FYI - Coastal will be staying in Jacksonville this week...
BUIES CREEK, N.C.
The road leads to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Coastal Carolina football team.
Following their 58-21 win at Campbell on Wednesday, the Chanticleers loaded onto several buses and headed to Jacksonville for an unspecified amount of time.
The 100-plus players, coaches, football staff, family members and even some pets will stay in hotel rooms while Hurricane Florence rages through the Grand Strand.
The Chants had to evacuate the campus Tuesday morning and won’t be able to return until the campus reopens, which could be several days. They hope the campus isn’t damaged.
Coastal’s next game is 7 p.m. next Saturday at Louisiana-Lafayette.
“If school’s open, we’ll come back home; if not we’ll stay in Jacksonville, Fla., and we’ll try to get ready for Louisiana down there,” Chants head coach Joe Moglia said.
The Chants have lined up practice locations, though they don’t have a practice schedule.
Those with the team couldn’t leave their pets behind, so there are a number of dogs making the trip that all are being transported on a single bus, away from people with dog allergies, including Moglia and sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Gunter.
“We’ve got the entire staff and their families with us,” Moglia said. “What I didn’t account for was the all the dogs. We’ve got plenty of dogs that made this trip, but at least everybody is safe.”
The team doesn’t know how long it will be on its impromptu field trip or how long the players will be around each other without a break.
“You just can’t look at the negative side of it,” grad student and quarterback Kilton Anderson said. “Yeah, we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other, and yeah, we’re going to want to pull each other’s hairs out. But we’re lucky enough to travel somewhere safely, and a lot of people and families don’t have that luxury.
“If we have to practice there, we have to practice there. It’s not going to slow us down. We have to continue to go win and perform at our highest level.”
The Chants will be playing a lot of video games, including Madden NFL and NBA 2K. “I’m the best 2K player on the team, by the way, let that be known,” Gunter said. “When it comes to Madden, we always get a little tournament going. Everyone’s got a gaming system. I know I’ve got mine in my bag.”
There will be some Fortnite competitions, as well, and Gunter said sophomore linebacker Silas Kelly might be the player to beat in that video game.
Gunter expects the trip to help the team continue to bond.
“We love each other,” he said. “Those are my guys. I’ll spend all day with them. Those are my best friends.”
Moglia also believes the team can use the trip as a learning experience.
“What I want them to do is appreciate the fact that while this may be very, very inconvenient, there’s a much bigger picture here,” Moglia said. “There is a potential regional disaster at risk, so what I want is for our guys to understand that and be appreciative enough that we’re safe.”
