Coastal Carolina Chanticleers infielder Tyler Chadwick (8) has joined the Coastal Carolina Baseball team. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
CONWAY – With two quarterbacks inactive for Saturday’s game as #17 Coastal Carolina prepares for in-state rival Furman, fifth-year Chanticleer head coach Joe Moglia announced that Tyler Chadwick (Waxhaw, N.C./Marvin Ridge HS) will begin practicing with football team this week.
Chadwick graduated from Coastal Carolina this past August, was a three-time Academic All-Big South Conference selection and is currently working on his Master’s degree. He spent the last four seasons (2013-16) on the Chanticleer baseball squad and played a key role in Coastal winning the 2016 NCAA Division I College World Series.
What makes Chadwick’s story even more interesting is the fact he spent last fall working as a volunteer with the football coaching staff and was elevated to offensive intern with the Chants this season, working specifically with the quarterbacks, in hopes of becoming a football coach in the future.
In addition to Chadwick, former high school quarterbacks Jordan McRae (Fayetteville, N.C./Terry Sanford HS) – a true freshman who had been working with the linebackers – and Ryan Lee (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley HS) – a true freshman who had been working with the wide receivers – will practice with quarterbacks this week.
Prior to the season, Coastal lost Chance Thrasher for the season with a shoulder injury. Thrasher was battling for the starting quarterback job prior to his injury. This past week at Jacksonville State, Josh Stilley, who started the first three games as the Chants’ signal-caller, was injured early in the second quarter. Coach Moglia indicated Monday that Stilley would likely miss the season with a knee injury.
Chadwick was the starting second baseman for Coastal Carolina during the College World Series and batted .310 during CCU’s eight games at the national championship – second-best on the team – with at least one hit in the last six games of the College World Series. His best game at the national championship tournament came in a second elimination game versus TCU. Chadwick was a triple shy of the cycle as he was 3-for-4 with a single, double and home run to help Coastal advance to the championship series final versus Arizona.
Chadwick was a career .292 hitter and posted an impressive .394 on-base percentage for his career. He was one of Coastal’s most versatile players as he started at catcher, first base, second base and third base in his career. He hit 14 career home runs, including eight this past season, with 94 runs scored and 118 RBI.
Ironically, this is not the first time Chadwick has been pressed into service due to injuries. In 2014, his sophomore season, Chadwick – an infielder by trade – was asked to move to catcher as CCU lost its top three options at the position during the season. Overall, Chadwick made 42 starts at catcher that season, was an iron man for the Chanticleers as he started in 32 of the last 33 games – seeing action at catcher in all 33 games – and caught 290.2 of Coastal’s last 302.2 innings. However, he batted .302 over the span with a team-best 23 RBI.
Chadwick played quarterback for his father, Scott, at Marvin Ridge (N.C.) High School from 2009-11. He threw for 5,648 career yards and 54 career touchdowns while posting a 24-4 record in the regular season as a starter. He was one of five finalists for the Offensive Player of the Year at the Greater Charlotte High School Football Awards Banquet. The a two-time All-Southern Carolina Conference selection completed 102 of his passes to current Oakland Raider K.J. Brent and current Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown was Chadwick’s quarterback coach at Marvin Ridge.
McRae (Fayetteville, N.C./Terry Sanford HS) was named Cape Fear Valley 3-A All-Conference as a running back last season. As a junior (2014), he was tabbed the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a quarterback. For his career, McRae completed 158-of-329 passes for 2,447 yards, including 1,459 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior.
Lee (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley HS) played quarterback as a junior and senior in high school, while playing running back as a sophomore. He tallied 1,231 yards of total offense in his senior season with 18 touchdowns. Lee scored 11 touchdowns as a junior.
