Coastal Carolina nearly sweeps Sun Belt Conference’s top awards. See who claimed honors
Entering the 2020 season, the Coastal Carolina football team had two players in its history that were named First Team All-Sun Belt Conference – defensive ends Jeffrey Gunter in 2018 and Tarron Jackson last season.
Following Coastal’s 11-0 regular season and 2020 co-Sun Belt championship, the Chanticleers have 10 first team all-conference members and won five of the six primary awards.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall was named both the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Jackson was named the Defensive Player of the Year, junior cornerback D’Jordan Strong was named the Newcomer of the Year, and Jamey Chadwell earned Coach of the Year honors.
Only the Offensive Player of the Year honor, which went Arkansas State wide receiver Jonathan Adams, who had 79 receptions for 1,111 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games, did not go to a Chanticleer.
CCU led the league in All-Sun Belt selections with 16, including five on offense, four on defense and one on special teams that were named first team, followed by Appalachian State and co-champion Louisiana with 14 each.
The Chants and Louisiana (9-1) were named co-champs of the Sun Belt when the conference championship game scheduled for last Saturday at Brooks Stadium was canceled due to coronavirus cases within the CCU program.
Coastal, ranked ninth in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, is scheduled to play its first ever bowl game against No. 23 Liberty (9-1) Saturday in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The game time was changed Monday from noon to 7:30 p.m. Tickets through CCU are available online.
▪ Grayson McCall: Was named the Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt first team.
McCall is among the nation’s leaders with 23 passing touchdowns and just two interceptions and leads the Sun Belt in passing efficiency at 185.9 on the season. The Indian Trail, N.C. native also leads the Sun Belt in passing yards with 2,170 and is second in completion percentage at 69.3 percent (151-of-218). He is also 10th in the Sun Belt with six rushing touchdowns and 14th in rushing with 473 rushing yards.
McCall has thrown for more than 200 yards in seven of the 10 games he played in this season, missing one due to an injury, which includes a career-high 338 passing yards at Troy and 322 versus Arkansas State. He has also tallied two passing touchdowns or more in eight games this season, including four touchdown tosses against Arkansas State and at Georgia State.
McCall guided the Sun Belt’s highest-scoring offense to 500-plus total yards in four Sun Belt Conference games and led CCU to a pair of wins over top 25 FBS programs. McCall is a three-time Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award’s Great 8 List selection, a three-time Manning Awards “Star of the Week” honoree, a three-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week winner, a three-time FWAA “Fresh Four” selection, a Maxwell Award semifinalist, a Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award semifinalist, a Manning Award finalist, and was named to the FWAA Freshman All-American watch list.
▪ Tarron Jackson: He was named Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-Sun Belt first team honors for the second straight season.
Despite seeing double teams on more than 60 percent of the snaps he has played this year, according to CCU, Jackson is a finalist and semifinalist for several national defensive player awards this season. He leads the team and is second in the Sun Belt in sacks with 8.5 on the year. He also leads the Chants and is third in the league in tackles-for-loss with 13.5, making him the only player in the top three in the conference in both sacks and tackles-for-loss.
He is also tied for second in the Sun Belt with three forced fumbles while also adding 49 total tackles, 18 quarterback hurries, and one fumble recovery to his 2020 resume.
A three-time SBC Defensive Player of the Week selection this season, Jackson has also been named a 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist, a Bednarik Award semifinalist, a William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist, a 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award candidate, and earned a spot on the Lott IMPACT Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award watch lists. He was also invited to the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
▪ D’Jordan Strong: In his first season at CCU after transferring from a junior college, Strong was tabbed the SBC Newcomer of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt first team.
He is tied for the Sun Belt lead and is tied for second nationally in interceptions with five. The junior cornerback, who was not tested much of the season, also totaled six pass breakups to give him 11 passes defended which are sixth in the league overall.
Strong added 26 tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, and one forced fumble as part of a defensive unit that was the top scoring defense in the Sun Belt at 18.7 points per game and was tied for second in interceptions with 14.
He was one of six different players in the Sun Belt to pick up two interceptions in the same game and did it twice with two picks against both Georgia Southern and Appalachian State. He returned one of the interceptions for a touchdown against App State.
▪ Jamey Chadwell: The coach of the year honor is the first in the Sun Belt and fourth conference coach of the year honor overall for Chadwell.
He was recently named the 2020 Werner Ladder AFCA FBS Region 2 Coach of the Year and was selected to the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year watch list earlier this season. Coastal went 8-0 in the Sun Belt to share the conference championship.
This season marked Coastal Carolina’s first undefeated regular season and the first time the Chants have been ranked in either the Associated Press Top 25 Poll or the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports. Thus far in 2020, the Chanticleers have posted two wins over FBS top 25 nationally-ranked opponents, including the first in program history, and have been ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 12 in the coaches poll.
Chadwell won the Big South Coach of the Year honor three times between 2013-16 at Charleston Southern before being hired by CCU.
While he didn’t win one of the individual awards, senior running back C.J. Marable earned All-Sun Belt first team honors twice – as a running back and as an all-purpose specialist.
