CCU’s Sam Pinckney is an NCAA record holder and family man. Will it take him to the NFL?
Claudia Grace Pinckney is an active Coastal Carolina fan.
She tries to go to every game, but if she can’t, Pinckney stays engaged while watching television, occasionally yelling at it too.
Pinckney’s fandom is unsurprising, considering her husband Sam Pinckney is one of the best wide receivers in Coastal history.
The couple, married with a three-year-old daughter, don’t have any pre-game superstitions, but Claudia Grace does send Sam a prayer via text. While typically different from game to game, Claudia Grace sent one prayer to Sam that she found on Google this season.
“Dear God, please take this moment in my life and use me to give you glory and praise. Take my passion for this sport, may light up your life up with your love. Take the hours of training and my commitment to excellence,” Claudia Grace Pinckney read. “Please use it to bring joy and inspiration to others. Take my desire to be the best in sport I can be. May you speak your truth and hope through me in Jesus’s name.”
The prayer has done the trick. Aside from breaking an NCAA record, Sam Pinckney is on pace to have one of his best seasons in his sixth and final year in college football and tied his career high for touchdowns in 2023 with seven.
The pair—who’ve been together since middle school, and Claudia Grace was Sam’s first girlfriend— are close off the field, too.
“She’s my best friend,” Sam said. “We talked through everything … We go through life together.”
Claudia Grace agreed.
“The best relationships come from being friends first. And if you have that special bond, then you really can get through anything,” she added. “(What) stuck out to me is his goals because he always had something motivating him, which also motivated me too.”
Part of that includes raising their daughter. Claudia Grace, a former cheerleader who aspires to be a nurse or have her own boutique on King Street in Charleston, S.C., said her daughter takes after her cheer past and enjoys doing handstands, cartwheels and copies CCU’s dance team at home games down to mimicking the hair flips.
Claudia Grace added her daughter has her personality despite looking more like Sam.
“(My daughter) has more of my sass because Sam is a very patient, chill person,” Claudia Grace said. “I’m more sassy, and she’s definitely got that which my mom says it’s my pay back.”
Does Sam Pinckney have a future in the NFL?
Combined with his first four seasons at Georgia State, Pinckney has caught 244 passes for more than 3,500 yards receiving, and the question now is whether Pinckney’s exploits in college are enough to garner a roster spot in the NFL.
NFL scouts have been present at CCU practices and games throughout the season. Pinckney wants to play football as long as possible and said he speaks to them whenever they attend practice.
“We just keep it short and simple; we don’t talk too much,” Pinckney said. “Nothing too in detail.”
The prognosticators of Pinckney are clear. Hero Sports listed Pinckney as the sixth-best Sun Belt Conference Player with a chance of being drafted in 2024 and Pro Football Network and CBS Sports also listed him as a potential NFL Draft prospect worthy of selection.
One scouting report of Pinckney by NFL Draft Buzz listed Pinckney as a likely undrafted free agent whose size, strength and jump ball ability are strengths that could secure him a roster spot in the NFL.
Pinckney knows how short a possible stint in the NFL could be.
“This game of football is temporary. You can’t play this all the years down the line,” he added. “It’s just trying to take advantage of it right now while I can play it.”
How Sam Pinckney broke an NCAA record
On Sept. 29, 2018, Pinckney caught his first pass for Georgia State.
The former three-star recruit from Greenwood, S.C., who received offers from schools like Appalachian State, Florida State, Georgia, LSU and the University of South Carolina, pulled in a 55-yard grab against Sun Belt Conference rival ULM, his second-ever appearance in college.
He caught two more that season before an injury forced him to sit out the remainder of 2018. Pinckney kept making catches once he returned, and after transferring to Coastal Carolina University for the 2022 season, he continued pulling in receptions.
Throughout the 2023 season, Pinckney seemed to get a catch every game despite playing with three different quarterbacks. Then, he made history against Texas State.
He took a shuffle pass behind the line and was stopped immediately for a loss, but the play was sufficient.
Pinckney had caught a pass in 55 straight games, an NCAA record. While Pinckney’s history-making play did not have much strategic value, he made the night more memorable with five more catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.
“I just take it one day at a time and just keep (my) head down,” Pinckney said. “I can’t do it without the guys around me just giving me the opportunity … I’m just glad to be playing football.”
Pinckney’s teammates and coaches speak highly of him and his accomplishments. CCU Head Coach Tim Beck has praised Pinckney all season, including quarterbacks like Grayson McCall and Ethan Vasko.
“I have all the trust in Sam (Pinckney) and all the other guys that they’re going to go and make a play we needed,” Vasko said after throwing Pinckney a game-winning touchdown.
CCU offensive coordinator Travis Trickett coached Sam Pinckney at Georgia State in 2018 and said before the season he was happy to reunite with him. Wide Receivers Coach Perry Parks also noted Pinckney’s drive before the season and revealed the generally quiet wide receiver had a more talkative side.
“His work ethic is like no other, and he’s actually got a really good sense of humor. People really don’t probably see that side of him because he knows straight to the point, but Sam might be the funniest guy in this room,” Parks revealed. “He comes in with the right attitude. He just wants to get better. We talk (about), ‘How are you going to develop me? How can we be better? It’s been awesome working with him.’”
The road to the record took work. Pinckney’s regularly tasked with some of CCU’s most challenging assignments at wide receiver all year.
Coastal Carolina quarterbacks have routinely thrown to the 6’4 wide receiver with the game on the line, and is CCU’s most consistent downfield target. In the red zone, whether it was Grayson McCall, Jarrett Guest, or Ethan Vasko when it came to making throws to receivers under tight coverage or in critical red zone situations, they all went to Pinckney.
He leads the team in receptions and receiving yards, and aside from Jared Brown leading the team in all-purpose yards, no non-quarterback has accounted for more points for the Chants than Pinckney in 2023.
He hasn’t always delivered; he dropped a critical fourth down pass from McCall against Georgia State, but on most occasions, Pinckney’s hands have given the Chants touchdowns when needed. Against UCLA, he caught CCU’s lone touchdown to cut the Bruins lead to one, and his final reception versus Old Dominion served as a walk-off touchdown for the Chants.
Pinckney still has time this year to make critical catches and extend his record. His performance against Army pushed the record to 56, and with a minimum of two games left in 2023, he could extend it further against James Madison University Saturday, Nov. 25, and during the postseason too.
