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 powers as James Madison University, 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. Their primary Sun Belt rivals will be Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
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 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. 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.
Conference affiliations
Big South Conference
Sun Belt Conference
Head coaches
Coastal Carolina has had three head coaches. † Interim head coach in 2017 due to medical sabbatical taken by Joe Moglia.
