The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have officially fired head coach Tim Beck after two straight seasons around the .500 mark. Who are the top candidates to potentially replace him in Conway, South Carolina?
Potential Tim Beck Replacements at Head Coach for Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Coach Beck kicked off his coaching career at Coastal Carolina with a promising 8-5 season in 2023, but he cooled off considerably over the course of the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Now the decision has been made to relieve Beck of his duties.
The Chanticleers never missed out on bowl season in three years under Beck’s watch, but they were also unable to reclaim the kind of success they’d enjoyed the three seasons prior. Coastal Carolina went 6-7 in 2024, and leveled out at 6-6 at the end of the 2025 regular season.
With Beck gone, the Chanticleers will now seek out a new leader — but there aren’t many proven options for a team of Coastal Carolina’s caliber, and whoever they hire will have work to do.
Below are five prime candidates for Coastal Carolina’s open head coaching gig, along with the most recent school they coached at and their latest position.
Ryan Beard, Missouri State HC
Coastal Carolina isn’t a high-profile location for football coaches, so the Chanticleers will have to find under-the-radar, up-and-coming coaches at the lower levels of the FBS. One such candidate would be Ryan Beard, Missouri State’s head coach.
At just 36 years old, Beard has aided the Bears in acclimating to the FBS after making the jump from the Missouri Valley Conference in 2025. The Bears went 7-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play in their first season in the C-USA, and Beard is a big part of that.
Beard played college football at Western Kentucky, and also spent time at Louisville as an assistant earlier in his career.
Mack Leftwich, Texas Tech OC
Mack Leftwich is one of the most compelling coordinators on the coaching circuit. At just 31 years old, he’d be one of the youngest head coaches ever at the FBS level were he to be hired. In 2025, he’s helped the Red Raiders score 43.2 points per game — the third most in the nation.
Leftwich played college football at UTEP as a quarterback, and began his coaching career at UTEP as a student assistant. He was Incarnate Word’s QB coach during Cam Ward’s breakout 2021 campaign, and later served as Texas State’s offensive coordinator and QB coach before joining Joey McGuire’s staff in Lubbock.
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty HC
Some Coastal Carolina fans may still have a sour taste in their mouth after Jamey Chadwell left Coastal Carolina for Liberty in 2023, but Chadwell is a potential coaching option for the Chanticleers, if he so chose to return to the school where he first rose to prominence.
Chadwell, of course, is the coach who led the Chanticleers to national acclaim from 2020 through 2022. Across that stretch, Chadwell amassed a record of 31-6, won the Sun Belt Championship in 2020, and eclipsed 11 wins twice, while finishing 14th in the AP poll at the conclusion of the 2020 campaign.
Chadwell got off to a fast start at Liberty, winning 13 games in his first season, but things have soured quickly in the wake of the NIL era, and Chadwell’s flames went just 4-8 in 2025. If Chadwell desired both a change of scenery and familiarity to resurrect his winning ways, Coastal Carolina has a spot open for him again.
Jeremiah Johnson, Coastal Carolina DC
Jeremiah Johnson was instated as the Chanticleers’ interim head coach following the dismissal of Beck, and he’ll have a chance to make his case to retain the coaching job at the team’s upcoming bowl game.
Johnson has never been a head coach at any level. He spent 16 total seasons at Northern Iowa — first as a video coordinator, then as a position coach, and then as a defensive coordinator from 2013 to 2021, and once again in 2023. In 2024, he was Louisiana Tech’s defensive coordinator.
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina Offensive Analyst
In all likelihood, Grayson McCall isn’t close to ready for a head coaching gig, but the pickings are slim for Coastal Carolina, and McCall is a school legend who could galvanize the program if picked at the right time.
Set to be 25 years old this December, McCall would be the youngest head coach hire ever at the FBS level if the Chanticleers were to pick him as a surprise option. He’s Coastal Carolina’s career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, and was on staff as an offensive analyst this past season.
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