Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell Wins 2020 AP Coach of the Year Award

After leading Coastal Carolina to an undefeated regular season, head coach Jamey Chadwell has been named the Associated Press college football coach of the year for 2020. 

Per Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press, Chadwell received 16 first-place votes and a total of 88 points to beat out Tom Allen from Indiana (14 first-place votes, 66 points), Luke Fickell from Cincinnati (five first-place votes, 44 points) and Nick Saban from Alabama (eight first-place votes, 42 points).

Chadwell is just the second head coach from a Group of Five school to win the AP coach of the year award since its inception in 1998. Scott Frost was the first to do it when he led Central Florida to a 13-0 record in 2017. 

The Chanticleers were one of the most pleasant surprises in college football this season. The program went a combined 13-23 in its first four FBS seasons and had never been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. 

In 2020, Chadwell led Coastal Carolina to 11 straight wins in the regular season and a ninth-place ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll. It also climbed all the way up to 12th in the final College Football Playoff rankings. 

ESPN's Bill Connelly projected Coastal Carolina to finish last in the Sun Belt's Eastern division with a 5-7 record in his preseason prediction column. 

"I knew we weren't as bad as people were going to pick us to be," Chadwell told Russo. "I thought we were going to be pretty good. I knew we were going to be better."

The Chanticleers' quest for a perfect season fell short when they were upset by Liberty 37-34 in overtime in the Cure Bowl on Dec. 26. Their 11 wins were the most in a single season for the program since going 12-2 in 2014. 

Chadwell finished his second season as Coastal Carolina's full-time head coach. He previously served as the interim coach in 2017 when Joe Moglia went on leave for medical reasons. The Tennessee native has gone 19-17 in three seasons with the Chanticleers.