ROCKINGHAM — Fancy footwork has always been a big part of Mack West’s life, whether it’s been kicking on the football field or shagging his way across the dance floor.
The recent Richmond Senior High School graduate will now have the opportunity to continue his football and world championship-winning shagging careers in Conway, S.C.
West announced earlier this week that he verbally committed to Coastal Carolina University as a punter and kicker. He’ll join the Chanticleers as a preferred walk-on.
No stranger to Coastal Carolina’s football program, West has attended the university’s summer kicking camp each year during his high school career, except during the pandemic.
A special invite to this year’s camp on June 11 helped land him a spot on the team. West attended the camp on the final day of beach grad, and his younger brother and rising freshman Billy West was also a participant at camp.
“I had special permission from the coaching staff to attend camp, and I was the only graduate there,” West explained. “We started with field goals and I finished tied for third, and I was pleased with that.
“Punting was next, and the first ball was the best punt I’ve ever kicked in my life” he added. “The coaches asked me to kick another one, and it was very similar.”
While at camp, West said he was talking to special teams coach Joshua Caraway, who had seen his shagging video of the 2018 Junior I Division Championship on his Twitter profile.
That connection, along with an open roster spot and West’s performance at camp, had the “coaches on the phone with admissions before my third punt.”
“Coastal Carolina offered me on the spot, and it felt really good,” West said. “I got a text from one of my kicking coaches, Dan Orner, and he said ‘way to capitalize on the opportunity.’ I felt I did that and I had the confidence as an experienced kicker to make the team.
“I also enjoyed the campus and I really feel like I’m at home there. Coastal Carolina has a really good football program and I’m excited to get to work.”
West said he learned a lot about being patient and persevering through the recruitment process during the pandemic, which was slow going for a lot of high school athletes who graduated in 2021. He also had a preferred walk-on offer from Elon University.
Noting that he was “frustrated” at times, West kept in contact with Caraway with hopes of being able to take advantage of this year’s camp. He said he was glad he did, because West called it the “best opportunity I’ve had to kick in front of college coaches.”
In his two-year varsity career at Richmond, West split time and roles with former teammate Trevor Moss, who earned a preferred walk-on at Campbell University.
West hit four of his six field goal attempts for the Raiders, with his career best 35-yarder coming against Clayton High School to open the 2019 season. He also connected on 75 of his 88 point-after-attempts (91 percent).
As a senior, West served as Richmond’s punter and booted the ball 12 times with an average distance of 43.1 yards per kick. He pinned opposing offenses inside the 20-yard line seven times and also recorded two touchbacks on his eight kickoff attempts.
Richmond head coach Bryan Till praised West’s work ethic and noted his ability to make it to the college level despite sharing responsibilities with Moss.
“Mack has done a tremendous job making contacts and doing his work on his own,” Till said. “He really worked so hard to get in front of guys, and I’m ecstatic for him to get this opportunity. He can definitely kick in college.
“We had two guys with strong legs, and that somewhat limited what they could do,” he added of West and Moss. “But both deserve the chance to kick at the college level, and Mack definitely did everything he could to get there. The Coastal Carolina coaching staff is going to really help him.”
In 2020, the Chanticleers went 11-1 and earned an 8-0 record in the Sun Belt Conference under third-year head coach Jamey Chadwell. That was the program’s first-ever Sun Belt Conference title and Coastal Carolina appeared in its first FBS postseason bowl game.
Last season also saw the Chanticleers break into the national rankings, going as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 11 in the Amway Coaches poll. Coastal Carolina finished the season ranked as the No. 12 team in the college football playoff rankings.
West went on a visit to Coastal Carolina on June 20 and 21 to meet with the coaches and enroll with the university. He plans to major in business.
West reports to school on Aug. 2, which will give him a month to prepare for the team’s season opener on Sept. 2 against The Citadel.
“The past four years as a Raider have taught me a bunch, but I’m excited to turn the page and start a new chapter of my life,” he closed. “I’m ready to join my new teammates and continue playing football.”
