After a period of speculation and uncertainty regarding the future of redshirt junior quarterback Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina University welcomed back its decorated signal caller as he withdrew from the transfer portal on Jan. 1, 2023 and announced he would be returning to Conway for his final collegiate year.

“It was extremely hectic,” McCall said as he addressed his time in the portal where he was ranked the number one potential transfer prospect. “I remember coming in to get my name in the portal and I remember before I even walked out of the door I was getting phone calls from coaches,” he continued. “Coach Chadwell was going to Liberty so that was an option and Coach Beck and his staff coming in, they wanted me to stay.”

McCall said he entered the portal in his best interest to scope out what offers were there for him. However, nothing appealed to him the way CCU did.

“I originally entered the portal to get into a more pro-style system because that’s what the scouts want to see me in,” he said. “I just wanted to see what else was out there, to see what opportunities were out there for me and I just couldn’t seem to find the perfect fit.”

The quarterback then cited a love for the Conway environment as one of the reasons he decided to stick to teal nation.

“I just love the people here and the culture of what we built, and I just want to finish it here and get my degree from here,” McCall said.

McCall played an astronomical role in the shaping of this new culture. In his first two seasons starting for the program, he earned the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year title and led the team to its first two ever bowl games; this includes the 2021 Cure Bowl win in his redshirt sophomore season.

“After the ‘21 season when I was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year for the second year in a row, Coach Chadwell actually challenged me in the off season. He told me that no one had ever done it three times,” McCall said.

Sure enough, he was crowned atop the Sun Belt Conference as Player of the Year for the third time after his continued exceptional performance this past season. Chadwell’s challenge made him the first football player ever to receive the honor three times.

“We’re gonna run it back one more time, maybe I can go for four,” he said with a laugh.

Over his three years starting for the Chanticleers, McCall’s statistics have put him on national notice. Tallying up 8,061 passing yards and 77 touchdowns through the air while throwing only eight interceptions, McCall has established himself as one of the nation’s most dominant forces at his position.

During his 2021 season, McCall set a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) record for passing efficiency rating with 207.6, beating current New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones’ previous record of 203.1 as well as current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s rating of 202.

McCall is also recognized as a dual threat quarterback, as he can both pass and run the ball. Over his three years starting, he has rushed for 1,054 yards and 17 touchdowns.

As he always has, McCall placed an emphasis on team success over individual.

“The accolades are great and all but I’d rather win games and championships and let the accolades come in the end,” he said. “I think my teammates are confident in me as a leader and they’ll vote me as a captain again, that’s really special to me and it means a lot.”

The captain also shared he has been working with NIL (name, image, and likeness) collaborator Native Sons as well as the Teal Collective on new gear and other NIL deals in addition to his renewal of his Darlington Raceway deal.

“I’ve recently been working with the Teal Collective here, we’re trying to get a subscription going for fans,” he said and then discussed a new Native Sons collection that will be coming out soon. “It’ll be out here sooner than later. By the time the season’s here, it’ll definitely be out. Right now, we’re just going through new ideas, new designs, trying to get some cool stuff out for everybody. It seemed like a lot of people liked this stuff last year so we’re going to keep that going.”

McCall also shared that he is trying to use his name, image, and likeness success to help his teammates have success with it as well.

“It’s great for me but at the same time, I’m trying to build our whole NIL thing here for my teammates and incoming recruits,” he said. “Coach Beck is doing a really good job, and the Teal Collective have been able to look out and really help me along the way.”

Throughout his time here, McCall has led his team to great success and helped establish a huge fan presence. He has absorbed the culture and developed a great passion for his place as a Chant, even saying “people call me ‘Ten’ more than they call me Grayson,” showing just how locked-in he is to his role as a Chant.

Chanticleer nation awaits the start of its final season with “Ten” at the helm.