After his playing career ended, Chadwell began his coaching career at his alma mater East Tennessee State in 2000. He remained as an offensive assistant with the Buccaneers through the 2003 season when he left to take a position at Charleston Southern.
Head coaching career
After serving as an assistant offensive coach with the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, on February 6, 2009, Chadwell was hired as the head coach at North Greenville University. During his three-year tenure with the Crusaders, Chadwell had an overall record of 20 wins and 14 losses. He also led the Crusaders to their first all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II football playoffs following the 2011 season. In the playoffs, Chadwell led the Crusaders advanced to the quarterfinals where they lost to Delta State 28–23. On January 2, 2012, Chadwell was hired by Delta State to succeed Ron Roberts as the head coach of the Statesmen. Chadwell resigned as head coach of the Statesmen after only on season on January 17, 2013, to take the same position with Charleston Southern. During his one season at Delta State, he compiled an overall record of 3 wins and 7 losses. On January 17, 2013, Chadwell was formally introduced as the third all-time head coach at Charleston Southern. On January 8, 2017, Chadwell was named new Offensive Coordinator at Coastal Carolina. On July 28, 2017, Chadwell was named interim head coach for Coastal Carolina as head coach Joe Moglia took a medical leave of absence. The school announced on January 5, 2018 that Moglia had been medically cleared to return to full-time coaching and would reassume the head coaching position. In 2018, the NCAA released a detailed report concerning numerous NCAA violations that occurred during Chadwell’s tenure as the CSU head football coach. The violations ranged from using multiple ineligible players to player’s using scholarship funds to purchase electronics and jewelry from the campus book store. Ultimately, the NCAA sanctions vacated 18 wins from the 2014 and 2015 seasons and the 2015 Big South Championship. Also vacated were three wins over crosstown rival The Citadel, games during which CSU used ineligible players. On January 18, 2019, Chadwell was formally introduced as the third all-time head coach at Coastal Carolina.
