What we know about Coastal Carolina football as 2021 spring practices conclude
With the cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled spring game because of expected inclement weather, Coastal Carolina held its 15th and final spring football practice Wednesday.
Here are some of the things we know about the Chanticleers as they break from camp and look to follow up a breakout 2020 season that came within an overtime loss to Liberty in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl of being an undefeated campaign.
The lead actors are back
Most of the players responsible for Coastal’s 11-1 record, Sun Belt Conference co-championship and No. 12 position in the final College Football Playoff Ranking have returned.
Coastal had at least a dozen seniors and graduates take advantage of the NCAA ruling that allows all fall sports athletes to retain a year of eligibility, which has allowed CCU to return 20 of 22 starters on offense and defense, as well as its primary special teams players.
Among significant contributors in 2020, CCU has lost only defensive end Tarron Jackson, running back C.J. Marable and wide receiver Sam Denmark.
The seniors/grads returning include linebackers Silas Kelly and Teddy Gallagher, lineman C.J. Brewer, defensive end/linebacker Myles Olufemi and safety/linebacker Kendricks Gladney Jr. on defense; linemen Trey Carter, Steven Bedosky and Sam Thompson, and receivers Kameron Brown and Greg Latushko on offense; and special teams players C.J. Schrimpf and Charles Ouverson.
“First of all I want to win another championship, that felt pretty cool,” said Ouverson, a punter from Murrells Inlet and St. James High who said he will leave CCU with four degrees, including an MBA. “We’re building something really cool here. I love my brothers and my teammates. I’ve been around them for five years so I have a love for that.”
The roster will be limited to 125 players, however. “When you do have a lot of guys coming back that have played a lot and are going to graduate, that limits the positions for certain people,” head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “So some of the younger guys that are coming in trying to earn [playing time], we’ll just see what happens.
“We never go in planning on redshirting anybody, because if I tell you, ‘Hey you’re going to redshirt,’ you maybe don’t work as hard and then we need you to play because of injuries and stuff.”
The team’s starting veterans had limited roles in spring practices, as less-experienced players were given the opportunity to learn and show what they could do.
“We’re trying to develop some depth at defensive line and offensive line and seeing what our new [running] backs can do, and getting our transfers in and seeing what they can do,” Chadwell said.
Chadwell said the Chants have managed to avoid any major injuries during spring practices that would impact players in the fall, though there are injuries from the past month that will require surgery.
“We feel on this current team we’ve got five to eight NFL prospects that are young or have a chance going into next year, so I think we’ve got several coming down the pipeline,” Chadwell said.
CCU was active in the transfer portal
The Chants added a pair of mid-year transfers on national signing day (Feb. 3) in North Carolina State offensive lineman Zovon Lindsay of Fayetteville, N.C. and Georgia Tech defensive end Emmanuel Johnson of North Charleston.
The duo joins a signing class that includes 19 student-athletes from seven states: South Carolina (7), Georgia (5), North Carolina (2), Florida (2), Virginia (1), Connecticut (1) and Massachusetts (1).
The 17-player early signing class in December was ranked second in the Sun Belt overall by both 247sports and Rivals, and included another transfer, defensive back Tre Douglas from Vanderbilt.
Johnson (6-6, 265) is a candidate to be the primary replacement for All-American defensive end Tarron Jackson at a defensive end position. He played sparingly in seven games as a freshman at Georgia Tech last season, making one tackle, after being rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN out of Fort Dorchester High.
“I think Manny has come in at our defensive end position and done a lot of good things,” Chadwell said. “He’s still learning from a standpoint of what we’re doing but he’s been really good. Tre has been getting tons of reps at safety and has made a lot of good plays for us, and I think he’s going to be a really good addition. Zovon has done some good things early on, but he’s still in a developmental phase from an offensive line standpoint.
“. . . All three of those guys have been really good additions for us.”
The Chants lost a local product when North Myrtle Beach High defensive end Chase Simmons, who initially committed to Coastal, signed with Syracuse on Feb. 3.
CCU players who have entered the transfer portal and hope to or have already agreed to play elsewhere include quarterback Fred Payton, running back Baden Pinson, tight end Michael McFarlane, offensive linemen Sean Fitzgerald and Cesar Moreno, and defensive backs K.J. Johnson and Damari Kelly.
The backup QB position is contested
The primary backup position to rising redshirt sophomore quarterback Grayson McCall is still to be determined through the spring.
The two frontrunners appear to be rising senior Bryce Carpenter and rising redshirt sophomore Jarrett Guest of Marietta, Ga.
Carpenter (6-1, 200) started eight games at the position in his first two seasons but saw little action last year.
Guest (6-3, 180) was rated a three-star prospect as a pro-style quarterback by ESPN coming out of Kennesaw Mountain High, where he holds all the significant passing records and threw for 1,537 yards and 18 touchdowns his junior season.
“We all know what Bryce can do. He’s consistent with what he is, and Jarrett Guest, they’re battling for that No. 2 spot,” Chadwell said. “Jarrett just has to show some more consistency. He’ll have some good days and there will be some days he takes a step backwards. . . . We’re putting him in a lot of situations and he’s grown and learning from it. I think he’s improved tremendously, and Bryce as well. I’d love to see Jarrett continue to develop a little bit.”
The WR position should be deeper
CCU should be both deeper and possibly more skilled at wide receiver than it was last season.
Carpenter had two receptions in 2020 while filling in at receiver when the Chants were thin at the position due to injuries, but that shouldn’t be necessary in 2021.
Rising redshirt sophomore slot-type receiver Aaron Bedgood (5-8, 170) has looked good in the spring after missing the second half of 2019 and all of last season with injuries, and rising redshirt junior Tyler Roberts (6-4, 185), a transfer from N.C. Wesleyan who sat out last season, has also shown promise.
“He’s got a lot of ability and could really be a good addition for us if he can be consistent with catching it, but he’s somebody who has stepped up a little bit,” Chadwell said of Roberts. “. . . But just from a consistency standpoint overall can we put them in there and trust them to do what they need to do? We’re not quite there yet.”
CCU is winning on social media
Coastal has stepped it up with the amount and quality of its social media content, which Chadwell believes is helping the program garner attention both in general and from talented high school football recruits.
Coastal increased it social media followers 78 percent in 2020, according to SkullSparks, a college social media design and analytics company. That was the second largest increase in the nation to Southern California, according to the company. Fellow Sun Belt members Louisiana (No. 3) and Georgia Southern (No. 12) were also in the top 12.
“I think our social media aspect has tremendously improved. I think that’s probably the biggest improvement we’ve had in general in our whole program,” Chadwell said. “You give credit to our social media people and SID and things we’re sending out. I think fans are craving information about what’s going on with us, and I think we’re putting out some really quality content.
“So that goes hand in hand. If you’re not marketing your program, if you’re not selling that brand, then you’re going to get passed by. . . . It’s like recruiting, you’ve got to do stuff like that every day, and I think our people do it as well as anybody.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
