Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Coastal Carolina season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Preview
Head Coach: Jamey Chadwell, 5th year at Coastal Carolina, 30-19
13th year overall, 90-54, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 11-2, Conference: 6-2
Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Coastal Carolina Top 10 Players | Schedule
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Preview 2022
And now the real work begins.
Coastal Carolina proved the 2020 breakthrough season wasn’t a fluke with a fantastic 11-2 run that might have fallen short of a Sun Belt title, but was still impressive.
Not only did the Chanticleers keep it all going, and not only did they win a bowl game, but those two losses came by a grand total of five points.
That was amazing, but now the Sun Belt is stronger, Coastal Carolina is a circle game on the schedule, and there’s a whole lot of experience and talent to replace on both sides of the ball.
Head coach Jamey Chadwell has the right offensive system, and he’s got the quarterback in Grayson McCall. Other than that, the program has as big a rebuild as any in college football.
It might be a fight to come close to the success of the last two years, but with McCall, and with the systems in place, Coastal Carolina might still be one of the stars of the Sun Belt.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Preview 2022: Offense
Grayson McCall might not have been the pro prospect many are/were projecting, but his decision to return for another year means the high-powered offense has its guy to make all the new guys better.
Coastal Carolina led the nation in third down conversions and passing efficiency, and was fifth overall averaging 495 yards per game. The downfield plays should still be there, and the running game will still bust off big plays with the big holes the offense creates. But it all comes down to McCall. As long as he’s running the show, the O will work. But …
Who will McCall throw to? Leading receiver Jaivon Heiligh is done, and TE Isaiah Likely is about to be a factor for the Baltimore Ravens. RB Braydon Bennett is the leading returning receiver with 24 grabs. but no one else returning caught more than six passes.
The offensive line should be a positive with some time. All-star guard Willie Lampkin is the anchor, and the good depth of last year should be able to take over right away – these guys know the system. 1,040-yard rusher Shermari Jones is done, but Bennett can handle a bigger role and speedy Reese White ran for 515 yards last season.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Preview 2022: Defense
The offense gets all the headlines and love, but the Coastal Carolina defense has done its part, too. It allowed fewer yards per play than the 2020 version, it gave up more than 25 points just four times, and held teams to under 100 rushing yards five times in the last ten games.
But like the offense, there are wholesale changes with the back seven gutted. However …
The line is okay, even with the loss of star DT CJ Brewer. Josaiah Stewart had a huge freshman season with 12.5 sacks, there’s size on the inside with 345-pound Jerrold Clark on the nose, and overall there shouldn’t be a big step back in production. But …
Just about every key tackler from the linebacking corps is gone. The group isn’t totally starting from scratch – a few guys who saw time last year are around – but this will be one of the team’s biggest areas of early concern.
D’Jordan Strong is one of the Sun Belt’s best all-around corners. He’s back along with three good backups from last year who should be able to step up and produce without a problem.
Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Coastal Carolina Top 10 Players | Schedule