Coastal Carolina parts ways with defensive coordinator Carlin

The first major domino of the offseason has fallen for the Coastal Carolina football program as head coach Joe Moglia has decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin after four years together.

Moglia confirmed on Friday that Carlin, who was hired as part of his original staff in 2012, will not return in 2016.

“Clayton and I agreed that the timing was right to move on because of differing philosophies for our defense,” Moglia said in a statement to The Sun News. “I respect him as a person, a coach, a recruiter and a representative of Coastal Carolina. I am grateful for the commitment he has made here the last four years.”

A few current and former players took to Twitter to express their continuing support for the departing coach.

Moglia was not available for further comment Friday. Carlin, meanwhile, had only positive thoughts to share about his time at Coastal Carolina and said he has a “great peace” about the situation and moving on to whatever is next.

“Here’s what out thoughts are right now. [My wife] Kathleen and I, our hearts are filled with gratitude for these past four years,” Carlin said by phone. “We feel so blessed to have been here and to be around Coach Moglia, to be around a phenomenal staff and to be around phenomenal young men who I’ve had the privilege of coaching. We are so excited [about the future] and something great will be on the horizon.

“We don’t know what that is, but we have tremendous faith and the good Lord has blessed us and we have no doubt will continue to bless us, and something great will happen in the future. Our hearts are filled with nothing but gratitude.”

With the FCS playoffs still ongoing, the Chanticleers are ranked a respectable 21st nationally in scoring defense after giving up 20.1 points per game this season, but the team ranked just 85th in total defense while giving up 416.3 yards per game.

Coastal Carolina had its moments defensively this fall, setting a program record with two shutouts in one season – 55-0 over Alabama A&M and 46-0 over Gardner-Webb – and its first ever shutout of a conference opponent. But inconsistency was the main issue for the Chants, the ending not helping matters as the defense gave up 524 rushing yards in a 41-38 loss to The Citadel in the first round of the FCS playoffs last Saturday. That marked the most rushing yards ever given up in a game by Coastal Carolina.

Carlin was part of Coastal Carolina’s rapid ascent these past four seasons as the program made four consecutive playoff appearances, won a share of three Big South championships and held a No. 1 national ranking in the FCS Coaches Poll for stretches each of the last two years. The Chants had reached the third-round of the FCS playoffs in back-to-back years before bowing out in the first round this season.

The defense took a big step forward in 2014, finishing 13th in the FCS in scoring defense while giving up an average of 19.6 points per game – the second-best mark in program history and an improvement from the 30.5 points allowed per game the previous season. The Chants were actually 11th on that list at 18.3 points per game allowed through the end of the regular season last fall, but they gave up 500 yards in a 39-32 loss to eventual national champion North Dakota State in the FCS quarterfinals.

Moglia was vocal that he thought the defense could be even better this season, but the Chants had trouble replacing their best playmaker in graduated linebacker Quinn Backus and never found the consistent results they expected.

Their 20.1 points per game allowed this season qualifies as the fourth-best total in program history, but the Chants struggled at the wrong times, including a rough first half in a loss at Charleston Southern, breakdowns late in the fourth quarter as Liberty scored in the final minutes for a dramatic win and, of course, the inability to stop The Citadel’s triple-option rushing attack in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, among the highlights defensively during Carlin’s tenure was the development of Backus, who became the first player in Big South history to be named the conference’s defensive player of the year three times. One of Carlin’s first big moves as coach was actually to install Backus as a starter his sophomore season over returning senior standout Andrae Jacobs in a move that drew questions initially before Backus emerged as one of the best players in the country.

Carlin said he and Moglia had their discussion on Wednesday.

“It was emotional. I have the utmost admiration and love and respect for him and nothing changes,” Carlin said. “We just had philosophical differences defensively. We just decided to part ways and I have nothing but love and respect for Joe Moglia.”

Carlin said he didn’t want to expound on what those philosophical differences were between he and Moglia.

“Nothing particular. No sticking points, just philosophical differences and I think it’d be best to leave it at that,” he said.

Carlin said his first priority was to meet with his wife and children and tell them of the news, and then he was able to meet face to face with a number of his players while talking to others over the phone.

Those relationships, he says, are what he looks back on as the highlight of his tenure here.

“Forget the scoreboard, the highlights to Kathleen and I have been the friendships and relationships. And the great thing is they will continue,” he said. “The relationship with the players and the relationship with the tremendous coaches I’ve had the opportunity to work with the last four years. The wins and the losses on the scoreboard are secondary to all those.”

As for the results on the field, he said there is nothing specific he wishes he had done differently.

“I don’t think there’s any specific thing and I truly focus on all the positive things that took place,” Carlin said. “... I take great pride in the relationships and the fact that we did the absolute best that we could do day in and day out, week in and week out.”

In looking ahead to the future, he said he’s already heard from friends and colleagues in the coaching world and is confident another good opportunity awaits.

“That’s been one of the tremendous blessings and I had a chance to reconnect with a lot of people over the last 48 hours,” he said. “I’ve been on the phone quite a bit so I’ve had a chance to speak with a lot of people. We have no doubt, Kathleen and I have a great peace about this and we can’t wait to see [what’s next]. Something great’s going to happen, and we can’t wait to see what that is.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina parts ways with defensive coordinator Carlin."