How CCU’s seniors persevered through losing, changes to build a top-25 football program
.JPG "Coastal Carolina defenders C.J. Brewer (52) and Jeffrey Gunter (94) celebrate after sacking Arkansas State quarterback James Blackman during the first half Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in Jonesboro, Ark.")
A group of 12 Coastal Carolina football players decided after the 2020 season that five years of college football wasn’t enough.
In reality, they determined they weren’t ready to give up what they shared in Conway.
They took advantage of the NCAA’s decision to grant all fall athletes an extra year of eligibility because of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the 2020 season, and returned as super seniors to enjoy one more year of experiences together and continue to elevate an FBS program they helped build.
With Friday night’s 47-41 win against Northern Illinois in the Tailgreeter Cure Bowl at Expedia Stadium in Orlando, they put their final stamp on a program they helped raise from a fledgling FBS team at the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference to a Top 25 program.
“I committed to a team that was 3-9, then we’re [22-3] my last two years here. So it’s bittersweet that it’s ending but I’m very happy about the journey that I’ve been on,” CCU super senior linebacker Teddy Gallagher said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love this place, I love my teammates more than anything else in the world.”
Nearly 30 seniors and graduates likely played their final game for CCU in Orlando, and they all played a role in laying a winning FBS foundation, including a co-Sun Belt championship last season after the Chants were picked to finish last in a poll of the league’s coaches. They gave CCU its first bowl win on their way out.
“You couldn’t put a price tag from a standpoint of coaching them, and the university and what they’ve meant to it,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said of his super senior leaders. “We’ve gone from an afterthought to everybody recognizes Coastal Carolina, and that’s because of this group, and they’re special.”
Creating a national brand
Coastal went 11-2 this season and 22-3 over the past two seasons.
The Chants were ranked for 22 consecutive releases of both The Associated Press Top 25 poll and USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll from October 2020 to November 2021, reaching as high as No. 9 in The AP poll last year.
CCU has come close to going undefeated over the past two years.
The Chants three losses have come by a total of eight points. They lost in overtime to Liberty in the 2020 Cure Bowl on a blocked field-goal attempt, lost on a field goal on the final play of the game against Appalachian State in October, and fell by two points to Georgia State after failing to convert a two-point conversion with a minute remaining last month. Starting quarterback Grayson McCall missed the Georgia State loss due to an injury.
“To be on the ride with them and the journey has been awesome for me, to experience that. This is just an unbelievable group of seniors, and I’m happy for them,” Chadwell said. “I think what they’ve taught me is don’t judge a book by your cover. We might not look a certain way, we might not look like traditional FBS players, etc., but when a group of people buy into each other and they believe in each other and they believe in what they’re doing, unbelievable things can happen, and I think they showed you that.”
Returning to finish the job
The players who returned to CCU for a sixth season of eligibility this year.are linebackers Silas Kelly and 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.
“It’s like you don’t want to leave,” Kelly said. “It’s so awesome being on this team, being part of this team that it’s like you don’t want to leave. But everybody’s got their time when their time is up, and that’s coming down for us. It’s been an honor to compete and play and develop this team and program.”
Seven of those super seniors arrived at Coastal in 2016, when the Chants played an FCS schedule in a year of transition to the FBS with no conference affiliation or postseason eligibility. They all redshirted as the team went 10-2.
Then they played through three consecutive losing seasons as the Chants struggled to adapt to the elevated level of play in the Sun Belt.
CCU went 3-9 in a 2017 season that included a program-record nine-game losing streak, and went 5-7 in the next two seasons while going 2-6 in Sun Belt play each year from 2017-19 for an aggregate 6-18 mark.
Carter said the players were reluctant to wear CCU football apparel around campus or in the community because of the negative responses it elicited.
“It was kind of hard at first, just trusting the process, and I feel I was on the edge of that,” Brewer said. “But I just talked to my mom, my pastor back home, just talking to the good Lord and it seemed like it was the best thing for me. I love whatever you start, finish it. That was my goal when I got here so I’m blessed to be able to do that and do it with my guys here.”
In the midst of the losing, Chadwell was promoted from associate head coach and offensive coordinator to head coach when Joe Moglia stepped down following the 2018 season and moved into other administrative jobs within the university. Chadwell began making changes on the coaching staff over a couple years, bringing in many who coached with him at former coaching stops.
