by In my mind, there have only been eras of Coastal Carolina football: pre-Grayson McCall and post-Grayson McCall. Now he’s gone. Now McCall flip-flopped with head coach Tim Beck and is with NC State for a sixth year. Pretty crazy to see the 3x Sun Belt Player of the Year leave a team that endured most-to-all of its success with him under center.
I’m sure our soon-to-be Coastal alum and die hard fan Snade can weigh in on it a lot more than me, but this was a solid pickup for the Pack.
The only two concerns I have with McCall:
Availability: He’s missed playing time over the past two seasons, including a head injury suffered in the Arkansas State game a few weeks back, so hopefully he can stay healthy in his final year.
Talent Jump: McCall killed it in the Sun Belt and put up excellent numbers, but there is an obvious talent gap between G5 personnel and P5 personnel. Granted, he will have bigger, faster, and stronger teammates in Raleigh, but, like any player, this is a scenario you worry about in college football with a guy potentially being a bust at the next level once the competition cranks up a notch.
The good news for NC State is that this is an instant upgrade. Brennan Armstrong, who many thought would turn the offense around, was a complete bust. McCall may not have as strong of an arm, but he’s an all-around better athlete and a winner. Much of his earlier success was under Jamey Chadwell’s high-octane offense, so hopefully he can gel under this Wolfpack system.
An overall good pickup for the Pack and a terrific turnaround for McCall, who once was a two-star prospect and the 112th ranked quarterback in the state of North Carolina.