NEW ORLEANS — Coastal Carolina will commence the Ryan Beard era when it travels to West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT on TNT.
The Mountaineers won the lone prior matchup, 31-0, in 2010, when the Chanticleers were still competing at the FCS level.
Coastal Carolina’s non-conference schedule also features home dates with Fordham (Sept. 12) and Liberty (Sept. 24), bookending a trip to Delaware (Sept. 19). Alongside annual meetings with their East Division rivals, the Chanticleers will host Arkansas State (Nov. 14) and travel to Louisiana (Nov. 21) from the Sun Belt West Division.
The Chanticleers were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt East Division, while claiming 1-of-14 first-place votes in last month’s
2026 Sun Belt Conference Football Preseason Coaches Poll.
First-year head coach Ryan Beard will guide a roster that
had three players named to the 2026 Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams.
Coastal Carolina went 6-7 in 2025, qualifying for its sixth-straight bowl game. The Chanticleers were part of the Sun Belt’s 10-team Bowl Season contingent that paced the non-autonomy conferences for the fourth-straight year.
In nine seasons of FBS football, the Chanticleers are 64-49-0 and have posted a .500-or-better regular-season record in sixth-straight campaigns.
To listen to head coach Ryan Beard, redshirt junior wide receiver Robby Washington and redshirt senior defensive lineman Ibrahim Diawara’s comments from the 2026 Sun Belt Football Media Days,
visit the Sun Belt Conference YouTube page.
2026 SCHEDULE
| 9/5 |
at West Virginia |
| 9/12 |
Fordham |
| 9/19 |
at Delaware |
| 9/24 |
Liberty |
| 10/3 |
Georgia Southern* |
| 10/10 |
at Marshall* |
| 10/16 |
App State* |
| 10/31 |
at Georgia State* |
| 11/7 |
Old Dominion* |
| 11/14 |
Arkansas State* |
| 11/21 |
at Louisiana* |
| 11/28 |
at James Madison* |
* Sun Belt Conference Game
2025 ALL-SUN BELT RETURNERS
N/A
2026 PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT SELECTIONS
First Team
DB – Ja’Marion Wayne, Coastal Carolina (Gr., DB – St. Louis, Mo.)
Second Team
LB – Tray Brown, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., LB – Margate, Fla.)
DB – Myles Woods, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DB – Grayson, Ga.)