Coastal Carolina's secondary a primary concern

Eight games into the season it remains clear the Coastal Carolina defense is just not where the Chanticleers expected it to be this fall.

An opinion that had been mounting among fans and observers crystallized for coaches last Saturday night in a 33-25 loss at Charleston Southern, a disappointing first half ultimately costing the Chants their perfect record and No. 1 FCS ranking.

So for the first time this season, the defensive staff publicly acknowledged it may need to make some changes, and has used this week to potentially find solutions to its issues.

“We’ll see how it plays out. We’re looking particularly in the secondary at some things, so we’ll see how it shakes out,” defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin said.

“Kerron [Johnson] and Kelvin [Deveaux] have done a good job and they’ll continue to do a good job. We’re just looking at other guys. I’ve got to do a better job of [using] the right people at the right time. We [struggled] on third down the other night; maybe we have to put different people in. I’ve got to do a better job getting the right people in the right places at the right time.”

Johnson and Deveaux have been the Chants’ starting safeties for every game this season, while junior Kamron Summers has been a mainstay at cornerback and sophomore Dontay Hears has drawn most of the starts at the other corner spot.

Carlin was complimentary of the play of his nickels, senior Datarius Allen and junior C.J. Thompson, but did not give away many hints as to what changes might be coming.

“I don’t see it being major wholesale changes compared to just playing guys more,” he said.

Whatever the decisions, it’s clear the formula needs some tweaking.

The Chants (7-1, 2-1 Big South) head into their Saturday home game with Gardner-Webb (3-5, 2-2) ranked last in the Big South and 103rd in the FCS in pass defense (giving up 253.3 yards per game through the air), 59th nationally in rush defense (allowing 162.1 yards per game on the ground) and last in the conference and 81st in the FCS in total defense (yielding 415.4 yards per game).

They gave up 313 yards and 27 points in the first half last weekend to Charleston Southern. Despite a significantly better second-half showing, it wasn’t enough to overcome their early sloppiness.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs aren’t likely to challenge the Chants’ secondary too much on Saturday as they average just 81.1 passing yards per game, but Coastal Carolina may need to win its final three games to ensure its place in the FCS playoffs. To do so, it needs a much steadier showing on defense the rest of the way .

“It’s a show-me business. You want people to have confidence, but at the same time, Coach Moglia is great on this, he always says, ‘Don’t have an emotional attachment, it’s all about the data and the data doesn’t lie. If you’re not getting what you want, look at the film,’” cornerbacks coach Curome Cox said.

“... We’re just looking at the film, asking what we want, making sure we’re not asking too much of a particular individual and putting them in a position to be successful.”

The preliminary depth chart the team released this week as part of its game notes lists redshirt-freshman cornerback Anthony Chesley as one player who could take over a starting role.

Meanwhile, another player who could find himself playing a larger role this week is sophomore cornerback Ray Lewis III.

The high-profile transfer from Miami was in on about 40 snaps last week and Carlin and Cox both touted his improvement through the course of the season.

“Ray is starting to come along a lot better where early on it was a little gray area for him,” Cox said, noting that Lewis III’s improvements have been a matter of better discipline and buying in to the program.

“It was really rough earlier in the spring. I think the chemistry that we have amongst the guys is really accepting and I think he got to the point where he didn’t want to let people down anymore. You’re only as strong as your weakest link and I knew that we were going to need Ray, so I told him I’m not going to give up on him. ... It’s never been a question of talent for him. It’s him buying in and wanting to be great.”

Overall, Carlin expected to have a better sense for any potential changes by the Chants’ Friday walk-through.

“Every week is a different week. Every day is an opportunity to compete,” he said. “I didn’t make a big deal, but I said, ‘I’m going to look at things really closely this week, particularly in the secondary.’ And they got the message.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina's secondary a primary concern."