After two rough seasons, the fanbase of Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football grew tired of losing players to the transfer portal. This offseason, however, they decided to make a move and act upon it.
The Need To Act: Coastal Carolina Fans Start Transfer Portal Petition
On Dec. 24, Coastal Carolina running back Braydon Bennett entered the transfer portal looking to play his final year elsewhere. After a 781-yard, 11-touchdown campaign, the redshirt senior started to look for a new home.
Spending five years in Conway, S.C., connected Bennett to the fanbase. Coastal Carolina does not boast the most profound football heritage, starting their journey in 2003. Yet, the fanbase became protective over their athletes. One fan, in particular, decided to take his case to a broader audience via change.org.
“Braydon Bennett is one of the best players in Coastal Carolina history, and he’s currently in the transfer portal. However, he has shown interest in returning for one final year. Let’s show him just how much we appreciate him and want him to return!”
CCU entered the FBS back in 2017 when they left the FCS and the Big South Conference. With such a small sample size, the Chanticleers entered the national conversation with the teal-colored field, a rather odd mascot (basically a member of the chicken family), and burgeoning success.
The fieldhouse bears the name of its most famous football alum, Josh Norman. Norman, a former All-American cornerback, played three seasons at Coastal before embarking on a 12-year NFL career with four teams.
Greatest Perceived Portal Loss
The name Grayson McCall should ring plenty of bells in football circles. The story of his ascent, paired with CCU’s rise, weaves into program history. No one fought over McCall to attend their schools. The 2,839th best player in the 2019 recruiting class, the quarterback chose life as a Chanticleer. McCall solidified his standing as the best player in the program, winning the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year on three separate occasions.
After a concussion and coaching change that prompted McCall to head into the portal, he ultimately finished up at NC State. Coastal never filled the vacancy or the void he left. McCall, to the fanbase, was their guy, throwing for 10,005 yards, proving that a smaller school could hang with the elites.
The desire to keep their homegrown talent remains a theme that runs through the halls of every program. Feeling previously wronged by the system, the Chanticleers fanbase does not want to repeat the story with Bennett’s departure.
Regardless of whether anyone outside of Conway believes that Bennett merits the level of concern does not matter. Fanbases that do not possess larger donor bases or membership to a Power Four conference hold onto their team and its players with unprecedented fervor. When a player succeeds at Coastal, fans understand the reservoir of players to choose from does not rank among the best of the best.
This is all the more reason for the Coastal Carolina fanbase to hold its top dogs so near and dear to their hearts.
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