Coastal Carolina's Tim Beck Focuses on Progress, Growth

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Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck focused on the growth and progress that not only the football program, but the university as a whole continues to make at the Sun Belt Conference Media Days on July 23 in New Orleans.

Teal Nation Fired Up

"I wanted to open my statement first of all to just say it's a great time to be at Coastal Carolina," Beck said. "There's so many positive things happening right now under the direction of President [Michael] Benson. We just hired Chance Miller, our new Athletic Director, he's here today. Full of energy, passion, has an incredible vision and a plan and has all of Teal Nation fired up."

He continued his praise of the university as a whole in expanding the athletic footprint, focusing on all of the new facilities being built around campus.

"You can see a lot of projects and a lot of people coming into place" Beck said. "We've hired Justin Gray, our new basketball coach, Kevin Schnall, our new baseball coach. We got a new scoreboard put in, new ribbon bands, our indoor facilities got the Legos, I call it the Legos, you can see all the sides are up, being built. Soccer facility being built, and gonna have a new area to play basketball games in. It's just an unbelievable time to be at Coastal Carolina."

The second-year coach said he has seen how excited everyone is around the program.

"Everyone's excited" Beck said. "Our players are super excited about it. I think Teal Nation's fired up."

Beck Building Relationships

Beck joked about how hard it is to predict the season with how much changes from year to year with the transfer portal.

"I feel for you in the media trying to preseason select who's gonna be No. 1," Beck said. "Nobody knows who their team even is, and you're trying to figure out who's gonna win the conference. If you guys can get that right let me know, 'cause we're going to [Las] Vegas. I don't even know my starting lineup and you guys are wanting to know where we're gonna finish."

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When asked about what he learned in his first year at the helm of the Chanticleers, Beck focused on his relationships within the program.

"We all learned about each other" Beck said. "My staff had never worked together ever, not just the coaches but the entire staff, support staff, everybody."

Replacing a Coastal Carolina Legend

One of the relatively new faces will be presumptive starting quarterback Ethan Vasko. Last season Vasko started four games in place of standout Grayson McCall due to an injury. McCall later transferred to NOrth Carolina State.

Beck said replacing a player the caliber of McCall is a tall task.

"It's hard to replace a Grayson McCall," Beck said. "You guys have all been around here the last three to four years and watched him play and know what impact he had on the game, but also what he had for Coastal Carolina athletics and the city of Conway and Myrtle Beach. It's immeasurable what he's done and we wish him the best."

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Despite McCall's status at Coastal Carolina, Beck said Vasko stepped up when called upon.

"Unfortunately [McCall] had an injury last year and we had to play six games without him," Beck said. "So Ethan Vasko got a chance to show what he could do in four of those games. He did exactly what we needed him to do. First thing he did was [win], he was 3-1 as a starting quarterback. He took care of the football. He had 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. When you get a quarterback that will take care of the football, you get a quarterback that can win, find ways to win, that's a pretty good thing."

Beck said he is looking forward to Vasko's continued growth.

"Ethan just continues to grow in everything," Beck said. "He's getting bigger, he's getting stronger, he's getting faster, he's getting smarter, he's understanding the game better, he's throwing the ball better, he's running faster, so all the things you would expect a kid who's a redshirt freshman going into his sophomore season to be able to see how he's going to be able to develop."

Tough Home Schedule

When asked about the impact of having Virginia Cavaliers coming to Brooks Stadium, Beck said he is excited about the opportunity for the growth of the program and the community.

"I think having a Power Five school come in is exciting," Beck said. "I think the City of Conway and the City of Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas will be excited. We have a great home schedule. A tough one, obviously. The Sun Belt Conference is so demanding, it doesn't matter who you play, where you play them, the 12 teams that are bowl-eligible out of 14, that's pretty impressive. No other conference can state that. I think our team is used to that. I think our fans are used to it. I think last year everybody we play was bowl eligible. I think we were one of two teams in the country that had that. It's become second nature to some degree."

The Chanticleers start practice on July 29 and open the season on the road at Jacksonville State on Aug. 29.