Charleston Southern Hires Veteran Randall McCray as Defensive Coordinator

Charleston Southern University announced the hire of Randall McCray as its defensive coordinator on March 3, 2026, naming a veteran coach with "over 30 years of coaching experience across college levels and the NFL" to lead the Buccaneers' defense. The CSU Athletics page timestamped the announcement at 3/3/2026 9:45:00 AM and the move was picked up by regional and coaching outlets the same day.

Head coach Gabe Giardina framed the hire as both strategic and personal in comments published by the Post and Courier, saying, "We are excited to add Veteran defensive coordinator Randall McCray. It is exciting to add someone that has given us so many problems over the years. Coach McCray's experience speaks volumes about who he is as a football coach and connector with players. The best attributes of Randall’s defenses that I have witnessed over the years are the fanatical effort and unity they play with. I look forward to seeing the relationships that Coach McCray forges in our locker room and with the staff," said CSU coach Gabe Giardina to the Post and Courier.

McCray arrives after a 2025 season at East Tennessee State University, where he served as defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator, a detail confirmed in reporting by FootballScoop and Post and Courier. His resume includes a stint as defensive coordinator at Northern Iowa in 2022, and the official release and aggregated reporting describe his résumé as spanning college stops and NFL experience, though the announcement did not list specific NFL teams or dates.

Local reporting in the Post and Courier added that McCray "will work primarily with the squad’s linebackers," positioning him to have hands-on impact with a group that often supplies the Big South Conference's top pro prospects. Best Version Media paraphrased that McCray is "anticipated to begin working with the team immediately, focusing on player relationships and defensive strategy" as Charleston Southern prepares for the upcoming season; that characterization was presented as an expectation in BVM's summary rather than a verbatim CSU statement.

For Charleston Southern — the Buccaneers of the Big South Conference — the hire represents a continuity of emphasis on experienced coaching leadership under Giardina as the program builds toward the 2026 campaign. McCray's decades of experience and recent roles at ETSU and Northern Iowa give the staff a seasoned play-caller and position coach whose background, broadly described as encompassing college and NFL work, could sharpen CSU's positional development and pro-scout visibility. The official CSU Athletics release confirmed the hire; contract terms, an exact start date, and a full coaching chronology, including specific NFL stops, were not disclosed in the announcement. McCray's arrival sets a clear defensive priority for Charleston Southern as the Buccaneers reshape staff responsibilities and prepare their roster for the season ahead.