those guys get better they’re going to be able to contribute to us in a big way going forward. So we wanted to throw them in the fire right away and let them get the first taste of it so they can start getting some of that experience.”

Three freshmen have started each of the first two games in true freshman Brock Hoffman at center, and redshirt freshmen Trey Carter at left guard and Silas Kelly at linebacker. Redshirt freshman Tarron Jackson started at defensive end in the opener in place of injured senior Marcus Williamson, who returned Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham.

Hoffman of Statesville, N.C., who is 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, is the first true freshman to start at center in CCU history and just the third to start on the offensive line. The other two – Parez Riley in 2003 and Kaleb Dees in 2010 – started just one game each as freshmen.

Carter leads the team by far with 12 knockdown blocks through two games, Kelly is tied for the team lead with 17 total tackles, which includes 1.5 tackles for a loss of yards, and Jackson leads the team with 2.5 tackles for loss.

“We don’t plan on who’s playing and who’s not, you just let those guys compete as much as they can,” said Chadwell, who is the acting head coach while Moglia is on a medical leave this season. “Typically if freshmen don’t play it’s because physically they’re not ready or mentally they’re not ready. And these guys that are playing obviously have some physical ability and they’ve really been able to pick up the mental aspect of football, and that’s the biggest challenge.

“We have some freshmen right now that are really talented who are not on the field because they’re just struggling to figure it out right now – the difference in practice, the difference in going to class and all those different things. These 15 are guys who have been able to figure it out early.”

Redshirt freshman running back Alex James of Florence has 84 yards rushing on just nine carries and is second on the team with three receptions, and redshirt freshman Jacqez Hairston received two carries Saturday and broke one for 25 yards before tripping inside the UAB 20.

“Jacqez got in there later in the game and had a couple nice runs and had a chance to get a touchdown but he was so excited he fell down,” Chadwell said. “We’ve got to just continue to give those young guys more experience. That’s what it takes. And they’re going to make mistakes, but you can live with those mistakes if they’re playing hard and trying to do the right things.”

Coastal (1-1) will likely be the younger team on the field Saturday night at Brooks Stadium, as all but two Western Illinois starters on offense and defense are juniors or seniors. The Leathernecks (2-0) are CCU’s lone Football Championship Subdivision opponent this season and are ranked 19th and 21st in the two primary FBS national polls.

Quarterback questions

Coming off the fifth consecutive game in which Coastal failed to throw for more than 100 yards, Chadwell is clearly still looking for more consistent and effective play at the quarterback position.

But he failed to say at his weekly press conference Wednesday that he was going to change quarterbacks or play additional QBs on Saturday against Western Illinois. Senior Tyler Keane has started the first two games and has been spelled by graduate student Dalton Demos.

That could change by next week’s Sun Belt Conference opener at Louisiana-Monroe, however.

“We’re trying to just give ourselves the best chance to win each week and then once we get into the conference we’ll figure out what’s the best long-term answer and then we’re going to roll with it,” Chadwell said. “We may take our lumps, but we’ll roll with our best long-term answer that gives us the best chance to win this season.”

Keane has generally protected the ball as a starter, throwing just two interceptions through his first eight starts through the season opener. But he was 7 of 16 for 75 yards with three interceptions Saturday in a 30-23 loss at Alabama-Birmingham. Chadwell thought Keane was fooled by some of UAB’s defensive looks and made a few bad decisions.

“The turnovers that disappointed, it wasn’t necessarily that he turned it over, it was the decision-making of it – you throw it one way when the read told you that you should go the other way,” Chadwell said. “That’s the thing we need to correct. If you do those things, I think that ballgame is a different story.”

Demos sparked a touchdown drive early in the second half Saturday and has 79 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries this season, but he has completed just 3 of 8 passes for 27 yards.

“You saw what Dalton’s strengths are. You also saw some things he needs to try to work on. He’s not a guy I think you can let the whole offense be under his reins, he’s got to have a specific package, and Tyler has to improve. … It’s a work in progress.”

Chadwell said about 30 pass plays were called Saturday, resulting in 23 passes. The Chants have thrown 41 passes compared to 96 run plays this season.

“We’re going to have to continue to try to be aggressive and throw the ball,” Chadwell said. “We’ve got to try to have a better balance long-term for us to be successful, we just have to be smarter with some of the decisions we make.”

Johnson questionable

Senior middle linebacker Shane Johnson, who missed the final three quarters of Saturday’s loss to UAB with a right ankle injury, is considered questionable and will likely be a game-day decision, according to Chadwell.

Johnson was the Chants’ leading returning tackler this season after being second on the team with 66 tackles in 10 games in 2016, and recorded seven tackles in the opening win against UMass.

“He’s obviously the leader of the defense in his position of linebacker,” Chadwell said. “He brings a great toughness and physicality, and he’s played a lot of football.”

Johnson’s injury was the result of friendly fire as hard-hitting safety Fitz Wattley and Johnson were converging from opposite sides on a ball carrier at the goal line, and Wattley dived into Johnson’s lower right leg attempting to make the tackle.

His ankle was taped and he tested it on the sideline but never reentered the game. He was in a walking boot Wednesday.

“He’s in rehab quite a bit right now trying to get back. It’s 50-50,” Chadwell said. “If he’s not playing it will be a loss for us. … Hopefully we’ll get him back sooner than later but we’ve got to get ready to play without him.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Why CCU football coaches are relying on more freshmen than players in other classes."