Marable amassed 1,176 total all-purpose yards this season with 844 rushing, 220 receiving, and 112 on kick returns, and has totaled 19 touchdowns with 12 rushing and seven receiving.
He leads the league in rushing yards (844), rushing touchdowns (12), total touchdowns (19), total points (114), and is tied for sixth in receiving touchdowns on the season. He scored two or more touchdowns in seven games.
Joining Marable and McCall on the Sun Belt first team on offense were tight end Isaiah Likely, wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh, and guard Trey Carter.
Joining Jackson and Strong on the All-Sun Belt first team were Gunter, now a junior outside linebacker, and senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer.
Earning a spot on the All-Sun Belt second team for the Chants were freshman offensive guard Willie Lampkin, junior kicker Massimo Biscardi and senior linebacker Silas Kelly, who was named Monday one of 14 semifinalists for the CoSIDA’s Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award.
The Chants placed three more on the third team in senior center Sam Thompson, senior linebacker Teddy Gallagher and junior Alex Spillum.
Earning honorable mentions were linebacker Enock Makonzo, running back Reese White, and offensive linemen Antwine Loper and Steven Bedosky.
All-Sun Belt First Team
Offense
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina, QB
CJ Marable, Coastal Carolina, RB
Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana, RB
Isaiah Likely, Coastal Carolina, TE
Jonathan Adams, Arkansas State, WR
Jaivon Heiligh, Coastal Carolina, WR
Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama, WR
Noah Hannon, App State, OL
Trey Carter, Coastal Carolina, OL
Shamarious Gilmore, Georgia State, OL
Austin Stidham, Troy, OL
Baer Hunter, App State, OL
Defense
Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina, DL
Demetrius Taylor, App State, DL
Raymond Johnson, Georgia Southern, DL
Jeffrey Gunter, Coastal Carolina, DL
C.J. Brewer, Coastal Carolina, DL
Carlton Martial, Troy, LB
Justin Rice, Arkansas State, LB
Riley Cole, South Alabama, LB
D’Jordan Strong, Coastal Carolina, DB
Shemar Jean-Charles, App State, DB
Shaun Jolly, App State, DB
Derrick Canteen, Georgia Southern, DB
Specialists
Noel Ruiz, Georgia State, Kicker
Jack Martin, Troy, Punter
CJ Marable, Coastal Carolina, All Purpose
Chris Smith, Louisiana, Return Specialist
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Offense
Levi Lewis, Louisiana, QB
Trey Ragas, Louisiana, RB
Camerun Peoples, App State, RB
Josh Pederson, ULM, TE
Kawaan Baker, South Alabama, WR
Kaylon Geiger, Troy, WR
Sam Pinckney, Georgia State, WR
O’Cyrus Torrence, Louisiana, OL
Cooper Hodges, App State, OL
Dylan Bradshaw, Troy, OL
Willie Lampkin, Coastal Carolina, OL
Max Mitchell, Louisiana, OL
Defense
Will Choloh, Troy, DL
Zi’Yon Hill, Louisiana, DL
Forrest Merrill, Arkansas State, DL
Hardrick Willis, Georgia State, DL
Silas Kelly, Coastal Carolina, LB
Rashad Byrd, Georgia Southern, LB
D’Marco Jackson, App State, LB
Bralen Trahan, Louisiana, DB
Quavian White, Georgia State, DB
Terence Dunlap, Troy, DB
Jarron Morris, Texas State, DB
Antavious Lane, Georgia State, DB
Specialists
Massimo Biscardi, Coastal Carolina, Kicker
Rhys Byrns, Louisiana, Punter
Jeremiah Haydel, Texas State, All Purpose
Jeremiah Haydel, Texas State, Return Specialist
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Offense
Zac Thomas, App State, QB
Destin Coates, Georgia State, RB
Daetrich Harrington, App State, RB
Thomas Hennigan, App State, WR
Marcell Barbee, Texas State, WR
Malik Williams, App State, WR
Roger Carter, Georgia State, TE
Ken Marks, Louisiana, OL
Ryan Neuzil, App State, OL
Aaron Dowdell, Georgia Southern, OL
Sam Thompson, Coastal Carolina, OL
Shane Vallot, Louisiana, OL
Defense
Nico Ezidore, Texas State, DL
Richard Jibunor, Troy, DL
Dontae Wilson, Georgia State, DL
Jeremiah Littles, South Alabama, DL
Jordan Strachan, Georgia State, LB
Lorenzo McCaskill, Louisiana, LB
Teddy Gallagher, Coastal Carolina, LB
Keith Gallmon, South Alabama, DB
Eric Garror, Louisiana, DB
Alex Spillum, Coastal Carolina, DB
Kaiden Smith, App State, DB
Dell Pettus, Troy, DB
Specialists
Diego Guajardo, South Alabama, Kicker
Anthony Beck, Georgia Southern, Punter
Chris Smith, Louisiana, All Purpose
Jalen Virgil, App State, Return Specialist
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 12:40 PM.
