Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall is quite familiar with the target painted on the Chanticleer’s back – after all, the three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year is the one who painted it, leading the program in 2020 to a Sun Belt Championship and an SBC East title last season.

“Feels like everybody brings their best game against us,” said McCall, who was named preseason SBC Offensive Player of the Year. Coastal was picked by coaches to finish third this year, with a faily fresh rival James Madison predicted to finish first.

“Yeah, (JMU) whipped our butts last year,” acknowledged JT Killen, Chanticleer linebacker. Both McCall and Killen admitted that despite winning the division, the team failed to close out the 2022 season strong losing three straight blowouts. A new coach in Tim Beck and a new staff in Conway adds an unknown layer to the Chants’ fortunes in 2023, but the regime change doesn’t seem to bother McCall, who had opportunities to test the transfer waters during the offseason.

“I wanted to finish what I started at Coastal Carolina,” said McCall, who threw 24 touchdowns agains just two interceptions last year. With McCall behind center, you can’t count the Chanticleers out of the Eastern mix.

Clay Helton Gets Defensive

It wasn’t that Georgia Southern entered the 2022 season with low expectations – it was that nobody knew what to expect from the program with Clay Helton delivering a radically different approach to traditional Eagles’ football. The Eagles would become the Sun Belt’s most dangerous team last season, going 6-6 in conference before losing a two point bowl game to Buffalo.

However, with Georgia Southern no longer a mystery, Coach Helton acknowledged that the team required areas of improvement to become East contenders.

“We really needed depth,” said Helton. “We have nine offensive starters return, four on defense. We really needed to add more to the defense, and I believe we did that through recruiting.” Part of that recruiting came from the transfer portal, with CB Brandon Calloway from Purdue and CB Prince Green from Illinois. The additions will be welcome, as the Eagles finished 129th in total defense last season, which prompted Helton to make a change at defensive coordinator over the offseason, bringing in Brandon Bailey from the University of Buffalo.

Shawn Elliot is Pure Emotional Nitroglycerin

“Have you ever been head-butted by Coach Elliot?” we asked Georgia State standouts Bryquice Brown (S) and Travis Glover (OL). Both players laughed.

“Never been head-butted,” admitted Brown, “But I didn’t expect his energy in the locker room. He grabbed me by the shoulder pads and screamed ‘YOU READY TO GO?'”

Glover confirmed Elliot’s high octane passion. “He hasn’t head-butt me either, but he’s intense!”

Elliot, a former defensive lineman and a seasoned offensive-line coach, isn’t afraid to butt heads to motivate his players, as we submit the video evidence here.

Curt Cignetti Finds Another Chip to Shoulder

Last season, James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti was clearly not pleased with the coaches picking his Dukes to finish last in the Sun Belt East. (“How many championships to we have to win?”). He used the snub to propel is program to an 8-3 season. This season he found a new radioactive chip to fuel his motivation.

“Who heard of Todd Centeio? Who heard of Ben DiNucci?” Coach Cignetti countered when asked who’d be under center for the Dukes in 2023. Cignetti isn’t entertaining any doubts in his ability to transform obscure QBs into productive gunslingers. Who’s next to benefit from Cignetti’s QB Whispering? The Arizona transfer Jordan McCloud? Or the redshirt freshman Alonzo Barnett?

PHOTO CREDIT: Sun Belt Media