How Coastal Carolina bolstered its football program with a huge early signing class
Stocked with a nearly full allotment of the 85 scholarships available to Football Bowl Subdivision programs for the first time, Coastal Carolina went to work on the opening day of the early fall signing period.
The Chanticleers signed 22 players as part of its 2019 class, featuring 10 offensive players including five offensive linemen, 11 defensive players led by seven defensive backs, and a kicker/punter from Australia.
The Chants are allowed to sign 26 total players to scholarships this recruiting year, so it has four more available for the traditional signing period that begins on Feb. 6, and those will put the Chants near the 85 FBS limit, not including non-scholarship walk-ons.
CCU had a maximum of 70 scholarships this past season as it completes its transition from the Football Championship Subdivision.
“We spent a tremendous amount of time as a staff making sure that we were getting the types of guys with the character that we need in our program relative to our philosophy which is B.A.M. (Be A Man),” head coach Joe Moglia said. “. . . Those are the types of guys we’ve done everything we can to recruit and we are confident that we got the right guys in regards to that.”
Coastal expects to have five incoming scholarship players enroll in January and be eligible for spring practices. This is the second year the NCAA has allowed football players to sign in December.
“I think the two signing dates are phenomenal,” Moglia said. “. . . One of the advantages to the December date is that your guys have an opportunity to be able to step up, or you recognize they’re really not that serious about you and they’re really waiting for another offer. So for us to be able to sign a good bulk of our class as long as they’re the guys we want, and if we don’t want them we shouldn’t be signing them at all, I think that’s a tremendous advantage. Then we look to fill in the gaps for the next signing day.”
Two signees are from South Carolina and eight are from North Carolina. The Chants signed two quarterbacks, a running back, two wide receivers, two defensive ends and two linebackers.
“What I have found from experience is that when you overemphasize one particular position you probably hurt yourself at other positions, so we try to make sure what we’re doing is reasonably balanced offensively and defensively, and we look at special teams with regard to that as well,” Moglia said. “Then if we need a little bit more emphasis someplace, it’s like a person there, but it’s not a tremendous emphasis in one area and we’re kind of ignoring the other areas.”
The Class
OFFENSE
▪ Jarrett Guest – Marietta, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain, 6-3, 170, QB: Rated three stars by ESPN, holds Kennesaw Mountain High records in season passing yards, season touchdown passes, all-time passing yards and all-time passing touchdowns.
▪ Grayson McCall – Indian Trail, N.C./Porter Ridge, 6-3, 200, QB: Rated three-star dual-threat quarterback by 247Sports. Named the 2017 Southwestern 4A Player of the Year as a junior. Threw for 3,863 yards and 34 TDs, rushed for 3,003 yards and 41 TDs in career.
▪ Reese White – Sandy Springs, Ga./Riverwood, 5-10, 195, RB: Three-star recruit by 247Sports, named the 2018 Georgia 6-AAAAA Player of the Year, tallied 3,145 rushing yards and 34 TDs in career, also played safety.
▪ Deon Fountain – Valdosta, Ga./Brooks County, 5-11, 165, WR: Three-star recruit by 247Sports, all-purpose player with 16 TDs as senior.
▪ Aaron Bedgood – Richmond Hill, Ga./Richmond Hill, 5-8, 165, WR: All-purpose player with 1,800 career yards, coming off ACL injury as senior.
▪ Will McDonald – Matthews, N.C./Porter Ridge, 6-2, 300, OL: Participated in the Blue-Grey All-American Combine in the spring of 2018, 2017 Associated Press North Carolina all-state, teammate of QB recruit quarterback Grayson McCall.
▪ Isaac Owusu-Appiah – Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park Senior, 6-4, 255, OL: Played on both offensive and defensive lines with 15 tackles for loss as senior.
▪ Will Robertson – Acworth, Ga./Etowah HS, 6-6, 275, OL: 247Sports two-star recruit.