“If you think about the struggles that we had as we transitioned to ’17, being in FBS and not being ready for it in a lot of ways,” Chadwell said. “. . . There’s a lot of different things they went through and the majority of them could have went somewhere else to be truthful with you, and they decided to stay, and to lay the foundation they have and the success. But more than that I think they’re all quality people and they’re going to make significant impacts on their communities whenever they leave here.
“. . . They’ve made a mark here on this program and hopefully on this university to put us in a position to continue to build this program.”
There were a rash of transfers following Chadwell’s promotion, and several more after his first season, but nearly all of the key players returned. Outside linebacker Jeffrey Gunter transferred to N.C. State, in part to assist his mother through a messy divorce, but he returned to CCU after one season.
Brewer said the seniors discussed their commitment to the program through the times of struggle and change.
“We all talked about it like, ‘Hey, I know there are people leaving, and there are new coaches coming in,’ ” Brewer said. “But if you start something you might as well finish it, and that was the main thing, and I feel the good Lord blessed us to finish the way we finished, I guess you can consider it kind of on top. We changed this program around. That was our goal, to leave our legacy, and I feel we did that over the past few years.”
Building an unbreakable bond
The Chants have built their tight bond through not only their hard work and perseverance through losing seasons that led to their eventual successes, but also through fun.
They’ve grown out lush mullets as a group — even roping Chadwell into the ‘80s-style hair growth this year — dubbed themselves America’s Team, and celebrated each win like no other team in college football.
Wild postgame celebrations have included a WWE-like wrestling parody, simulated bullfight, stuffed animal beheading with a chainsaw, and eating contest featuring world champion competitive eater Joey Chestnut.
Chadwell said Wednesday that he’s never seen a group of players develop a bond like the one CCU’s seniors have.
“I love this place,” senior receiver Jaivon Heiligh said. “You build relationships with people here and you’re not going to lose them. The culture here is actually different. You know, I’m going to have these people for the rest of my life to fall back on.”
Setting records, reaching milestones
Heiligh has set program records for career receptions (191) and career receiving yards (2,825), as well as single-season receiving yards (1,127), and finished four catches shy of Bruce Mapp’s single-season receptions record of 71.
Senior tight end Isaiah Likely is expected to be drafted after being a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end, being named to numerous All-America teams, and catching 133 passes for 2,048 yards and 27 TDs in his career.
Senior running back Shermari Jones gained 52 yards rushing yards Friday to become the fifth CCU player to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a season, joining De’Angelo Henderson (three times), Patrick Hall, C.J. Marable and Lorenzo Taliaferro.
Gallagher (306) and Kelly (340) are two of just four players in CCU history to record 300 tackles, joining Quinn Backus (441 tackles) and Jamar Leath (364). Kelly’s 14 tackles in the Cure Bowl made him the first Chant with 100 in a season since 2017.
Brewer, who was named AP Third Team All-America last season, has 230 career tackles, including 32.5 for a loss of yards and 16 sacks.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic recorded by a CCU senior comes from a position that doesn’t accumulate a lot of stats. Carter started his 61st consecutive collegiate game on Friday.
After redshirting as a senior, he has started every game over the past five seasons at either tackle or guard. He was able to reach the number because of the NCAA’s extra eligibility waiver.
“It’s cool when you say it. To me it’s special, but it’s not as special as the relationships I’ve formed here, the laughs I’ve had with everybody; I’ll take that 10 times out of 10 over 60 career starts,” Carter said. “I’ve loved my time here. . . . We’ve been through a lot together so we’ve got a bond that’s unbreakable.”
Carter hasn’t just been reliable, he’s played at a high level. He is one of just two players to be named an All-Sun Belt honoree five times, joining Georgia State’s Shamarious Gilmore, and has played through injuries and other adversities throughout his career.
“Trey is like someone I’ve never really met before,” Bedosky said. “His motor, his push and desire to be the baddest man out there is like something I’ve never seen before. . . . The guy is just different. If he’s got injuries he’s one of those kind of guys who’s going to spit on it, rub it in and go right back out there regardless of the severity of it. I love the guy.”
There’s a lot of love, and success, to be shared by CCU’s outgoing seniors.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 5:45 PM.
