Could a TikTok star with millions of views be the next CCU starting quarterback?

On Dec. 29, 2019, Ethan Vasko posted his first TikTok, throwing a football into a trash can in the backyard. The video received less than a thousand likes; his current girlfriend left the only comment.

Vasko continued posting videos dancing to popular songs on TikTok, performing lip-syncs and challenges, highlighting football-related activities on the platform, and documenting his relationship with his significant other — his first post to receive more than a million views featured his girlfriend.

Vasko continued posting regularly — one video featuring him accidentally hitting his sister Ashley in the head with a football while trying to knock a Gatorade bottle off her head garnered two million views in 2022— eventually racking up almost 35 thousand followers on the platform.

However, it was in October 2023 that Vasko began going consistently viral, due in no small part to a virtual goatee and mustache, a British rap song, and United Kingdom slang from the 2000s.

Earlier that month, a British TikToker, Kay The Jeweller, generated a massive audience when he posted a video of himself lip-syncing the song ‘Just How You Like It’ by British rapper Kak Hatt in a pub. The video and song poked fun at the ‘charvas’ or ‘chav’ subculture in the United Kingdom, which, according to Merriam-Webster, usually refers to young people behaving aggressively and rudely in public.

Vasko’s roommate and teammate, tight end Zach Courtney, showed him the video, and Vasko decided to make one. Before CCU played Arkansas State, he posted his first version with Courtney and former Coastal tight end Matt Alaimo on Oct. 10, 2023. Unlike the original version, Vasko and his teammates added virtual goatees and mustaches to their faces, and the proceeding video following Coastal’s win got more than a million views.

“Then, after that, we just started doing it every weekend, and it went pretty viral. So we just kept on doing it,” Vasko added. “We won a couple of games in a row. So people were loving them. So it’s cool to do those.”

“I think it’s funny, making funny videos and making the dances or something, like just doing random stuff on there,” He added. “It’s also a good way to get some random guys on the team in videos.”

On the field, Vasko has shown flashes of his quarterback potential, including scoring all but three of CCU’s 24 points. In his first-ever start against Old Dominion, a school he de-committed from playing for in high school, he tied the game with a two-point conversion run, despite the Monarchs defense initially stopping him yards away from the endzone, and he threw the winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Yet Vasko is not the guaranteed day-one starter. Second-year Head Coach Tim Beck said in December 2023 that Vasko, who started four games after McCall and fellow backup Jarrett Guest had injured themselves, would probably be the frontrunner for the job.

In July 2024, Beck still didn’t name a quarterback but reiterated in an interview with The Sun News that Vasko was the leading candidate to be CCU’s week one starter, adding that he’d know sometime in August 2024 who’d win the job.

It’s the first year Beck has been uncertain about the quarterback position. He joked about the lack of controversy during the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Media Day, but now that question remains.

“We know what we’re going to get out of (Vasko) because he’s played in four games, won three of them, and has a better grasp of the offense,” Beck said. “My objective going into fall camp would be to find somebody, probably about halfway through.”

While evaluating the most talent is essential, Beck emphasized who has the most experience and who knows the playbook best. In that category, Vasko and redshirt senior and former Michigan State starter Noah Kim stand out as the two most qualified players. In contrast, freshman DJ Moore, Alex Walker, redshirt freshman, and former UNC backup Tad Hudson serve as dark horse candidates for the job and potential starting quarterbacks in the future.

Beck said he has not narrowed the decision to two candidates, but Vasko and Kim’s credentials have helped narrow the list of potential suitors.

Indeed, Kim provides a compelling choice as 2024’s starter, compared to Vasko. He has experience playing at the Power Four Conference level and is the most seasoned quarterback on CCU’s roster. Kim has also weathered considerable adversity since entering college football in 2019.

The coach who recruited him to Michigan State, Mark Dantonio, retired the day Kim committed to the Spartans. Kim spent the next three years battling to become the starter under coach Mel Tucker.

When Kim did get the job in 2023, Tucker was fired during the season after harassing a sexual abuse survivor and speaker hired by Michigan State’s athletic program to speak to the team. Kim’s 2023 campaign, like his time at Michigan State, was frustrating as he started just five games but struggled in his final three appearances after showing initial promise.

Despite the frustration, Kim said he felt no ill will towards Michigan State and was focused on winning now in Conway.

“Everybody has the same common goal. We’re on a mission to do some good things this year,” Kim said. “That’s just kind of what drew me here, and I’m excited.”

Indeed, Kim added that while all five passers want the starting job, they cannot let disunity into their ranks while competing for the lone spot, something CCU Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback Coach Travis Trickett focused on with multiple group meals and activities around Myrtle Beach.

“(The) cards are going to fall in place,” Kim said. “It’s no shame to whatever happens.”

If history is an indicator, there might not be a simple answer. McCall never completed an entire season as a starting quarterback at CCU, as injuries consistently sidelined him and forced CCU to use backup quarterbacks frequently.

In 2023, four took the field for CCU, and at Trickett’s previous coordinator job at the University of South Florida, he used multiple during his final season there. He added CCU needs all five because they might all go under center this season if history was a guide.

“I’ve had to play three quarterbacks the last two years. All five guys got to get coached hard to get ready to play because you never know,” he added. “It’s a lot more fluid. It’s not as clean as it used to be.”