It was announced in the late 1990s that CCU would establish a football squad in the coming years. The
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football program played its inaugural season in 2003 on campus at Brooks Stadium. The team's first coach was
David Bennett, who held the position from the team's inception until December 9, 2011. In the program's short history, the team has defeated such traditional
Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powers as
James Madison University (ranked No. 1 at the time),
Furman University,
Wofford College, and the
University of Montana. The program has won seven
Big South Conference championships and has had several
former players enter professional NFL careers. Coastal's primary football rivals in FCS play were
Liberty and
Charleston Southern. Coastal Carolina's first season as a full FBS member was in 2017. In 2020, the team won a share of its first Sun Belt championship and made its first bowl appearance, a 37-34 defeat to rival Liberty in the
Cure Bowl. Coastal won its first bowl game the following season, returning to the
Cure Bowl and defeating
Northern Illinois, 47-41.
David Bennett era (2003–2011) In 2006, the Chanticleers made school history when the team received its first
FCS playoff berth, also the first playoff berth for the Big South Conference, losing a first-round contest to
Appalachian State. Appalachian State would go on to win the FCS national championship that season. In
2010, Coastal went to the playoffs for the second time after winning the Big South Championship (a three-way tie with
Liberty and
Stony Brook) and received the Big South's first-ever automatic playoff bid. On September 11, 2010, Coastal Carolina played a five-overtime game on the road against the
Towson Tigers, the longest game in school history. Coastal would lose the game, 47–45. Bennett was dismissed following the 2011 season. University president
David A. DeCenzo cited a 29-28 record during the previous five seasons—including only three wins against teams with winning records—and declining attendance as reasons for Bennett's removal.
Joe Moglia era (2012–18) The university named
Joe Moglia, former
CEO of
TD Ameritrade, as its new head coach on December 20, 2011. Moglia found immediate success, leading the Chanticleers to a share of three consecutive Big South titles in his first three seasons and playoff berths in each of his first four seasons. In 2014, the team earned its first number 1 FCS ranking in program history after starting the season 11-0. The Chanticleers left the Big South Conference at the end of the 2015–16 school year and joined the
Sun Belt Conference, initially as a non-football member. At that time, the football team began a two-year transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The first season of the transition in 2016 was spent as an
FCS independent; the Chanticleers officially joined Sun Belt football July 1, 2017, with full bowl eligibility following in 2018. The Chanticleers earned the program's first win as an FBS program when they defeated the
UMass Minutemen, 38-28, on September 2, 2017. The team had a tough time winning games during the 2017 season, losing its next nine games. Ending the 2017 season on a positive note, Coastal Carolina earned the program's first two Sun Belt Conference wins in the final two weeks of the season, a 13–7 victory over the
Idaho Vandals and a 28-17 win against the
Georgia Southern Eagles. Coastal finished the year with a record of 3–9. The 2017 team was led by interim head coach
Jamey Chadwell, during a medical leave of absence from Moglia. Building from their momentum at the end of the 2017 season, Coastal Carolina finished the 2018 season with an improved record of 5–7, with notable wins against the
UAB Blazers,
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, and
Georgia State Panthers. Moglia retired from coaching following the 2018 season.
Jamey Chadwell era (2019–22) Jamey Chadwell was introduced as the program's third head coach on January 18, 2019. He had previously served as the team's offensive coordinator and as its interim head coach for the 2017 season.
2020 season On October 14, 2020, Coastal Carolina got its first win against a ranked FBS team by defeating No. 21
Louisiana 30–27. Following the win, the
AP ranked Coastal Carolina No. 25, making it their first time as a national ranked team. The same week, the
College Football Playoff rankings listed Coastal at No. 20. For the remainder of the regular season, Coastal remained in the
AP Top 25. Their highest AP ranking that year was #14 in the fourteenth week, with a CFP ranking of No. 18 the same week. Their original opponent for Week 14 (Dec 5th) was
Liberty, but Liberty canceled the game citing concerns related to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Coastal’s new opponent for that week became No. 13
BYU. The undefeated Chanticleers created national attention and interest in the team, and their matchup with BYU led
ESPN to broadcast
College GameDay from
Conway on December 5. Coastal
won 22–17, with the game ending when BYU was stopped one yard short of the goal-line. The victory resulted in Coastal Carolina ranked No. 11 by the AP Top 25 Rankings and No. 13 by the CFP Playoffs for Week 15. With the conference championship game scheduled for December 19, CCU was set up for another showdown with Louisiana. However, they would have to settle for a co-championship with Louisiana, with both named champions after the Chanticleers found themselves unable to play when a positive COVID-19 test was found within the CCU team. Coastal ended its season against Liberty in the first bowl game in team history, the
Cure Bowl, losing 37–34 in overtime.
2021 season CCU was ranked No. 22 to start the season, and won their first six games to rise up to No. 15 before a loss to
Appalachian State ended the streak. They won four of their next five games but finished second in the East Division. They were invited to the
2021 Cure Bowl where CCU defeated
Northern Illinois 47-41 to earn the first bowl game victory in school history. The Chanticleers went 8-5 during Beck's first season in 2023. The team ended the season with its second bowl victory in program history, a 24-14 win against
San Jose State in the
Hawaii Bowl. Beck was
fired on November 30, 2025, with the announcement coming after their final game against James Madison. The university determined a change was needed despite finishing bowl-eligible at 6-6 for two straight regular seasons.
Ryan Beard era (2026–present) Ryan Beard was hired on December 11, 2025. ==Conference affiliations==