Coastal Carolina University - Athletics

Athletics

Coastal Carolina's athletic programs compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big South Conference (the football team competes in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision). The primary colors of the university's athletic programs are teal, black and bronze.

Until the mid-1960s Coastal's teams were known as the Trojans. Upon its affiliation with the University of South Carolina, the push was made for a mascot more in line with the parent's mascot (the Gamecock); the ultimate choice was the Chanticleer (pronounced SHON-ti-clear), the proud, witty rooster made famous in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (the mascot itself would be named Chauncey). When Coastal became an independent university in 1993, despite some calls for "a complete split from USC" (i.e., change the mascot), the Chanticleer remained the school's mascot.