Coastal Carolina inks perhaps its best recruiting class in program history

There were no surprises Wednesday for Coastal Carolina University football coach Joe Moglia and recruiting coordinator Cory Bailey.

Considering the Chanticleers were expecting what on paper is arguably the best recruiting class in the program’s history, the lack of excitement was welcomed.

Moglia said the Chants didn’t receive any last-minute commitments from coveted recruits they weren’t expecting, and signed all of the prospects they expected to on National Signing Day, the first day a high school senior can sign a national letter of intent with a college.

CCU signed 29 players that comprise a solid recruiting class that will be needed as the Chants transition over the next two years from the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I to the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

“We feel good about our class, but the reality is you’re not going to know for two years what kind of class we have,” Moglia said. “That’s why it’s critical to recruit character, so you’re bringing in the right guys and know they’re going to give you 100 percent.”

In the previous four years, Coastal had a total of 14 recruits rated either two or three stars. This year’s class matches that 14-player total according to football recruiting services including 247Sports.

Six of those from 2012-15 were three-star recruits, while this year’s class includes five three-star prospects in wide receiver Larry Collins Jr. of Lower Richland High; running back Victor Greene of Fredericksburg, Va.; receiver Jay King II of Nashville, Tenn.; quarterback Avery McCall of Dillon High; and defensive back Dreshun Miller of Marietta, Ga.

“You don’t want to put too much pressure on any one freshman coming in the door,” Moglia said. “If they come here and they’re ready to play, they’ll play. But there’s a lot of things they’ve got to learn.”

Moglia cited a few factors in the team’s recruiting success this year. They include having several CCU alumni playing professional football, including Carolina Panthers Josh Norman and Mike Tolbert who are playing in the Super Bowl and were selected to the Pro Bowl, the pending move to the FBS level and Sun Belt Conference, and being one of just six FCS programs to make the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.

The class includes 11 all-state players, and offensive lineman John Mays III (6-foot-7, 305 pounds) of Jacksonville, Fla., and defensive back Calvin Smith (6-0, 195) of Morristown, Tenn., both participated in a Blue-Grey All-American Bowl.

According to CCU’s sports information staff, the Chants’ recruiting class is ranked 119th out of 250 Division I programs in the nation by 247Sports, is second best among FCS schools behind only Yale at No. 116, and would be eighth in the Sun Belt Conference.

The coaching staff identified the offensive line and defensive backfield as the two areas in most need of players and upgrades, and those areas were addressed with the signing of eight defensive backs and five offensive linemen.

“We all think we did [address those areas sufficiently],” Moglia said. “We feel good about the guys coming in, but if we have another slot or two left it will be for a defensive back and an offensive lineman.”

Two-star recruits include running back Alex James of Florence Christian School; offensive lineman Steven Bedosky of Douglasville, Ga.; linebackers Silas Kelly of Mount Airy, Md., and Laqavious Paul of Lake City, Fla.; defensive linemen C.J. Brewer of Bowdon, Ga., and Jonathan Clayton of Jacksonville, Fla.; and defensive backs Amir Howard of Ocala, Fla., Calvin Smith of Morristown, Tenn., and Darrell Malone Jr. of Weston, Fla., who enrolled in January.

The class features nine players from South Carolina, the most of any state, with Florida second with five. Palmetto State players include Conway running back Jah’Maine Martin (5-11, 205), who recorded a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his two years at Conway.

“I think Jah’Maine is one of the best running backs in the state,” Moglia said. “When we go through the process we have to feel good about you as a player, but we also have to feel pretty good about your character, and that’s certainly been the case with Jah’Maine.”

McCall (6-1, 195) led Dillon to four consecutive Class AA state titles. “I don’t think there is any question Avery is one of the most impressive athletes in the state of South Carolina,” Moglia said. “He has the ability certainly to run and has the ability to throw. He’s just an excellent athlete.”

McCall joins Chance Thrasher, a redshirt freshman from Suwanee, Ga., who was a three-star recruit last year, as quarterbacks attempting to replace Alex Ross in 2016. “We have some very good, solid kids at quarterback, but they’re all inexperienced,” Moglia said. “We feel good about their potential, we feel good about the probability they’re going to be successful over time, but we’re not going to feel good about it until they’ve shown us that.”

The Chants have an additional 22 scholarships to give over the next two years from the FCS limit of 63 to the FBS limit of 85, though Moglia said the school will now only be able to give full scholarships in FBS after being allowed to split scholarships in FCS, and is limited to a maximum of 30 scholarships in a single year.

Three of the publicized signees Wednesday are walk-on invitees without scholarships.

Before the move to the Sun Belt Conference and FBS level was announced in early September, the Chants were settled on 13 scholarship offers, according to Bailey, and added offers after their limit was increased. Some of the top recruits were secured late in the process.

“The move to the Sunbelt has absolutely opened some doors for us … and will make a huge difference for us moving forward,” Bailey said.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina inks perhaps its best recruiting class in program history."