Coastal Carolina head football coach Jamey Chadwell has earned another national award, this time from the Football Writers Association of America and the Allstate Sugar Bowl who have named the him the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.
Chadwell is a first-time winner of the Eddie Robinson Award and the first coach from the Sun Belt Conference to win the honor. He was selected from voting by the entire FWAA membership from a field of eight other finalists from seven FBS conferences and the nation's top independent program.
"Jamey Chadwell had an outstanding season that would have impressed even Coach Robinson," Sugar Bowl president Ralph Capitelli said.
"While going from being picked last in the conference in the preseason to winning its first Sun Belt Championship and reaching the national top-10, Coastal Carolina became one of the feel-good stories of the season during a very tough year. Congratulations to Coach Chadwell and his Chanticleers."
"Coach Eddie Robinson's family sends congratulations and well-wishes to Coach Jamey Chadwell on his becoming the 2020 FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year," said Eddie Robinson III, the grandson of the legendary coach. "His 2020 season at Coastal Carolina has been a phenomenal one not only for the school and for the Sun Belt Conference but for all of college football and its rich history."
Chadwell has already been named the 2020 Walter Camp Coach of the Year, the Associated Press Coach of the Year, The Home Depot College Football Coach of the Year, the Sporting News' 2020 Coach of the Year, the 2020 CBS Sports/247Sports Coach of the Year and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Group of 5 2020 Conference Coach of the Year.
“This award is a direct reflection of the sacrifices that the Coastal Carolina University administration, staff, coaches, and student-athletes made to help our team have a historic season,” said Chadwell.
“It’s an absolute privilege to represent Coach Robinson and I would like to thank the Football Writers Associations of America and the Sugar Bowl committee for the opportunity to accept this prestigious award.
Chadwell was also named the 2020 Sun Belt Coach of the Year and the 2020 Werner Ladder AFCA FBS Region 2 Coach of the Year.
He is also a finalist for both the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award and the George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, which is presented annually by the Maxwell Football Club
In his third year as the head coach at Coastal Carolina, Chadwell led the Chants to the program's first-ever Sun Belt Conference title and an 11-1 overall mark, an 8-0 Sun Belt Conference record, and the program's first-ever FBS postseason bowl game. In the Sun Belt preseason media poll, the Chanticleers had been picked to finish last in the Sun Belt's Eastern Division, a prediction that was obliterated with the way CCU performed in 2020.
This season marked Coastal Carolina's first-ever undefeated regular season and the first time that the Chanticleers were ranked in either the Associated Press Top 25 Poll or the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports.
The Chanticleers posted two wins over FBS top 25 nationally-ranked opponents, the first two in program history, four wins over top 50 opponents, and was ranked as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 11 in the Amway Coaches Poll, both Sun Belt Conference records. The Chanticleers were also ranked as high as No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, also a Sun Belt record.
