Brooks Stadium

Brooks Stadium / James C. Benton Field
	The entrance to Brooks Stadium
	Brooks Stadium Location in South Carolina Brooks Stadium Location in the United States
Address	540 University Blvd
Location	Conway, South Carolina
Coordinates	33°47′34″N79°01′03″W / 33.7929°N 79.0175°W
Owner	Coastal Carolina University
Operator	Coastal Carolina University
Capacity	21,000 (2019–present); 15,000 (2017–2018); 9,214 (2012–2016); 9,112 (2010–2011); 7,322 (2006–2009); 6,408 (2003–2005)
Surface	Shaw Sports PowerBlade (teal) (2015–present); Grass (2003–2014)
Construction
Broke ground	July 30, 2002
Opened	September 6, 2003
Renovated	2017–2019
Expanded	2010, 2017–2019
Construction cost	$59 Million
Architect	McMillan Smith & Partners
General contractor	Hill Construction
Tenants
	Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football (NCAA) (2003–present); Myrtle Beach Bowl (NCAA) (2020–present);

Last updated November 21, 2023

Brooks Stadium is a 21,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Conway, South Carolina. It is home to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team at Coastal Carolina University. The facility opened in 2003 and is named in honor of Coby Garrett Brooks and Boni Belle Brooks, children of Robert Brooks.^[2] Brooks was a Loris, South Carolina native and was the chairman of Hooters of America, Inc. The stadium is notable for its teal artificial turf.^[3]

History and renovation

Home stands in 2007 CoastalBrooksStad2.jpg — Home stands in 2007

While the current stadium dates only to 2003, the site has a considerably longer football history. In a 2020 interview, Coastal athletic director Matt Hogue, who began working at the school in 1997 as Coastal's basketball play-by-play announcer, told ESPN journalist Ryan McGee,

When I started working here, that was the location of Conway High School's football stadium. They decided to build a new stadium on their campus, so it left that lot open for us. But it sat there empty for seven or eight months between their last game and our groundbreaking, so it was completely overgrown with weeds and watermelons. . . . When we went out there to get ready for the groundbreaking ceremony, there were wild watermelons all over the place. So, we had to work around that.^[4]

Groundbreaking for Brooks Stadium was held on July 30, 2002. Phase I of the stadium construction contained 6,408 seats, while the foundation and infrastructure of the stadium was designed to support future expansion to 20,000 seats.^[5] The stadium was formally dedicated on September 6, 2003, as the Chanticleer football team opened its inaugural game vs. Newberry College in front of a crowd of more than 8,000. On October 7, 2006, the field was named James C. Benton Field to honor the family for a large donation they made to the Coastal athletics program earlier in the year.

2017–19 expansion

Following the announcement of the university joining the Sun Belt Conference on September 1, 2015, Brooks Stadium underwent construction to expand the stadium to 20,000 seats. The NCAA requires FBS programs to maintain an average attendance of at least 15,000 over a rolling two-year cycle. The expansion project received approval from the state in November 2015, but construction was not expected to begin until January 2017. Coastal Carolina University officials set the project price tag at $38 million.^[6] The committee also announced in February 2017 the lead architects for the expansion were Heery International, Inc. architectural firm and Stubbs Muldrow Herin architects.^[7] McKnight Construction Company was awarded the project, and groundbreaking took place on March 21, 2017. Construction took place over two phases; the first phase expanded the stadium to the FBS-minimum 15,000 seats by expanding the sidelines and connecting them to the north end zone as well as expanding the press box side upper deck. It was completed in time for Coastal Carolina's season opener against UMass on September 2, 2017. Construction of phase II began in January 2018, and further expanded capacity to over 20,000 seats by adding premium seating and an upper deck to the west side.^[8] Phase II was finished in August 2019.^[9]

Marrio & Josh Norman Fieldhouse

The $8.5 million fieldhouse opened at Brooks Stadium in June 2010. It was originally named for brothers Mark and Will Adkins (Coastal Carolina '89), who planned to donate $1.5 million to the project. The fieldhouse added 1,600 seats.

On November 3, 2018, it was announced that Josh Norman had donated a large amount of money to the athletic department and the Adkins Fieldhouse name changed to Marrio & Josh Norman Fieldhouse.

