Five things to know about Coastal Carolina football in 2021
The Coastal Carolina football team captivated the nation in 2020, going 11-1 and charming the masses with their fun-loving, mullet-sporting ways.
Now, the Chanticleers, who surprised many last year, enter this season as the hunted. They shared the Sun Belt Conference title with Louisiana after the championship game was canceled due to coronavirus issues.
CCU also played in its first bowl game, suffering its only loss, a 37-34 overtime defeat to old-school rival Liberty in the Cure Bowl.
Here are five things to know about the Chants heading into the 2021, which kicks off for CCU on Sept. 2 at home against The Citadel:
Starting in the Top 25 for the first time
Coastal Carolina finished the 2020 season ranked No. 14 in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll and 12th in the final College Football Playoff Ranking
That success has led to the Chants starting the season in the top 25 for the first time in school history. CCU will begin the season at No. 22 in the AP poll and No. 24 in the coaches poll.
CCU went 11-1 after not posting a winning record in three previous seasons at the FBS level, and knocked off fellow top-25 programs BYU and Louisiana-Lafayette during the 2020 season.
Coastal returns 19 of 22 starters on offense and defense this season, as well as most of its primary special teams players.
The Chants are joined in the top 25 by No. 23 Louisiana, giving the Sun Belt Conference two teams in the preseason ranking. Coastal is a co-favorite to win the conference’s East Division with Appalachian State in the preseason Sun Belt coaches poll, while Louisiana is the favorite to win the West Division and conference overall.
Underdogs again or no more?
The Chanticleers enjoyed a season of sneaking up on opponents last year, as they were picked by the coaches to finish last in the conference.
Coastal Carolina was voted as a co-favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division in 2021 along with Appalachian State in the league’s preseason coaches poll released this summer.
But the Chanticleers are still holding as motivation the perceived disrespect they were slapped with last year, all the while knowing they will be a target after going undefeated in the regular season in 2020.
“Before last year we were picked to finish last in the conference, and that’s motivation enough to go out there every day and compete and work hard so you can win each game,” linebacker Silas Kelly said Thursday during Sun Belt football media day in New Orleans. “This year is a little different story because of the success we had, people have a target on us and you might call that pressure.
“But in our minds we’re still picked to finish last and we have to carry that with us and take that into this year and have the same approach, same mentality, same mindset as we did last year.”
More of amazin’ Grayson in 2021?
Freshman quarterback Grayson McCall was a big part of the reason the Chants were so successful in 2020.
Can he continue that or will he suffer from a sophomore slump?
A dual threat, as an effective runner in the option and passer, McCall starred all season.
McCall was recently named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, which is presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic, and athletic achievement.
McCall was both the Sun Belt player and freshman of the year in 2020.
He also led the Sun Belt and ranked in the top 30 nationally in passing efficiency at 184.3 (fifth), points responsible for with 202 (ninth), points responsible for per game at 18.4 (16th), passing yards with 2,488 (19th), and in total offensive yards per game at 277.9 (30th), and was second in the Sun Belt in completion percentage at 68.8 percent (172-of-250), in passing yards per completion at 14.47, and yards per attempt at 9.95.
McCall has also been named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation 2021 Player of the Year, 2021 Maxwell Award, the 2021 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the 2021 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National Performer of the Year preseason watch lists.
More mullets?
The Chanticleers became media darlings a year ago, in many ways for several of their players sporting mullets.
It truly was business in the front and a party in the back.
Now, Chadwell, last year’s national coach of the year, has joined in on the mullet fun.
Coastal gained tons of publicity based on the hair style, especially when it played BYU in what was dubbed the “Mormons vs. Mullets” game.
Will the Chanticleers stick with the “do” or do they have something else up their sleeve to captivate the national audience this year? Only time will tell.
A schedule that lends itself to more wins
CCU will attempt to beat Power 5 team Kansas, of the Big 12, for the third year in a row, having beat the Jayhawks 12-7 in 2019 and topping them 38-23 last season.
Aside from that game, the hardest part of the Chants’ schedule will likely involve conference games against the likes of Appalachian State and Arkansas State, both on the road. The Arkansas State game on Oct. 7 comes on a short week for CCU, and App. State is a nationally-televised game on Weds. Oct. 20.
Outside of the Sun Belt schedule, Coastal will play Buffalo on the road and Massachusetts at home. The Bulls went 6-1 last year and the Minutemen went 0-4, both with schedules heavily affected by coronavirus limitations.
With 19 of 22 starters returning this year and a schedule filled with many teams the Chants have beaten recently — including a 62-28 romping of UMass in 2019 — there’s plenty of reason for CCU fans to have confidence heading into the season.
But, as the Chants proved just a season ago, anything can happen in any given year of college football.
This story was originally published August 29, 2021 at 6:58 AM.
