 McCall in 2023 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Offensive analyst |
| Team | Coastal Carolina |
| Conference | Sun Belt |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (2000-12-13)December 13, 2000 (age 24) Indian Trail, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2019–2023 | Coastal Carolina |
| 2024 | NC State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2025–present | Coastal Carolina (OA) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Grayson McCall (born December 13, 2000) is an Americancollege football coach and formerAmerican footballquarterback who is currently an offensive analyst for theCoastal Carolina Chanticleers. He playedcollege football for the Chanticleers andNC State Wolfpack. At Coastal Carolina, he was a three-timeSun Belt Player of the Year and led the team to its first undefeated regular season, first appearance on theAP andCoaches Poll rankings,[1] as well as its first bowl game appearance in 2020, and was the NCAA Division I FBS leader in yards per completion and passer rating in 2021. He also played for the NC State Wolfpack for four games. McCall retired from playing due to a severe concussion suffered in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
At the age of 12, McCall joined a traveling Little League all-star baseball team that played in a televised tournament in Cooperstown, New York. McCall decided to quit baseball before high school.[2] McCall attendedPorter Ridge High School inIndian Trail, North Carolina. During his high school career, he passed for 3,863 yards with 34touchdowns and rushed for 3,003 yards and 41 touchdowns. He was listed as a two-star recruit and the 2889th player coming out of high school in the class of 2019. He committed toCoastal Carolina University on December 19, 2018, to play college football over offers fromArmy,Chattanooga,Eastern Kentucky, andGardner-Webb.[3]
McCall played in two games his first year at Coastal Carolina in 2019 and took aredshirt. He completed all four of his pass attempts for 25 yards and a touchdown. He became the team's starting quarterback in 2020.[2][4][5][6]During the2020 NCAA football season, Grayson McCall made a name for himself by leading the last place projectedCoastal Carolina football team to its first-ever undefeated regular season, first-ever appearance on theAP andCoaches Poll peaking at number 12,[1] first-ever Co-Sun Belt conference championship, as well as its first-ever bowl game appearance in the2020 Cure Bowl where they suffered their only loss on the season.[7] Starting all twelve games, McCall led Coastal Carolina to wins in big matchups between undefeated teams againstLouisiana andBYU. The latter game is considered to be the biggest win in program history and was nicknamedMormons vs. Mullets.[8] After the conclusion of the 2020 season McCall was named theSun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Sun Belt Freshman of the Year,[9] received First-team All-Sun Belt honors and nominations for theDavey O'Brien Award[10] andManning Award.[11]
On December 12, 2022, it was announced that he would enter theNCAA transfer portal.[12] ESPN reported on January 1, 2023, that McCall had exited the portal and would remain at Coastal for the 2023 season.[13] McCall entered the transfer portal a second time on November 29, 2023.[14]
On December 13, 2023, McCall announced that he would be transferring toNC State.[15] Prior to the first game of the season againstWestern Carolina, McCall was named the starting quarterback of the Wolfpack, earning the job over freshman quarterbacksCJ Bailey and Lex Thomas. On October 5, 2024, McCall suffered a severe head injury in the first quarter of the game againstWake Forest, resulting in his helmet coming off his head in the air after being hit simultaneously by two Demon Deacons defensive players.[16] Following his injury, Bailey was named the starting quarterback for the Wolfpack. On October 23, McCall announced his retirement from football, citing the injury against the Demon Deacons as well as another devastating head injury he suffered the prior season with Coastal Carolina as the reason he would be stepping away,[17] although stated he might be interested in coaching.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led NCAA Division I FBS | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0–0 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 25 | 6.3 | 1 | 0 | 235.0 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 |
| 2020 | 11 | 11 | 10–1 | 172 | 250 | 68.8 | 2,488 | 10.0 | 26 | 3 | 184.3 | 111 | 569 | 5.1 | 7 |
| 2021 | 11 | 11 | 10–1 | 176 | 241 | 73.0 | 2,873 | 11.9 | 27 | 4 | 207.6 | 93 | 290 | 3.1 | 4 |
| 2022 | 11 | 11 | 9–2 | 207 | 297 | 69.7 | 2,700 | 9.1 | 24 | 2 | 171.4 | 91 | 195 | 2.1 | 6 |
| 2023 | 7 | 7 | 4–3 | 151 | 224 | 67.4 | 1,919 | 8.6 | 10 | 6 | 147.8 | 53 | 48 | 0.9 | 1 |
| NC State Wolfpack | |||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 4 | 4 | 2–2 | 53 | 80 | 66.3 | 518 | 6.5 | 3 | 2 | 128.0 | 19 | 53 | 2.8 | 0 |
| Career | 46 | 44 | 35−9 | 763 | 1,096 | 69.6 | 10,523 | 9.6 | 91 | 16 | 174.7 | 369 | 1,166 | 3.2 | 18 |
On January 6, 2025, McCall was hired byCoastal Carolina University as an offensive analyst, reuniting him with former head coachTim Beck and Coastal Carolina.[18]
McCall has an older brother and a sister.[2]