▪ Kameren Stewart – Irmo/Dutch Fork, 6-6, 240, OL: 247Sports three-star recruit, the No. 20 prospect in S.C. by Rivals, Shrine Bowl selection, three-time state champion.
▪ Donnell Wilson – Whiteville, N.C./Whiteville, 6-5, 290, OL: Two-star recruit, helped Whiteville go 20-5 past two years.
DEFENSE
▪ Davon Bomar – Havre De Grace, Md./Bel Air, 6-3, 245, DE: Tabbed defensive player to watch by Baltimore Sun, threw shot put and discus in track.
▪ Quewon Hilliard – Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian Academy, 6-2, 235, DE: Registered 52 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions in seven games as senior at LB.
▪ Nyronn Barr-Thomas – Deltona, Fla./Evans, 6-3, 205, DE/LB: Had 19.5 sacks as senior and ran 4.38 40-time at a Mercer University camp.
▪ JT Killen – Lake Wylie/Charlotte Christian, 6-3, 215, LB: Two-time all-state selection totaled 320 tackles and 36 tackles for loss in career. Will consider playing baseball at CCU as well.
▪ Myles Baker – Huntersville, N.C./Hough, 5-10, 165, DB: Totaled 91 tackles, including 71 solo stops, and seven tackles for loss in 32 career games.
▪ Coleman Reich – High Point, N.C./Ledford Senior, 6-0, 185, DB: Three-star recruit by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN, was previously verbally committed to North Carolina. Recorded 267 tackles and 15 interceptions in 50 games.
▪ Mateo Sudipo – Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest, 6-1, 185, DB: Shrine Bowl selection. Moved to QB midway through senior season and led team to third straight state title at 14-0.
▪ Luke Ellenberger – Pisgah Forest, N.C./Brevard, 6-1, 185, DB: 247Sports two-star WR recruit with 1,883 yards of offense in career.
▪ Jaden Gragg – Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie, 6-0, 165, DB: Rivals A two-star WR recruit totaled 1,273 career all-purpose yards.
▪ KJ Johnson II – Buford, Ga./Buford, 6-1, 185, DB: Three-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals at powerhouse Buford High.
▪ Enock Makonzo – LaChine, Quebec, Canada/New Mexico Military Institute, 5-11, 195, DB: Played two years of JUCO and named one of 35 safeties to watch nationally in the NJCAA by JCGridiron.com.
SPECIAL TEAMS
▪ Kieran Colahan – Earlville, Australia/University of Australia, P: Rated as a five-star punter by Ray Guy Kicking and ProKicker.com, also accomplished swimmer and rugby player.
Futures in balance
While Coastal Carolina signed most of its 2019 recruiting class Wednesday, spots on the team may open up before the next signing period, though the Chants won’t be able to use any freed up scholarships for incoming players.
Moglia said late in the season that he was looking for more commitment from several players to the program and its Be A Man (BAM) standard that calls for players to treat others with dignity and respect, be accountable for their actions and live with the consequences of those actions.
“We’ve dismissed some guys from the team over the span of the last year or so and every one of those is because of BAM issues, taking responsibilities for themselves whether it’s the classroom or whatever it might be,” Moglia said. “I think the heart of our team are BAM guys. The leadership internally is as good as we’ve had. We still have some guys on the periphery. Those guys either need to man up and understand what it’s really all about or they’re going to be replaced with other guys coming into the program.”
Had CCU participated in a bowl game, the coaching staff would have had more time to evaluate the commitment of the players.
“When you’re recruited here it’s 100 percent clear that our entire philosophy is BAM, and I tell the kids if you don’t get a little turned on, if you don’t get goosebumps when I’m talking to you about BAM, then this is the wrong school for you to come to,” Moglia said. “. . . If you come here and you’re really not able to live up to the No. 1 thing our entire program is built on, then you made the mistake coming here and that’s not going to be acceptable. We’re not going to maximize our potential as a program with that.
“We’ll evaluate that going into January.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 8:04 PM.
