#99 Charlotte 49ers |
#6 in Conference USA |
With the backing of former Carolina Panthers owner, Jerry Richardson, Charlotte launched their football program in 2011, hiring former Wake Forest defensive coordinator Brad Lambert, as the school’s first head coach. Six years of disappointing results later, the school made a widely applauded hire of Austin Peay coach Will Healy, who was only 33 years old when he was hired. The results seemingly paid off immediately, with the school’s first bowl bid in 2019, and brought in a 2020 recruiting class which is easily the highest rated in school history, led by Louisville transfer safety, by way of JUCO, Lyn Strange. Credit to Charlotte athletic director Mike Hill, who was hired from being the associate athletic director at Florida earlier in the year, to recognize what Healy was, even though he was coming off a 5-6 year three at Austin Peay. The program was absolutely miserable when he took it over, they hadn’t even won so much as a conference championship in four decades, when they were coached by a guy named Boots, and soda pop cost a nickel. He set them up, that the year after he left, they broke that streak, and not only reached their first ever 1AA/FCS playoffs, but advanced to the Elite 8. A Chattanooga native, Vanderbilt might be wise to kick the tires on Healy after what is sure to be a disastrous year, particularly considering Charlotte is not ideally set up to build on their 2019 success. Much like Charlotte jumped on Healy after a 2018 blip, a savvy Power Five school will after what could be a 2020 blip. The one glaring hole on offense is Benny LeMay, who has been an absolute workhorse back over the past three seasons, with over 3,000 career rushing yards, tallying 562 carries over the past three years. The plan is to simply replace him with another workhorse in grad transfer Tre Harbison from Northern Illinois, who has 436 carries in just the last two years. That’s a big pickup for what the 49ers want to do, being the only Conference USA school last year to run the ball over 60% of the time. That’s plenty of carries to share with Aaron McAllister, who ran for 380 yards a year ago. Quarterback Chris Reynolds who had 791 rushing yards, 928 if you disregard sacks, so he’s a threat from that spot too. With potentially the best group of receivers in the conference, but with an offensive line that graduated three starters, and could be looking at a JUCO transfer center, perhaps the 49ers will lean more heavily on the passing game. Particularly is Rico Arnold, who missed all of 2019 with a foot injury, regains his freshman form he showed in 2018, when he caught 22 passes for 302 yards. He joins a group that touts All-Conference USA player Victor Tucker, who had over 900 yards and 7 touchdowns, along with Cameron Dollar and Tyler Ringwood, who combined for 66 receptions, 994 yards and 7 touchdowns as secondary options. The defense has to replace a ton of talent, including an All-American, but while the returning production looks ugly, a closer look reveals a not so bleak picture. Already mentioned was JUCO transfer Lyn Strange. They also added a pair of Power Five transfers in the front seven, getting defensive tackle Josiah So’o from Vanderbilt, and linebacker Derek Boykins from South Carolina. They also get defensive end Tyriq Harris back, who was all-conference in 2018, but missed 2019 with a back injury. Granted, back injuries on defensive linemen are generally not quick fixes with a return to form.
| KEY PLAYERS |
QB | Chris Reynolds, Junior |
WR | Victor Turner, Junior |
WR | Cameron Dollar, Junior |
| . |
DE | Markees Watts, Junior |
DE | Tyriq Harris, Senior |
CB | N |