The state of Coastal Carolina football is on the rise—according to director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek.

In 2010, the program won a Big South Championship, hosted its first ever FCS playoff game and had a more than $50,000-dollar increase in gross ticket revenues from the year before.

...

The program’s rise can be greatly attributed to the school’s only coach. David Bennett will enter his 10th season on the sidelines in 2011.

“He is what this university is about,” Yurachek said. “He’s a tremendous asset to us as a community person. As a football coach I think the football program is headed in the right direction under his guidance.”

The school’s newest recruiting tool is on display in the end-zone every game. Yurachek says the Adkins Fieldhouse, which was unveiled in 2010, is the showcase building for athletics on campus. Yurachek says the state of the art weight-room and locker-room, as well as the coaches offices and meeting areas have been exactly what the university needed.

Adkins Fieldhouse has opened up room for other departments to expand. The athletic training center is moving from a 1500-square-foot facility into a near 5000-square-foot area where the football locker room used to be. Coastal Carolina is remodeling the area and will have their own doctor’s office and X-Ray machine on site.

As for Brooks Stadium itself, there are no immediate plans to expand. Yurachek says the stadium was designed in a way to allow the whole football field to be enclosed which could then hold up to 20,000 fans.

A goal for Yurachek is to grow the Coastal Carolina fan-base. The second year athletic director is trying to do that through football game-day activities.

“We have a dedicated marketing department that has created a dynamic game day atmosphere,” Yurachek said. “We are really excited about the product we have.”

Yurachek plans on moving student-tailgating closer to the stadium and continuing to have pre and post-game radio shows on site.

Growth of Coastal Carolina athletics also hinges on the long-term affilation Coastal Carolina has with a conference. Currently, the University is happy being a member of The Big South conference—but the long term relationship between the two parties may be up in the air.

“I still think there will be some movement,” Yurachek said about teams changing conferences in the future. “We’ll see if there will be a better fit for Coastal Carolina University out there as far as affiliations, but right now, the Big South conference is our affiliation. It is the best conference for us right now and we’ll see if that holds true in the future.”

By Jeff Zell, SC Now
http://www2.scnow.com/sports/2011/jul/19/ccu-ad-football-headed-right-direction-ar-2161326/