Coastal Carolina to Join Sun Belt Conference in 2016

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are moving up in the world of college athletics.

Dan Wolken of USA Today reported Monday that the school “will become the 12th member of the Sun Belt Conference, according to a person with knowledge of the process."

The school announced the move on Tuesday:

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”On behalf of all of us at Coastal Carolina University, I’m honored to accept the invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference,” announced Coastal Carolina president David DeCenzo. “I am grateful to Sun Belt Commissioner, Mr. Karl Benson, for his steadfast support of CCU, and to the Sun Belt presidents and chancellors, who honored CCU by selecting their 12th member school.” 

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The school will join the conference in 2016 in every sport but football—its football program will join in 2017 after an FBS transitional year.

Wolken also added that Coastal Carolina will announce upgrades and an expansion to Brooks Stadium as part of the move. The football complex seats about 9,000 people, and Zach Barnett of CollegeFootballTalk pointed out that “FBS teams are required to average at least 15,000 paid attendance over a rolling two-year period.”

The Chanticleers reached the FCS quarterfinals in the past two years and have showed steady improvement since Joe Moglia took over as head coach in 2012. Moglia is the former CEO of TD Ameritrade and boasts a 32-10 record at the school.

Former FCS school Appalachian State—best known for upsetting Michigan in 2007—also joined the Sun Belt when it moved to the FBS in 2014. The Mountaineers finished in third place in the league at 6-2 in their first season.

The addition of a 12th team will give the Sun Belt enough schools to split into two divisions for a potential conference championship game.

Coastal Carolina’s success on the gridiron wasn’t the only reason for the move, as Wolken acknowledged:

Barnett said Coastal Carolina beat out finalist Eastern Kentucky for the Sun Belt’s last remaining spot and compared the two programs:

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Eastern Kentucky is said to be further along than Coastal Carolina in terms of department-wide infrastructure, but the Myrtle Beach, S.C., school has two things the Colonels do not that are paramount in this particular game of thrones: recent football success and access to large sums of money, and not necessarily in that order. Coastal has both of those things thanks to Joe Moglia, the billionaire former banking executive that is now the Chanticleers’ head football coach.

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Moglia has proved to be a worthwhile hire, and his success has the school primed for a move into the spotlight in the coming years.