Numerous CCU football players want to leave the program via transfer, including locals
For the second consecutive offseason, the Coastal Carolina football program is seeing players attempt to make a mass exodus through the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Though the number of players is more than last offseason with 10 entering the portal on Monday alone, which is believed to be a new record for one program in a single day in the portal’s short history, the impact on the program should actually be much less than last year.
After losing three starters and another significant player after the 2018 season, when Jamey Chadwell took over the coaching reins from Joe Moglia, those who have entered the transfer portal this week are generally players who played sparingly or didn’t play at all in 2019, including six non-scholarship players, according to CCU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Kevin Davis.
Only two players – redshirt freshman wide receiver Jai Williams and redshirt sophomore linebacker Michael Makins – appeared on the two-deep depth chart in the final week of the season, both as backups on a team that started 42 different players on offense and defense primarily because of a spate of injuries.
The other two scholarship players in the portal according to Davis are redshirt freshman running back Antonio Robinson (6-0, 190) of Decatur, Ala., and freshman offensive lineman William Robertson (6-6, 285) of Acworth, Ga. Neither played this season.
Chadwell is out of town recruiting this week and was not available for comment, Davis said.
Three walk-on players from Grand Strand schools are among those in the portal – running backs Anthony McAfee from Carolina Forest High and Kered Class from North Myrtle Beach, and linebacker Sheldon Billings from Georgetown, who was not on the 2019 roster.
Class (5-8, 160), a redshirt freshman who rushed for more than 3,000 yards in his high school career, played in six games this season and had five carries for 43 yards.
McAfee (5-8, 185), a redshirt sophomore, played predominantly on special teams in all 12 games this season and had three carries for 31 yards and a touchdown.
Billings followed his older brother Michael into the program in 2017 and did not see action in his redshirt sophomore season in 2018.
Last year’s defections included starting sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Gunter – the team’s lone 2018 All-Sun Belt Conference First Team selection – to North Carolina State, two-year starting sophomore offensive lineman Brock Hoffman to Virginia Tech, and starting junior safety Jave Brown.
Sophomore running back Alex James of Florence, who was expected to have an increased workload this season after accumulating 562 yards and eight touchdowns rushing and receiving combined in his first two seasons, also transferred last offseason.
In 2019, Williams (6-0, 185) of Jacksonville, Fla., had nine receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games. Makins (5-11, 215) of Lithonia, Ga., played in all 12 games and was 13th on the team in tackles with 35 with a tackle for loss, fumble recovery and one quarterback hurry.
All of the CCU players in the portal are underclassmen, including six redshirt or true freshmen, of which the Chants have an overabundance.
Coastal featured 63 redshirt or true freshmen this season, which was the sixth most in the FBS in total number and fourth most in percentage (52.5 percent) of the roster.
Others reported by 247 Sports and confirmed by Davis to be in the portal include redshirt freshman offensive lineman Corbin Small (6-3, 260) of Lexington, redshirt sophomore linebacker Jaiden Clayton (6-0, 225) of Gaffney, and freshman kicker Will Ross (6-1, 185) of Rock Hill.
Clayton played in two games and Small made one appearance. Clayton, Small and McAfee acknowledged on their Twitter accounts that they had entered the portal and were messaged by The Sun News but either did not respond or chose not to comment.
Under the NCAA transfer policy, a school has two business days to enter a player in the portal once he has officially informed the school of his request to transfer, after which coaches from other schools can contact him.
The portal was created by the NCAA last year to make it easier for student-athletes to transfer without requiring permission from their current program.
Undergraduates who transfer to another FBS program have to sit out a season unless they receive a hardship waiver from the NCAA, so any transferring players may not play in 2020. Graduate transfers do not have to sit out a year.
Players who enter the portal run a risk if they choose to remain at their current school. Their athletics-related financial aid can be reduced or revoked at the end of the current academic term, and coaches aren’t obligated to take them back on the team.
Coastal Carolina has still not reached the allowed 85 scholarships for FBS programs since its transition from the FCS level began four years ago, and Davis said the Chants already had the maximum 25 scholarships to give to the incoming 2020 class prior to any transfers, so they’ll likely be short of the 85 again next season.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 2:57 PM.
