Chanticleers face hurdles moving up
Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country entering the 2017 season. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team.
Coastal Carolina
Joe Moglia, (51-15, entering fifth season; 51-15 overall)
10-2, competed as independent team
Coastal Carolina has thrived under coach Joe Moglia, who took a detour from coaching to work as chairman of the board at TD Ameritrade before the Chanticleers convinced him to take over the program in Conway, S.C. Moglia’s passion for football after taking a break from the sport and the motivational tools he honed as an executive worked well, helping him post a 51-15 record his first four years leading the program and earn 2015 Eddie Robinson FCS National Coach of the Year honors. Coastal Carolina went 10-2 last season as an independent team making the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Chanticleers are now poised to begin their first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
3 Scearce, S Richie Sampson, DT Jabarai Bothwell, K Ryan Grange
QB Austin Wilson, RB Osharmar Abercrombie, WR Chris Jones, LB Shane Johnson, DE Marcus Williamson, CB Anthony Chesley, DE Myles White
Coastal Carolina has been highly successful under Moglia’s direction. Syracuse graduate transfer Austin Wilson led the offense during the spring game and will be the Chanticleers’ starting quarterback.
While the Chanticleers have a strong running back option in Osharmar Abercrombie, the team should also get a lift from Boston College transfer Marcus Outlow.
The Chanticleers return six defensive starters, with linebacker Shane Johnson and defensive ends Marcus Williamson and Myles White serving as solid leaders for the unit.
It’s not easy to make the move from the Football Championship Subdivision to Football Bowl Subdivision level and Coastal Carolina didn’t try to soften the jump in level of competition, opting not to schedule an FBS opponent last season.
The offense returns just three starters. Coastal Carolina has good size on the lines, but the group isn’t accustomed to facing FBS speed and size.
Moglia is well aware his team will face many challenges during its first season in the Sun Belt. “We have film to look at after this to see where we are overall, and clearly we still have a lot of work to do,” he said after the Chanticleers’ spring game, according to the school’s website.
“Our first objective was to make sure everyone was healthy, and the second was to get a feel for where we are as a team.”