Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represents Coastal Carolina University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Chanticleers are members of the Sun Belt Conference, fielding its teams at the FBS level since 2017. The Chanticleers play their home games at James C. Benton Field at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. Their head coach is Jamey Chadwell, who took over the full-time position in 2019. History. It was announced in the late 1990s that CCU would establish a football squad in the coming years. The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers  football program played its inaugural season in 2003 on campus at Brooks Stadium. The team's first coach was David Bennett, who held the position from the team's inception until December 9, 2011. The university named Joe Moglia, former CEO of TD Ameritrade, as its new head coach on December 20, 2011. In the program's short history, the team has defeated such traditional Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powers as James Madison University (ranked No. 1 at the time), Furman University, Wofford College, and the University of Montana. The program has won seven Big South Conference championships and has  had several former players enter professional NFL careers. Coastal's primary football rivals in FCS play were Liberty and Charleston Southern. Coastal Carolina's first full season as an FBS team was in 2017. The Chanticleers earned the program's first win as an FBS program when they played The UMass Minutemen on September 2nd, 2017. The final score to this game was 38-28. The Chanticleers had a tough time winning games during the 2017 season, as they went on to finish the year with a record of 3-9. Ending the 2017 season on a positive note, Coastal  Carolina earned the program's first Sun Belt Conference win with a 13-7 win over the Idaho Vandals. Idaho has since left the Sun Belt Conference. The final game of the 2017 season was the program's second Sun Belt Conference win with a 28-17 win at home against the Georgia Southern Eagles. The Chanticleers first FBS season in 2017 proved that, with the proper corrections made to the team, the Chanticleers could be a good football team. Building off their momentum built at the end of the 2017 season, Coastal Carolina took the next step as an  FBS program and finished the season with a record of 5-7. Some notable wins for the Chanticleers during their 2018 season were against the UAB Blazers, Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns, and Georgia State Panthers. David Bennett era (2003–2011). In 2006, the Chanticleers made school history when the team received its first FCS playoff berth, also the first playoff berth for the Big South Conference, losing a first-round contest to Appalachian State. Appalachian State would go on to win the FCS national championship that season. In 2010, Coastal went to the playoffs for the second time after winning the  Big South Championship (a three-way tie with Liberty and Stony Brook) and received the Big South's first ever automatic playoff bid. The Chanticleers returned to the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. On November 9, 2014, Coastal was ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation, a first for the school and the Big South Conference. On September 11, 2010, Coastal Carolina played a five-overtime game against the Towson Tigers, the longest game in school history. Coastal Carolina went to Towson, Maryland, looking for their first win of the season after losing the previous week to West  Virginia. Coastal Carolina would lose the game 47–45. The Chanticleers left the Big South Conference at the end of the 2015–16 school year and joined the Sun Belt Conference, initially as a non-football member. At that time, the football team began a two-year transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The first season of the transition in 2016 was spent as an FCS independent; the Chanticleers officially joined Sun Belt football July 1, 2017, with full bowl eligibility following in 2018. Jamey Chadwell era (2019–present). Jamey Chadwell was introduced as the program's third head coach on  January 18, 2019. He was previously the team's interim head coach in 2017. On October 14, 2020, Coastal Carolina got its first-ever win against a ranked FBS team, 30–27 over No. 21 Louisiana. Following the win, AP ranked Coastal Carolina No. 25, making it their first time being nationally ranked. As of December 12, Coastal remains undefeated (11-0) and has won the Sun Belt Eastern Division; a first for the program. The first College Football Playoff rankings ranked Coastal at No. 20. Since the win over No. 21 Louisiana, Coastal remained in the AP Top 25 with  their highest AP ranking being No. 14 during Week 14 (the highest-ranked Sun Belt team to date.) The CFP ranked Coastal Carolina No. 18 in Week 14. Their original opponent for Week 14 was the Liberty Flames, but citing COVID-19 concerns Liberty canceled and Coastal's new opponent became the No. 13 ranked BYU Cougars. The attention drawn led ESPN’s "College GameDay" to take place in Conway on December 5th. Coastal won 22–17 in a similar fashion to Super Bowl XXXIV. As a result to the victory over BYU, Coastal Carolina was ranked No. 11 by the AP  Top 25 Rankings and No. 13 by the CFP Playoffs for Week 15. Coastal ended the season as Co-Regular Season Champions with the University of Louisiana, when Coastal found itself unable to field a team to compete in the Sun Belt Championship game. This marked the first time the Sun Belt Championship Game was cancelled since its inception. Coastal ended the season by competing against Liberty in their first bowl game in team history. The team ended up losing to the Liberty Flames, marking an ignominious end to their season and leading to the team's current bowl record  of (1-1). Championships. Conference championships. Coastal Carolina has won seven Big South Conference championships, winning two of them outright and five shared, and has won one Sun Belt Conference championship which was shared with Louisiana in the 2020 season. The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game was not played when Coastal Carolina was unable to participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. † Co-champions Division championships. Coastal Carolina won their first division championship in the 2020 season. ^ The 2020 championship game was not played due to Coastal Carolina being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Bowl games. Coastal Carolina  has participated in two bowl games, going 1–1. Head coaches. Coastal Carolina has had three head coaches. † Interim head coach in 2017 due to medical sabbatical taken by Joe Moglia. NCAA Division I FCS Playoff Appearances. Coastal Carolina made six appearances in the I-AA/FCS playoffs before moving to the FBS in 2017, going 4–6. Future non-conference opponents. Announced schedules as of September 27, 2021.