Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 102. Coastal Carolina
Bringing back The Mullet in style
One of the newest programs on this list, Coastal Carolina’s football program didn’t exist until 2003. They’d make the FCS playoffs 6 times from 2003-2016, including Quarterfinal finishes in 2013 and 2014. Building on their momentum, they’d make the jump to the FBS in 2017, and have been one of the best Group of 5 teams in the country the last 3 years. With a field painted teal and fans donning mullets in the stands, Coastal’s been winning in style, good enough for 102nd on this list despite only 6 seasons played.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 5 | Coastal Carolina | 2020 | 33.607 | 11-1 |
| 26 | Coastal Carolina | 2021 | 16.228 | 11-2 |
| 58 | Coastal Carolina | 2022 | -4.652 | 9-4 |
| 95 | Coastal Carolina | 2019 | -24.57 | 5-7 |
| 98 | Coastal Carolina | 2018 | -25.531 | 5-7 |
| 115 | Coastal Carolina | 2017 | -47.392 | 3-9 |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 2813 (102nd)44-30 record
1 conference title
1-2 bowl record
1 consensus All-American
3 NFL players drafted
Coastal’s 31-7 over the last 3 years after going 13-23 from 2017-19. My algorithm liked them so much in 2020, they finished the year ranked #5 in the nation!! In just 3 years from 2017 to 2020, Coastal ranked up 110 spots, going from 115th to 5th. It’s certainly been an impressive 3 year stretch for Coastal, winning a conference title, going to 3 bowls, getting 3 players drafted, and 1 consensus All-American (DL Tarron Jackson) in 2020.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2017 (3-9 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt)
Coastal’s first season in the FBS. Coach Joe Moglia announced he would be on medical leave for the 2017 season, so interim Jamey Chadwell took over. The season was as you’d expect, a tough transition to a higher level of football. A 52-10 loss to FCS Western Illinois was a terrible look for an FBS school, but somewhat forgiveable when you consider this Coastal team was still practically an FCS team themselves. Despite their struggles, 1-7 Coastal Carolina headed to 3-5 Arkansas, and held a 38-25 lead in the 4th quarter before Arkansas scored 2 late TDs to win 39-38. This was one of the final nails in the coffin for the Bret Bielema era at Arkansas. After a 1-9 start, Coastal ended the season on a high note with a 13-7 win over Idaho and 28-17 win over Georgia Southern, to finish only 3rd to last in the Sun Belt.
5. 2018 (5-7 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt)
All right, so I mentioned coach Joe Moglia earlier, and how he sat out 2017 for medical issues. This guy is fascinating. Moglia was the CEO at TD Ameritrade from 2001-2008, and saw the company’s market capitalization go from $700 million to $12 billion in 7 years. Doing what every former CEO does, he transitioned to college football coaching, and became executive assistant to Bo Pelini at Nebraska. 3 years later, he was announced as the head coach at Coastal Carolina, and would help lead the team to their best ever years in the FCS. Moglia won 3 straight conference titles from 2012-14, and made the FCS playoffs 4 out of 4 eligible years from 2012-15. Was he a better CEO or coach? Up to you. So, Moglia returned in 2018 and improved upon the previous year’s 3-9 record by 2 wins. A 5-3 start to 2018 looked very promising, 2 of the wins coming over eventual C-USA champion UAB and eventual Sun Belt West Division champion UL Lafayette. Unfortunately there were still growing pains, and they’d lose their last 4 to finish 5-7 and miss a bowl.
4. 2019 (5-7 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt)
In January 2019, Moglia announced he would be stepping down as the Chanticleer’s head coach. Moglia stated that it was in the best interest of the program to do so, and handed the keys over to offensive coordinator and 2017 interim coach Jamey Chadwell. Chadwell was young (42) and had success at the FCS level with Charleston Southern, having led them to their only 2 playoff appearances in their history. It was later revealed that the Charleston Southern program under Chadwell had made numerous NCAA violations, but that’s beside the point. While going just 5-7, the season was a productive one. From 2018 → 2019, Coastal increased their PPG from 26.7 to 30.3, and their defensive PPG from 33.2 to 30.5. This team set the stage for next year’s 11-1 team, with RB CJ Marable rushing for 1000+ yards and 10+ TD, and DL Tarron Jackson leading the Sun Belt in sacks with 9.5. The best win on the year was 12-7 in week 2 over Les Miles’ Kansas.
