Chants’ Ross turns focus toward preparing for the next level

Just a few days after Coastal Carolina’s football season ended, well earlier than any of the Chanticleers or their fans had hoped, senior quarterback Alex Ross was back on the field throwing to teammates.

Ross’ decorated college career is now over, but he hopes he is far from down with football.

Speaking by phone earlier this week, he reiterated his optimism that he will get a chance to play at the next level, and so the preparation for such an opportunity begins immediately.

“It’s up to me right now at this point,” Ross said. “I’ve just got to go out and outwork everyone else in the country every single day in order to better myself and give myself the best [chance] to see an opportunity.”

With a few days to process the Chants’ season-ending 41-38 loss to The Citadel in the first round of the FCS playoffs, Ross was a little more reflective on Wednesday about the season and his career, but he says he still hasn’t really taken any time to consider the considerable legacy he has left individually.

“The last few days I’d say are bittersweet,” he said. “It’s tough to be done so soon, but it is what it is and looking back on it we had a lot of seniors, we had pretty good careers here and were pretty successful. That’s why I’d say it’s bittersweet.”

Ross added another line to his Coastal Carolina resume this week when he was named a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American. He graduated cum laude with a degree in management in 2014 and is set to complete his M.B.A. this month.

He was also named the Big South Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year this season after being named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year last fall, becoming the first player in league history to receive both of those recognitions.

On the field, meanwhile, he leaves with a trove of school and conference records.

Ross is the first Big South quarterback to be voted a first-team all-conference selection three times and finished 19th in voting for the STATS National Offensive Player of the Year Award (after placing seventh as a junior).

He is Coastal Carolina’s all-time leader in pass attempts (1,174), completions (760), passing yards (9,918), passing touchdowns (72), completion percentage (.647), pass efficiency (151.8), average yards per pass attempt (8.4), average passing yards per game (211.0), total offense (11,482 yards), combined passing and rushing touchdowns (91), total offense per game (244.3 yards) and total offense per play (7.34 yards).

And he is the Big South’s all-time leader in total offense, total touchdowns, most games with 300-plus yards of total offense (16), most games with 400-plus yards of total offense (4), most games with three or more touchdown passes (12) and most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (19).

“I still haven’t really been thinking about those much,” he said of his personal feats. “I’ve just been thinking about all the guys and the seasons we’ve had.”

He went out to throw Tuesday with a couple of other departing seniors in backup quarterback Michael Church and tight end Thomas Pauciello, and beyond that he said he’s had a chance to hang out with a number of other teammates to reminisce a bit.

As for his future, Ross said he hasn’t yet hired an agent or decided where he is going to do his offseason training.

Officially listed at 6-foot-1, he’ll be considered a bit undersized by NFL talent evaluators, but his production has been undeniable the last several seasons and his greatest attribute has always been his command on the field – his ability to dissect a defense and adjust before the snap. He’s hoping that advanced football IQ will work in his favor as the scouts size him up against the other available quarterbacks and determine if he’ll get a shot to prove himself.

“It’s exciting. I’d say it’s a little nerve-wracking, but it’s exciting as well and I look forward to what the future has in store,” he said.

Chants offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude summed up his feelings in pretty much the same way as he prepares to retool the offense without Ross’ steady leadership on the field.

“That’s going to be the biggest question mark going forward – who can step up and give us the play that’s been consistent for us whether it was Aramis [Hillary] or having Alex for the last three years. That’s made us very, very fortunate,” Patenaude said.

“It’s also an exciting time for me to basically start in with some of the young guys and get back to watching a ton of film and teaching and really talking about the system and how the whole thing comes together. That was something I had to do less of because Alex and Mike were so far along in the system.”

Rising sophomore Josh Stilley will open spring practice atop the quarterback depth chart, but redshirt-freshman Chance Thrasher (whose development was slowed this fall when he underwent a procedure on his shoulder) should be right in the mix.

It’s going to be hard to picture anybody but Ross taking snaps, but that’s the reality now for the Chants.

And while Ross is ready to turn the corner to the next phase of his football career as well, he reiterated he still needs some more time to fully come to terms with his college career being over.

The Chants had FCS national championship hopes this fall after deep playoff runs the last two years, and there’s nothing that has helped him yet process the sudden ending last Saturday.

“I think that will just be time,” he said. “It’s rough to have a season end like that, how it did so soon when we’re used to playing further into the playoffs. Time is going to be the only thing.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Chants’ Ross turns focus toward preparing for the next level."