CONWAY, S.C. – Heading into the first season under new head coach Tim Beck, Coastal football had 10 players named to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams, the magazine announced this week.
 
Fans can purchase season tickets online by visiting www.GoCCUsports.com/tickets or by calling the Chanticleer Athletics Ticket Office at 843-347-TIXX.
 
Key offensive returners Grayson McCall and Sam Pinckney were named to the first team, while redshirt senior linebacker JT Killen and sophomore return specialists Matthew McDoom were named to the second team. Named to the third team were Braydon Bennett, Jared Brown, and Will McDonald on offense, while Reese White, Ja'Quon Griffin, and Shane Bruce earned a spot on the fourth team.
 
The Chanticleers will open the 2023 season versus UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 2.
 
Coastal's home opener will be versus Jacksonville State on Saturday, Sept. 9.
 
2023 Athlon Preseason All-Sun Belt Selections
 
Grayson McCall
Named the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, marking the first-ever Sun Belt Conference football player to win the award three straight years, McCall also earned a spot on the 2022 All-Sun Belt first team.

McCall also earned a spot on the Davey O'Brien QB Class of 2022 list, the 2022 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 25 list, and the 2022 CFPA National Performer of the Year Trophy watch list. He was also named The Draft Network Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year and picked up Pro Football Focus (PFF) All-Sun Belt first-team honors as well.
 
Last season, McCall's 24 touchdowns to two interceptions ratio was among the leaders in all of FBS, while he also threw a touchdown pass in 23-straight games dating back two years. He also threw for over 245 yards in eight of 11 games played this year and had three touchdown tosses in six different games on the season.
 
In 11 games in 2022, McCall completed nearly 70 percent of his passes (207-of-297) for 2,700 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. He also rushed 91 times for 195 yards and six scores.
 
McCall ranked in the top 40 in all of NCAA Division I FBS in several offensive categories. He was third in passing efficiency (171.4), third in completion percentage (69.7 percent), fifth in yards per pass attempt (9.09), 18th in points responsible for per game (16.4), 29th in passing touchdowns (24), 30th in passing yards per completion (13.04), 32nd in points responsible for (180), and 40th in total offense (263.2 yards per game).
 
Sam Pinckney
In his first year at CCU in 2022, Pinckney picked up All-Sun Belt Conference honors from the league's coaches for the second time in his career with his third-team recognition. He earned second-team honors in 2020 while at Georgia State.
 
The graduate transfer, who was also named to the CFN All-Sun Belt second team and the Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Conference third team, led the Chants with 71 receptions, 996 receiving yards, and an average of 76.6 yards per game. He also had three receiving touchdowns on the year.
 
Named to the 2022 Biletnikoff Award watch list, Pinckney had at least one catch in all 13 games on the season and totaled 100-plus receiving yards in wins over Buffalo (Sept. 17), ULM (Oct. 8), Old Dominion (Oct. 15), and Southern Miss (Nov. 12).
 
JT Killen
Named to the All-Sun Belt third team and earning a spot on the Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Conference second team, Killen led the CCU defense with a team-high 96 total tackles and ranked in the top six on the team in tackles-for-loss (8.0), sacks (3.5), and pass breakups (4) while also adding two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a team-high three fumble recoveries.
 
Matthew McDoom
Named to the Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Conference third team and a CFN All-Sun Belt honorable mention specialist, McDoom was named the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Sept. 12. McDoom led the Chants' return game with 20 kickoff returns for 451 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 22.6 yards per kickoff return on the season, which included a 95-yard touchdown return in the week two win over Gardner-Webb on Sept. 10.
 
McDoom, who was one of just 27 student-athletes to return a kickoff for a touchdown this season, recorded the first kickoff return for a touchdown for the Chanticleers since Ky'Jon Tyler returned one for a touchdown versus Hampton in 2016. It was also the longest kick return for the Chanticleers since Tyler had a 50-yard kickoff return versus Troy in 2017 and was tied for the fifth-longest scoring play in Coastal Carolina program history.
 
Braydon Bennett
Bennett played in the final four games of the season for the Chants last year, returning from an upper-body injury in preseason fall camp.
 
In his four games, Bennett carried the ball 16 times for 83 yards, recorded an average of 5.2 yards per carry, and caught four passes for 86 yards. He also returned five kickoffs for 73 yards on the season.
 
Jared Brown
Brown had a standout redshirt freshman season last year, in which he was named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) 2022 Freshman All-America Team and the 2022 College Football (CFN) News Freshman All-American second team.
 
Tabbed the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, Brown also earned a spot on the 2022 Phil Steele Sun Belt Conference All-Conference fourth team.
 
Brown was second on the team in receptions with 49, receiving yards with 789, and receiving yards per game at 60.69. He led the team with six receiving touchdowns and also had a team-high seven total touchdowns adding a rushing score on the year.
 
Brown was also fourth on the team in rushing yards with 187 on just 20 carries and averaged a team-high 9.4 yards per rush on the year.
 
Brown, who became the first freshman in Coastal Carolina history to post back-to-back 100-yard receiving games in wins over Georgia State (Sept. 22) and Georgia Southern (Oct. 1), caught at least one pass in all 13 games on the season. Each one of his seven touchdowns on the season was 30 yards or more on the year.
 
Will McDonald
The leader up front on the offensive line all season long, McDonald started in all 13 games for the Chanticleers.
 
He helped block for three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in quarterback McCall and was part of the offensive line that led the way for an offense that ranked second in the Sun Belt in competition percentage (65.7 percent), third in both third-down conversion percentage (42.8 percent) and first down offense (284), fourth in rushing offense (159.3 ypg), fifth in passing offense (246.2 ypg), and fifth in total offense (405.5 ypg).
 
Reese White
Part of the three-headed rushing attack for the Chanticleers last season along with Bennett and CJ Beasley, White was second on the team with 99 carries for 544 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 42 yards and two touchdowns out of the backfield for the Chants.
 
White rushed for a career-high 133 yards on a career-high 21 carries in the season-opening win over Army (Sept. 3), and carried the ball twice for 77 yards in the home win over Buffalo (Sept. 17) before leaving the game due to an injury.
 
Ja'Quon Griffin
Part of the rotation along the defensive line last year in his first year as a Chant, Griffin totaled 23 tackles, including 8.0 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks last season. He also added four quarterback hurries and forced one fumble while lining up all across the defensive front.
 
Griffin tallied a season-high four total tackles in three games, including finishing the season with four stops in both the 2022 Sun Belt Championship game versus Troy (Dec. 3) and the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina (Dec. 27).
 
Shane Bruce
Despite battling injuries throughout the season, Bruce was third on the team with 57 total tackles while playing in 10 games. The linebacker recorded 4.5 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries, and recovered one fumble on the year.
 
Named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 31) after recording a career-high 11 tackles and recovering a fumble in the road win at Marshall (Oct. 29), Bruce posted six tackles or more in seven games on the season, including tallying seven stops in back-to-back home wins over Appalachian State (Nov. 3) and Southern Miss (Nov. 12). He has also been vital in helping the defense hold six different opponents to under 100 rushing yards for the game, including four conference opponents in Georgia State, Marshall, App State, and Southern Miss.

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