Qualla: Brooks Stadium

Brooks Stadium: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Greenstrat, Public domain. The turf is teal. Not green. Not grass. A bright, almost cartoonish shade of teal stretched across an entire football field in the Carolina lowlands, and somehow it works. When Coastal Carolina installed the surface in 2015, sports media reacted with confusion and amusement, but the Chanticleers leaned in. By the time the team was running an undefeated regular season in 2020 and beating Liberty on a goal-line stand in front of a sellout crowd, that teal field had become one of the most recognizable in college football.

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: Greenstrat | Public domain

Brooks Stadium: A Stadium Named for Children

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DKHardee/Kyle Hardee, CC BY-SA 3.0. Brooks Stadium opened in 2003, named for Coby Garrett Brooks and Boni Belle Brooks, the children of Robert H. Brooks. Their father grew up in Loris, South Carolina, just up the road, and went on to become chairman of Hooters of America. He wanted the building that would host Coas...

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: DKHardee/Kyle Hardee | CC BY-SA 3.0

Brooks Stadium: Building Toward FBS

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Greenstrat, Public domain. Phase I held just 6,408 seats, but the foundations were poured for something much larger. When Coastal announced its move to the Sun Belt Conference in 2015, the NCAA's FBS attendance minimums forced the question: could a small coastal university actually fill 15,000 seats? The a...

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: Greenstrat | Public domain

Brooks Stadium: Norman Money

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Greenstrat, Public domain. Beyond the north end zone sits the Marrio & Josh Norman Fieldhouse, an 8.5 million-dollar facility opened in 2010. Josh Norman, the former NFL cornerback who came up through Coastal Carolina, donated heavily to the athletic department in 2018, and the building was renamed for him...

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: Greenstrat | Public domain

Brooks Stadium: The Field at James C. Benton

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Greenstrat, Public domain. The playing surface inside the stadium has its own name: James C. Benton Field, dedicated in October 2006 after a substantial gift from the Benton family. It's where Coastal's program reinvented itself in the 2010s, where the now-famous teal turf turned a regional FCS program int...

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: Greenstrat | Public domain

Brooks Stadium: What the Stadium Built

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit PCN02WPS, CC BY-SA 4.0. Brooks Stadium reshaped Coastal Carolina's identity. Before 2003, the university was a quiet sea-grant institution with a respected biology program and a marine science fleet. After Brooks, it became a place that could fill 20,000 seats on a Saturday, draw ESPN's College GameDay ...

Read more: Brooks Stadium on Qualla

Image: PCN02WPS | CC BY-SA 4.0