CHARLESTON, S.C. - Ethan Ray, Nick Salley, Justin McIntire, and Garris Schwarting arrived at Charleston Southern University bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with the odds stacked against them. Instead of taking advantage of a scholarship offer from another school or hanging up their cleats, these student-athletes took a chance on themselves and their athletic abilities.

Part 1: Ethan Ray (October 12) | Part 2: Nick Salley (October 19) | Part 3: Justin McIntire (October 26) | Part 4: Garris Schwarting (November 2)

The walk-on journey is not a desirable one because there is never a guarantee that a student-athlete will earn a scholarship – they have to go to practice and prove they belong every day with hopes the coaching staff will notice and elevate their role on the team.

For these four players, their abilities were apparent early on when Head Coach Autry Denson and the current CSU coaching staff took over the helm of the Buccaneers' football program in January 2019.

"Right away what we saw in them (Nick, Garris, Ethan, and Justin) was the ability to lead, and more importantly, the willingness to want to be led," Denson said. "They didn't know us from Adam, but they accepted the different things we brought in and the culture we were trying to establish. They embraced our championship habits, our standards and excelled in their ability to apply it. They had what we like to call blind faith."

Coach Denson recalled an exercise he utilized to get to know the players a little better. Early on, he asked the team if they had to make one phone call to anyone on the team about a life problem, who they would reach out to.

It was unanimous that it would be one of the current 2020 six captains: Nick Salley, Garris Schwarting, Justin McIntire, Ethan Ray, Jack Chambers, or Geoffrey Wall.

For a former walk-on to earn the recognition of his peers is an incredible accomplishment and speaks to the leadership and intangibles each of these players brings to the team. Denson reflected as much as he elaborated on the process that goes into picking a captain and the standard he holds them to.

"As coaches, we look for guys who naturally or intentionally exhibit those Buccaneer championship habits, which is putting the team before yourself, being unified and understanding the bigger picture," Denson said. "We are an outreach ministry that has an important football component. It's important because we use athletics as a platform on which we influence and win lives for Christ."

He continued, "Obtaining the title as a captain of the CSU football Ministry means you must live the standards day in and day out which are: Give a God-honoring effort with a God-honoring attitude. Understanding that we're champions in Christ so we're required to do more. They understand that it's all about being significant - the more they do, the more they can be a blessing to others. Tying all of that together is our pillars which are Faith, Family and Football and never allowing that order to be distorted for anything."

Conclusion

As a walk-on, your position on the football team is never set in stone. You cannot become complacent, and there needs to be an internal drive to not only better yourself, but also better the team and everyone around you.

Vance said, "If you can live without football, you probably shouldn't be a walk-on because great walk-ons can't imagine getting up on a day and not be attached to the football program. All four of these players kept the same mindset and grit they arrived on campus with to this day and are currently reaping the benefits from it."

For Ray, Salley, McIntire, and Schwarting, their desire as former walk-ons led to them earning the trust of their coaches and peers.

Earning trust from one human being is hard enough as it is. Imagine trying to earn the trust of 125 of your peers and 17 of your elders. The only way to earn trust is to show that you can do the right thing on a consistent basis. These four student-athletes did that and plenty more to not only earn a scholarship but also be seen by their teammates and coaches as captains and leaders of the CSU Football Ministry.

Coach Denson outlines clear criteria in what it means to be a captain when he describes the characteristics of what it means to be a Buccaneer man.

"A Buccaneer Man is someone who rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously and expects God's reward," he said. "The responsibilities of a Buccaneer man are he has a will to obey which has been outlined in the Bible through scripture; he has a work to do at home, on campus and in the community, and one day God's going to bless him with a wife to love.These student-athletes exceed these standards consistently and that's what went into the decision of choosing them as captains."

During these trying times, captains have one of the hardest jobs of all which is holding their teammates accountable for helping stop the spread of the coronavirus and help fight racism in the community. The team took on the mantra "We Choose Love".

All four of these players came to this campus without a guarantee, but had confidence in themselves to show why they deserved a chance to positively contribute to the team. Now that they have established themselves on the field, they focus on upholding their commitment to being model student-athletes, community leaders and advocates for their teammates on a daily basis.