3. 2022 (9-4 overall, 6-2 Sun Belt)
While we were going in chronological order for the last 3 sections, we’re going in reverse chronological now, so fast forward to 2022. Coastal had just come off 2 fantastic years, and entered 2022 with the 4th best odds to win the Sun Belt. While 9-4 was a great year compared to 2017-19, it ultimately felt disappointing due to its ending. A 9-1 start was full of ups and downs, needing late TDs to beat Gardner Webb and Georgia Southern, and losing 21-49 to Old Dominion, but also beating bowl teams Marshall and Southern Miss, and preseason Sun Belt favorite App State. Their close win luck ran out as James Madison exposed them 47-7(!). They’d lose the conference championship game as well, 45-26 to Troy. And washed it down with a glass of a 53-29 loss to East Carolina in the bowl game. Still, 9-4 and a conference championship game appearance was a great year, and QB Grayson McCall continued to be one of the best QBs in the country, winning Sun Belt POTY for the 3rd straight year. McCall had arguably his weakest year, but still completed 70% of passes for 2700 yards 24 TD to just 2 INT.
2. 2021 (11-2 overall, 6-2 Sun Belt)
Coastal came into 2021 as the defending Sun Belt champs and was ranked as the preseason #22 team. Expectations were sky high for the first time in their FBS life, and while there were certainly some bumps in the road, I’d say they met expectations. A 6-0 start moved them up to #14 in the nation, but no win was really that impressive as they hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record yet. This would come to a head on a Wednesday night in Boone, where App State converted a 24 yard FG to upset the Chanticleers and earn their first victory over a top 25 team since 2007. Bonus points if you can guess who that was. Coastal finished the year 10-2 but just 3rd in their own division, having lost to 10-4 App State and 8-5 Georgia State. In a weak Sun Belt, Coastal was just 0-2 against teams with a winning record. They did end the year with a nice win over MAC champion Northern Illinois, 47-41. Statistically this was Coastal’s best year ever, ranking top 5 in the nation in scoring with 40.9 PPG while giving up just 21.6 PPG. Their strength of schedule did them in, and they didn’t finish top 25 in my rankings for 2021 despite going 11-2. Grayson McCall won his 2nd of 3 Sun Belt POTYs and had his best statistical year with 73% completions for 2873 yards 27 TD 3 INT, with a 10-1 record as a starter.
1. 2020 (11-1 overall, 8-0 Sun Belt)
And of course, 2020. Coastal Carolina’s magnum opus. Not many people know this, but Coastal was actually picked LAST in the Sun Belt coming into the year. Covid made their chance at success even more uncertain. The rest is history. A win over Les Miles’ Kansas for the second year in a row was a good omen. They worked through the schedule one game at a time…a 52-23 upset over 3 point favorites Arkansas State was surprising, as the Red Wolves had just beaten Kansas State. Coastal showed everyone they were for real the next week when they beat #20 UL Lafayette 30-27. Win after win after win, Coastal was 9-0, but only ranked #18 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. Coastal was set to play #25 Liberty the next week, but it was cancelled due to Covid precautions within the Liberty program.
What ensued was one of the funnest weeks in recent college football memory, an impromptu game between #13 BYU and #18 Coastal Carolina in a battle of unbeatens. Mormons vs Mullets. ESPN College Gameday. A mad scramble to move equipment from Utah to South Carolina as fast as possible. The thing is though, everyone was talking about BYU coming into the game. They were 10 point favorites, led by future #2 overall NFL pick Zach Wilson and were trying to make their case for the playoffs. Coastal would grab the national spotlight, winning 22-17 and stopping BYU at the 1 yard line on the final play of the game. They’d share the conference title with UL Lafayette, as the championship game was cancelled. A bowl loss to rival Liberty was a tough way to end the year, but what a fantastic season regardless.
My algorithm had Coastal Carolina as the #5 team in the country for the regular season, behind Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Cincinnati. While the committee had them at #12, I’m biased and think closer to #5 was more fair. They finished #5 in my rankings to end the year despite the loss to Liberty, as Liberty was a fine team themselves at 10-1. Coastal raked in the postseason awards: QB Grayson McCall, RB CJ Marable, WR Jaivon Heiligh, TE Isaiah Likely, OL Trey Carter, DL Tarron Jackson, DL CJ Brewer, DL Jeffrey Gunter, and DB D’Jordan Strong were all 1st Team All-Sun Belt. Grayson McCall won Sun Belt POTY. Tarron Jackson won Sun Belt DPOTY and was a consensus All-American. CJ Brewer was a 3rd Team All-American. D’Jordan Strong was Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year. Jamey Chadwell won Sun Belt COTY and took home pretty much every National Coach of the Year award.
This ranks as the 320th best team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Well, well, well. What do you think of Coastal? To me, they’ve been a fun addition to the FBS and have become one of my favorite teams in the sport.
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