CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina football team opens up the 2019 season at home versus Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WRRN Hot Talk 99.5 FM.
 
Salute to Heroes Day: Joint Base Charleston
• The Coastal Carolina Athletics Department is excited to welcome members of the military from Joint Base Charleston for Salute to Heroes Day this Saturday, Aug. 31, at 3:30 p.m. as the Chanticleers host Eastern Michigan in the 2019 season opener at Brooks Stadium.
 
• Complimentary tickets will be provided to Joint Base Charleston active-duty individuals and their families. Simply report to the ticket pick-up location adjacent to Gate 1 at Brooks Stadium and present your Military ID to receive your tickets. CLICK HERE for more information.
 
Debut of Newly-Renovated Brooks Stadium
• Coastal Carolina will open up the 2019 season in the newly-renovated Brooks Stadium, which has been under construction in each of the last two years.
 
• The first phase boosted the seating capacity to 15,000 and included adding seats to both corners of the end zone nearest the field house, expanding the sections closest to the field on both sides toward the scoreboard, and expanding the upper deck on the east side to match the length of the lower deck.
 
• Prior to the 2019 season, a second level and premium suites were completed on the west side to increase the capacity to 20,000.
 
New Head Chant
• Coastal Carolina will have a new (official) head coach on the sidelines for the first time since 2012 in Jamey Chadwell.
 
• Coach Chadwell took over for former head coach Joe Moglia in Jan. 2019, but is no stranger to leading the Chants having served as the interim head coach in 2017 during Moglia's medical sabbatical.
 
• A three-time Big South Conference Coach of the Year, Chadwell went 3-9 in 2017 as the interim coach at Coastal, the Chants first year in the FBS. Overall on the field, Chadwell is 63-44 in nine seasons as a collegiate head coach.
 
New Coordinators
• With the move to head coach Jamey Chadwell, the Chants have new coordinators on both the offense and defensive side of the ball in 2019.
 
• Newland Isaac and Willy Korn will serve as co-offensive coordinators, their first time as coordinators in their young careers.
 
• Chad Staggs is the new defensive coordinator after two years calling Furman's defense following four years as DC at Charleston Southern (2013-16), one at Delta State (2012) and three at North Greenville (2009-11).
 
Scouting Eastern Michigan
• EMU was picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the league's preseason poll. The Eagles received 83 points, finishing ahead of only Ball State (43) and Central Michigan (36).
 
• The Eagles are currently amid one of the best three-year stretches in program history. EMU is 19-19 since 2016, its most wins in a three-season span since 1987-89 when the Eagles went 10-2, 6-3-1, and 7-3-1.
 
• Eastern Michigan finished last season at 7-6 overall and took on Georgia Southern at the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Dec. 15, 2018.

• The Eagles used defense to post their seven wins last season, as EMU ranked first in the MAC and 30th nationally in points allowed per game (22.1). EMU also led the Sun Belt and ranked third nationally in passing yards allowed per game (150.2 ypg) and 35th nationally in total yards allowed (353.8 ypg) per contest.
 
• The Eagles return 13 starters from last year's squad, six on offense, four on defense and three on special teams.
 
Series Versus Eastern Michigan
• Coastal and Eastern Michigan will meet for the very first time in Saturday's 2019 season opener at Brooks Stadium.
 
Return of the MAC
• The Chanticleers will take on a team from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for the first time since 2012.
 
• Coastal is 0-2 versus the MAC all-time with losses to Kent State (2009) and Toledo (2012), both of which were on the road.
 
First Time for Everything
• All of Coastal's first three opponents this season - Eastern Michigan (Aug. 31), Kansas (Sept. 7) and Norfolk State (Sept. 14) - will be first time meetings for the Chants.
 
• CCU played three teams for the first time last season in Campbell, Louisiana, and South Alabama.
 
• The Chants went 2-1 in 2018 versus first-time foes with road wins over Campbell (58-21) and Louisiana (30-28) in back-to-back weeks and a loss on the road at South Alabama (31-28) in the season finale.
 
CCU in the Month of August
• Coastal Carolina is playing for just the third time ever in the month of August and the first time since 2014.
 
• The Chants are 2-1 all-time in August and have won two-straight in the eighth month of the calendar year.
 
8/30/08            at #22 Penn State                  L, 10-66
8/31/13            at South Carolina State         W, 27-20
8/30/14            at The Citadel                         W, 31-16
 
• Saturday's season opener on Aug. 31 will be the first-ever game played at Brooks Stadium in the month of August.
 
Season-Opener Success
• Coastal Carolina is 10-6 all-time in season openers in the program's 16-year history.
 
• CCU is 4-1 in season openers at home all-time and has won three-straight season openers at home in Brooks Stadium.
 
• The Chants are 1-1 in season openers in their brief FBS history with a win over UMass (2017) and a loss at South Carolina (2018).
 
Home-Opener Dominance
• The Chanticleers have dominated in home openers at Brooks Stadium since its first home opener back in 2003, posting a 13-3 overall record in the first home contest of each season.
 
• CCU enters Saturday's 2019 home opener having won eight-straight dating back to 2011.
 
For complete coverage of CCU football, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalFootball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.