An ode to the ACC Coastal, for 18 glorious years
Dear Coastal, We had fun together, didn’t we? For 18 years, you offered the amusement, and the college football world supplied the memes, a caring homage to accepting the chaos.What other league has a Wheel of Fate, initially conceived as a roulette wheel including all ACC groups, but later on featuring simply the Coastal since there was no way to actually truly find out what would occur in division play week to week? Or the well-known Operation Coastal Turmoil hashtag– hoping beyond hope that a person day Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Virginia Tech would all finish 4-4? Sadly, that never ever occurred, but bear in mind that time in 2012 when
Georgia Tech, Miami and North Carolina completed atop the division in a three-way tie at 5-3, however since the Hurricanes and Tar Heels were disqualified thanks to NCAA sanctions, Georgia Tech played in the ACC championship game? North Carolina still had rings made that said”2012 ACC Coastal Champions”because there are no guidelines in the Coastal Department. You know that better than anyone!What other division had a coach state prior to media day every year that you would have a much better
opportunity of selecting a Coastal champion by drawing a name out of a hat than making a real forecast? He wasn’t always incorrect. Over 17 preseason polls, the media picked the Coastal winner correctly … 7 times. They swung and missed five times when choosing Miami, including this final year prior to the conference gets rid of departments in 2023. It feels fitting, in such a way. Go best in your
bowl picks and win approximately $1 million, plus more prizes! Make Your Picks You see, Miami and Virginia Tech were added to
the ACC in 2004, and Boston College can be found in 2005, causing the formation of the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions so the ACC could have a conference championship game. Common reasoning suggested Miami would lift the Coastal, and in turn, the ACC, to much larger football heights. Simply envision it– Florida State from the Atlantic and Miami from the Coastal playing in the ACC championship game every year. But alas … that never ever happened.People probably forget this, however in the beginning the Coastal was the more powerful department, with Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech fighting for the crown. However as those schools and Miami dipped, it ended up being far less predictable, and an unique type of chaos scheduled just for the Coastal Division ensued: 7 various champions over a seven-year stretch, starting with Duke(!! )in 2013. If you count Notre Dame in 2020 when there were no divisions during the pandemic season, that would be 8 in eight years. Sounds about right.Over in the Atlantic, just 4 of its teams have actually played in the ACC championship game, with Florida State and Clemson dominating the count. Borrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ing! Just when since 2010 has the Coastal champ won the ACC.Dave Harding, a player on that 2013 Duke group once said,”For the fans, the Coastal was chaos since you could never ever figure it out.
As a player, you knew/believed you had a shot in every game. Offered a self-confidence which most likely advanced the turmoil because groups that might have rolled over in other divisions kept battling in ours.”A few of the all-time highlights:< img height ="320"width="570" src=" https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35146863/"
/ > Raycom Sports The O.C.G:
That time when the O.C.G.(Original Coastal Godfather ), Frank Beamer, raised his arms in triumph when Virginia Tech went into overtime tied 0-0 with Wake Forest– a Coastal meme and game for the ages. play 0:34 Top 10 surfaces of 2015: Lance Austin returns a blocked field
objective 78 lawns for a touchdown on the final play of the game, giving Georgia Tech a sensational 22-16 upset of No. 9 Florida State. #BelieveIt: Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson provided a Coastal gif
for the ages, wagging his tongue as he strolled off the field following an obstructed basket attempt that was returned for a goal against Florida State with no time left. The play, known as “The Wonder on Techwood Drive,”did not require laterals to work. It also might have begun the descent of the Seminoles football program.”The Return”was historic and now you can show off a piece of history: https://t.co/iBOpGKegvZ
pic.twitter.com/Itr5ympNmM!.?.!— Miami Hurricanes( @MiamiHurricanes )November 2, 2015 #goacc: In 2015 Miami needed a miracle to beat Duke(yes, genuine– oh, and sorry, Duke)and got it thanks to awful officiating that allowed a 91-yard kickoff return for a goal including eight laterals to stand because the referees missed out on or mishandled several calls. What made it worse(more Coastal-y?)is that authorities reviewed the play and essentially stated,”Nope, nothing to see here! All good!” Miami wound up offering T-shirts to celebrate a play that needs to have never counted. Against Duke.Unpredictable scenes defying logic– wild, disorderly and impossible to script.The following spring after the lateral kickoff fiasco, then-Duke coach David Cutcliffe was still so livid over the result– a loss for his Blue Devils that wound up
dropping them from top place in the Coastal– he brought up the game tape and used his laser tip to reveal me(once again)all the missed out on calls. He used extremely sluggish movement and whatever, his individual Zapruder film even though the entire world could see the reality without the very rough, zoomed-in footage.Who could blame him? Nobody wants to come down with Coastal Mayhem, and yet, Coastal Turmoil is all anybody wishes to discuss. There are some indisputable successes, long stretches of forgettable mediocrity and a truly brave quantity of low points so ridiculous, you have ended up being cherished in spite of yourself.
You are the division in which there is no good man or bad guy. There is simply chaos.Maybe that is not fair. We understand this all feels like consistent ridicule, however the memes and gifs and catchphrases are actually simply a celebration of what makes you so special. Take Georgia Tech this season. After the Yellow Jackets fired coach Geoff Collins four games in, they wound up beating the leading 3 groups in the Coastal, including department winner North Carolina.
Very Coastal, you may say.Meanwhile, the group chose to win the Coastal in 2015 only to finish fifth, won it this year regardless of losing its last 2 ACC games of the season. A completely Coastal method to bid farewell to departments. No one actually wants to see you go, however we all understand it is time. The Coastal has done more to even the playing field than any other division, and has actually dished out more highlights, lowlights, unpredictability, laughter, memes and gifs than we deserve, quite honestly.Fare-thee-well, Coastal. But prior to you go, is there any possibility at one more Coastal Chaos minute on Saturday night when North Carolina plays Clemson in the ACC championship game? You understand … simply for old time’s sake.