The Marrio & Josh Norman Fieldhouse also includes houses:

Football offices, meeting rooms, and football locker room
13,000-square-foot (1,200 m²) Strength & conditioning center for all student-athletes
Men's and women's cross country and track & field offices
Men's and women's soccer offices
Men's and women's golf offices
Men's tennis office
Baseball office
Softball office
Sasser Athletic Hall of Fame

Attendance records

Rank	Attendance	Date	Game Result
1	21,324	October 28, 2023	Coastal Carolina 34, Marshall 6
2	21,224	November 3, 2022	Coastal Carolina 35, Appalachian State 28
3	21,165	September 3, 2022	Coastal Carolina 38, Army 28
4	18,756	October 1, 2022	Coastal Carolina 34, Georgia Southern 30
5	18,674	October 2, 2021	#16 Coastal Carolina 59, Louisiana–Monroe 6
6	18,116	September 16, 2023	Coastal Carolina 66, Duquesne 7
7	17,697	September 10, 2021	#17 Coastal Carolina 49, Kansas 22
8	17,249	October 12, 2019	Coastal Carolina 21, Georgia State 31
9	16,814	October 15, 2022	Coastal Carolina 21, Old Dominion 49
10	16,744	November 13, 2021	Coastal Carolina 40, Georgia State 42

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The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represents Coastal Carolina University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Chanticleers are members of the Sun Belt Conference, fielding its teams at the FBS level since 2017. The Chanticleers play their home games at James C. Benton Field at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.

The 2016 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Joe Moglia and played their home games at Brooks Stadium. They were in their first and only season as an FCS Independent. The Chanticleers joined the FBS Sun Belt Conference in July 2016 as a full but non-football member. The football team transitioned to FBS, joining Sun Belt football in 2017 and gaining full FBS membership and bowl eligibility in 2018. They finished the season 10–2.

The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and ended on December 9, 2017.

The 2017 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Chanticleers played their home games at the Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by interim head coach Jamey Chadwell, who also served as offense coordinator, while permanent head coach Joe Moglia was on leave due to medical issues. The season marked the Chanticleers' first year in the Sun Belt and the FBS, and their second of a two year transition period. They would not become bowl-eligible until the 2018 season. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for 10th place.

The 2019 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Chanticleers were led by first-year head coach Jamey Chadwell and played their home games at Brooks Stadium. They competed as a member of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.

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The 2020 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Chanticleers were led by second-year head coach Jamey Chadwell and played their home games at Brooks Stadium. They competed as a member of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Coastal Carolina–Liberty football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team of Coastal Carolina University and Liberty Flames football team of Liberty University.

The 2021 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Chanticleers were led by third-year head coach Jamey Chadwell and played their home games at Brooks Stadium. They competed as a member of the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.

The 2022 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team represented Coastal Carolina University in the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Chanticleers, led by fourth-year head coach Jamey Chadwell, played their home games at Brooks Stadium. They competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.

References

↑ "Coastal Carolina University Stadium" (PDF). Hill Construction. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
↑ "Football stadium at Coastal to be named for Brooks". Archived from the original on September 22, 2006.
↑ McGuire, Kevin (January 25, 2015). "Coastal Carolina going with teal for new artificial turf". NBC Sports.
↑ McGee, Ryan (October 29, 2020). "Coastal Carolina's long road to becoming college football's must-see attraction". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
↑ "Football stadium at Coastal to be named for Brooks". Coastal Carolina University. August 11, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
↑ "Coastal Carolina committee approves $38M bonds for Brooks Stadium expansion". Coastal Carolina University. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
↑ "Brooks Stadium Additions" (PDF). Coastal Carolina University. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
↑ "Coastal Has Football Stadium Expansion Groundbreaking Ceremony". Coastal Carolina University Athletics. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
↑ Blondin, Alan (August 8, 2019). "Expansion of Brooks Stadium is complete. What the new capacity and features mean for CCU". Myrtle Beach Sun News . Retrieved March 26, 2020.

External links

Brooks Stadium – Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Athletics

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[1] "Coastal Carolina University Stadium" (PDF). Hill Construction. Retrieved September 10, 2012.

[2] "Football stadium at Coastal to be named for Brooks". Archived from the original on September 22, 2006.

[3] McGuire, Kevin (January 25, 2015). "Coastal Carolina going with teal for new artificial turf". NBC Sports.

[4] McGee, Ryan (October 29, 2020). "Coastal Carolina's long road to becoming college football's must-see attraction". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.

[5] "Football stadium at Coastal to be named for Brooks". Coastal Carolina University. August 11, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2015.

[6] "Coastal Carolina committee approves $38M bonds for Brooks Stadium expansion". Coastal Carolina University. Retrieved April 8, 2016.

[7] "Brooks Stadium Additions" (PDF). Coastal Carolina University. Retrieved April 8, 2016.

[8] "Coastal Has Football Stadium Expansion Groundbreaking Ceremony". Coastal Carolina University Athletics. Retrieved June 11, 2017.

[9] Blondin, Alan (August 8, 2019). "Expansion of Brooks Stadium is complete. What the new capacity and features mean for CCU". Myrtle Beach Sun News . Retrieved March 26, 2020.

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