CCU loses football opener vs. SC Gamecocks, potentially a big payment with SEC decision
The first domino to Coastal Carolina’s tenuous football season has fallen, and it appears to be an expensive one.
A decision by the Southeastern Conference on Thursday to have its member schools play 10 conference football games and no non-conference contests effectively cancels Coastal’s scheduled season-opener at South Carolina on Sept. 5.
The Chanticleers were contracted to receive $1.4 million for the game, and language in the contract suggests the two universities may squabble over the payment if USC does not offer to pay.
The contract states that if one school breaches the contract it owes the other party $1.5 million.
But there are exceptions that relieve both parties “of any and all obligations under the agreement.” They include several natural disasters — though a virulent human pandemic is not listed — and “act or declaration by any governmental or regulatory authority having jurisdiction over the parties hereto including the NCAA or the respective athletic conferences of the parties, making it impossible or impractical to play the game.”
The SEC’s decision could be taken to absolve South Carolina of an obligation to pay. But Coastal could contend that USC has technically still elected not to play the Chants considering it is playing a 10-game regular-season schedule beginning Sept. 26.
CCU director of athletics Matt Hogue told The State on Wednesday that Coastal would likely attempt to recoup some money from the agreement if the game were canceled.
“I think we would look at every avenue that’s available,” said Hogue, who stands to lose a big chunk of his department’s funding. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. The impact to us is such that we would always explore all options. That’s probably where I would leave it.”
Coastal still has three non-conference games beginning Sept. 12 followed by eight Sun Belt Conference games, and CCU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Kevin Davis said the final 11 games of the schedule remain intact as of Thursday.
As several other schools and conferences have canceled or altered their fall sports schedules including football because of COVID-19 pandemic, the Sun Belt has heretofore only pushed the start of fall sports back to Sept. 3, which doesn’t impact football.
CCU has non-conference games scheduled at Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference on Sept. 12, vs. Football Championship Subdivision program Duquesne of the Northeast Conference on Sept. 19 at Brooks Stadium, and vs. Kansas of the Big 12 on Sept. 26, which would be the first visit to the Conway campus by a football team from a Power Five conference.
The Duquesne game may already be in jeopardy. The NEC announced late Wednesday night the indefinite suspension of all fall athletic competitions, leaving the Dukes presently without a conference schedule to play.
According to Pittsburgh Sports Now, the team is mulling attempting to play the season as an independent. The NEC is allowing its football teams to play at their discretion, and Coastal is contracted to pay Duquesne $300,000 for their game, according to Davis.
The Big 12 has yet to announce a change to its football teams’ schedules but its likely forthcoming, as the other four Power Five Conferences have all eliminated non-conference games or limited them to one.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 eliminated them, and on Wednesday the Atlantic Coast Conference announced its teams won’t play until the week of Sept. 7-12 and will play 10 league games plus one non-conference game, which has to be played in the ACC school’s home state. Clemson was intending to play its rivalry game against South Carolina if possible.
“Obviously the SEC and Big 12 will make their decisions and we’ll have to fall in line from there,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell said Tuesday. “. . . You have to see what the Sun Belt says. Does the Sun Belt say you’re going to play conference only, does the Sun Belt say you can play conference plus whatever?”
The Chants may try to replace any lost games with teams who have been similarly displaced. “It might not be the original schedule, but there might be teams that are around us that we can pick up and fill a schedule until we get to Sun Belt games,” Chadwell said. “I think all options right now are on the table.”
Several other conferences have altered, postponed or eliminated their fall football seasons.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference has canceled fall sports and is planning a football season in the spring semester, and the MAC has delayed the start of fall sports, though its football teams aren’t yet included.
The Patriot League, Ivy League, America East, Atlantic 10, Colonial Athletic Association, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – comprised of 11 historically black colleges and universities including S.C. State – have canceled all fall sports competitions.
Preseason camp around the corner
The Chanticleers are scheduled to begin fall preseason camp on Aug. 7.
CCU football players began returning to campus in waves on June 8 for volunteer workouts that continued through July 23.
An enhanced training period from July 24-Aug. 6 is new this year and allows athletes to spend up to 20 hours on coach-supervised non-contact activities including weight training, conditioning, film review, walk-through practices and meetings.
Coastal began testing football players for the coronavirus upon their return to campus but those test results specifically for cases within the football program will not be made available to the public.
The university said it would not single out any specific faction of the student body when reporting positive coronavirus tests, and will instead regularly report the test results of the student body online after it returns for the fall semester, though the school isn’t requiring in-class learning in the fall.
CCU senior offensive lineman Trey Carter and senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer both said this week that they didn’t know anyone who had contracted the virus.
The inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl, which is expected to be played at Brooks Stadium in December, could also be in jeopardy pending decisions by its participating conferences, the NCAA or the College Football Playoff. It is scheduled to feature teams from two of three conferences this year – Sun Belt, Conference USA and the MAC.
NCAA president Mark Emmert said earlier this month, when he laid out coronavirus-related guidelines for colleges to follow, that a return to athletics in the fall rests on there being “a much better handle” on the virus than there has been this summer, to the point where “we can achieve an environment where COVID-19 rates are manageable.”
The NCAA guidelines suggest college football players should be tested for COVID-19 at least 72 hours before a game, players with high-risk exposures to the virus should be quarantined for 14 days, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines should be used to determine when players can resume activities after testing positive, and everybody on a sideline should wear a mask.
CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said that his team is following NCAA and CDC guidelines regarding testing, and Hogue said Thursday the school remains optimistic about safely resuming competitions this fall.
“While it is disappointing that our student-athletes will not have this opportunity to open our season, we will continue moving forward with our planning and precautions towards the remaining games on our schedule,” Hogue said in an emailed statement. “We will work in conjunction with the Sun Belt Conference to address all options and scenarios concerning schedule changes.”
The Chants now wait – possibly not long – to see what else happens to their 2020 schedule.
“We’re going to keep preparing like we’re going to have a season and whatever happens, happens,” Carter said. “Worrying about it is not going to change anything.”
CCU’s 2020 football schedule
Sept. 5 at South Carolina (canceled)
Sept. 12 at Eastern Michigan
Sept. 19 vs. Duquesne
Sept. 26 vs. Kansas
Oct. 3 vs. Arkansas State
Oct. 17 at Louisiana
Oct. 24 vs. Georgia Southern
Oct. 29 at Georgia State
Nov. 7 vs. South Alabama
Nov. 14 at Troy
Nov. 21 vs. Appalachian State
Nov. 28 at Texas State
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 5:03 PM.
