By MONTE DUTTON

Technically, Kadon Crawford is signed to be a PWO at Coastal Carolina University.

PWO stands for “preferred walk-on.” It’s a walk-on with fringe benefits. It’s how another Clinton High player, Peyton Pitts, signed with Clemson two years ago. In general, it’s a school telling an athlete it doesn’t have a scholarship to spare right now, but it’s doing for the athlete what it can.

It also means that Crawford wants to prove himself at the FBS level of college football playing for a program that has proved it can win.

The Chanticleers are in Conway, across the Intracoastal Waterway from Myrtle Beach. Few young men and women who have matriculated there didn’t find some appeal in going to school near the beach.

Yes, Crawford said, “I love the beach.”

In the past four years, under three different head coaches, Coastal Carolina has played in bowl games — the Cure Bowl twice, the Birmingham Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl – against Liberty, Northern Illinois, East Carolina and San Jose State. In its most recent bowl, the Chanticleers defeated San Jose State on Dec. 23, 2023, by a score of 24-14.

Tim Beck led Coastal to an 8-5 season in his first year as head coach. Since the program began in 2003, every head coach who led the team for more than a game has had a winning record. Interim coach Chad Staggs lost a bowl game in 2022.

My hunch is that Crawford will have an immediate impact on special teams, provided he doesn’t red-shirt as a freshman. He has extra fire in his belly. He is relentless, whether playing football all over the field or basketball, where his skills are less refined, all over the court.

Of Corey Fountain and the rest of his Red Devil coaches, Crawford said, “They helped me greatly. They influenced me to come to practice every day, work hard, even work hard when nobody’s looking, no matter what it is. Just do what it takes to be great.”

Crawford considered Newberry, Presbyterian and Erskine, but he saw in Coastal Carolina a place where he could make a name for himself. He watched the Chants fall to Georgia State, 30-17, on Conway’s teal artificial turf, last fall.

On Wednesday, it seemed as if everyone was there. Photos with the family. Photos with his football teammates.. Photos with his basketball teammates. Photos with his coaches. Photos with his buddies. Photos with anyone who wanted one taken.

At Clinton High School, Kadon Crawford was something special. He was the wide receiver who made the big catch, the linebacker who made the big tackle, and on occasion, the back who got the extra yard.

Now he’s perched on the precipice of the next level. Athletes are about the next level and taking the levels as far as they will go.

Last year Coastal Carolina played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Not the game. The stadium.

This fall the Chants host Virginia at Brooks Stadium and visit Philadelphia, Pa., to play Temple. The record over the past four seasons is 39-12.

I’m mostly recovered from shingles at last. I’ve tried to keep up best I could. At least one story has been posted for 39 days, a record for the site. I’m strapped for cash but still writing as hard and resourcefully as I can.

A couple contributions arrived over the weekend. I can’t express my gratitude enough.

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