ESPN reports Coastal Carolina to add new football coach to its staff. Here’s what to know
Coastal Carolina has a new play-caller for the 2025 season.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported via X, formerly known as Twitter, that CCU is hiring Drew Hollingshead as its new football offensive coordinator. Hollingshead served as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Western Kentucky University for two seasons.
Coastal Carolina Athletic Department confirmed the news with a press release Tuesday.
“We are excited to bring in an outstanding young coach in Drew Hollingshead as our offensive coordinator and play caller,” Head Coach Tim Beck said in the press release. “Drew has a strong coaching pedigree and has learned from some of the best coaches in college football.
Hollingshead’s offensive philosophy brings a propensity for passing and racking up yards through the air, which Coastal conspicuously struggled with in 2024 due to dropped passes and frequent quarterback benchings.
Hollingshead is a former assistant of late-college football head coaching legend Mike Leach. Hollingshead served under Leach at Mississippi State and Washington State. During his long career, Leach helped change how college football teams played offense and defense using innovative ”Air Raid” passing tactics and quick strike offenses.
CCU tried adopting an air raid system before the 2023 season for its passing game before becoming a run-first team during the 2024 season. The hiring of Hollingshead indicates moving once more to a pass-heavy philosophy, moving CCU further away from the spread option concepts pioneered at CCU by former Head Coach Jamey Chadwell during his tenure.
Hollingshead’s track record as a Hilltopper also emphasizes his preference for having a potent passing attack. WKU finished both 2023 and 2024 with eight wins and made two bowl game appearances. Meanwhile, the offense produced solid results through the air during Hollingshead’s two seasons with the Hilltoppers.
Western Kentucky finished in the top half of Conference USA in numerous offensive and passing statistical categories during Hollingshead’s tenure. In 2024, it had the best passing offense, with the most yards, touchdowns, and highest completion percentage in Conference USA. The Hilltoppers also had the best aerial attack in Conference USA in 2023 and led their rivals in passing touchdowns, average yards per game, and pass attempts.
Hollingshead will now take over an inconsistent offense that caused frustration with its play on the field. While showing flashes of explosiveness, Coastal’s offense sometimes lapsed into conservative playcalling and struggled to move the ball.
Poor red zone play and receivers dropping numerous big plays and possible touchdowns didn’t help matters, as CCU fell behind in games its offense couldn’t get them back into. The issues resulted in former offensive coordinator Travis Trickett getting fired Oct. 21, 2024, after Coastal’s loss to the University of Louisiana Lafayette less than two seasons into his tenure.
CCU’s offensive problems continued after Trickett’s ouster, as problems compounded as the season continued. Beck first took over playcalling duties before giving them to offensive line coach Derek Warehime and tight ends coach Kriss Proctor.
It will be up to Hollingshead to help address these concerns before the 2025 season starts. CCU coaches previously described Beck as somewhat hands-off with the offense before his first season at Coastal in 2023.
Beck also described himself as a distant presence regarding Xs and Os before the 2023 season, but he became more involved during his tenure as CCU’s head coach.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 1:03 PM.
