2019 Goldrush

August 27, 2019

STAFF: STAFF:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SPORTS EDITOR

Madison Dobrzenski

Sam Palian

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARKETING ASSISTANT SPORTS Jeffrey Kopp CONTRIBUTORS: Chris Crews, DIRECTOR EDITOR Drew Pescaro, Jazz Warren, Pooja Kennedy Hehr Pasupula SPORTS EDITOR Sam Palian

Caleb Adams

SALES: Edd y Falls CREATIVE

DIRECTOR

COVER DESIGN: N at asha Morehouse James Bourke COVER PHOTO: Chris Crews

MARKETING DIRECTOR NINER MEDIA ADVISOR: Chris Crews Wayne Fred Brown C ONTRIBUTORS:

Maikranz

ADVISOR: Kelly Merg es SALES: JoeMARKETING Calhoun and Ridg e Gant

GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION: C OVER DESIGN: N at asha MorehouseJoshua Wood

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Laurie Cuddy C OVERBUSINESS PHOTO: MANAGER: Chris Crews OFFICE MANAGER: Kelly Dudden

NINER MEDIA ADVISOR: James Bourke

Wayne Maikranz

MARKETIN G ADVISOR: Kelly Merg es

GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION: Joshua Wood BUSINESS MANAGER: Laurie Cuddy OFFICE MANAGER: Kelly Dudden

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TABLE OF OF CONTENTS: CONTENTS: TABLE 3. 2019 Football Sc hedule 3.

2018 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

4. 2019 Football Ros t er 4.

2018 FOOTBALL ROSTER

6.

HIGH HOPES

6. Lif e in front of t he camera 8. h andRUNNIN 8. Fait Football G IT BAC K

BIGGER THAN 10.

10. 2019 Season Preview FOOTBALL STRAIGHT FROM THE 12. 2019 Coac hing St af f 12.

SIDELINES HUMANS OF UNC 14. Senior 14. Mini Features C HARLOTTE

CHARLOTTE 49ERS 2019 SCHEDULE Thursday, Aug. 29 vs. Gardner-Webb Charlotte, NC 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 19 at WKU Bowling Green, KY 4 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 7 at Appalachian State Boone, NC 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 26 vs North Texas Charlotte, NC 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 14 vs. Massachusetts Charlotte, NC 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 2 vs Middle Tennessee Charlotte, NC 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept 21 at Clemson Clemson, SC TBA

Saturday, Nov. 9 at UTEP El Paso, TX 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. FAU Charlotte, NC 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 23 vs Marshall Charlotte, NC 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 12 at FIU Miami, FL 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 30 Norfolk, VA 2:00 p.m.

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2019 CHARLOTTE 49ERS

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NAME

POSITION

CLASS

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NAME

POSITION

CLASS

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 15 15 16 17

Micaleous Elder Jacione Fugate Cam Bent Brelin Faison-Walden Darius Irvin Chris Reynolds Cameron Dollar Lance McMillan Alex Highsmith Aaron McAllister Tre’ Goode Marquill Osborne Anthony Butler Brett Kean Nafees Lyon Willie Taylor Victor Tucker Tyriq Harris Dylan Ratliff Preston Brown Jonathan Cruz Willie Green Christian Haynes Terrick Smalls Jr. Joe Thompson Marquavis Gibbs Justin Jeffery Evan Shirreffs Luke Martin

WR DB WR LB LB QB WR DB DE RB WR DB LB QB DB QB WR DE QB QB K QB DB RB WR DB WR QB LB

Fr. R-Jr. R-So. Jr. R-Sr. R-So. R-So. R-Fr. R-Sr. R-Jr. Fr. Sr. Sr. Gr. R-Sr. Fr. R-So. R-Sr. R-Fr. Fr. So. R-So. R-Sr. R-Fr. R-Jr. Sr. R-Fr. Gr. Jr.

17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 22 23 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 30 31 31 32 33 34 35 35 36 37

Ford Werness Prince Bemah Jackson Vansickle Connor Bowler Kyle Holcomb DJ Anderson Kendric Blake Rico Arnold Henry Segura Jamel Brown Matt Martinez Malchi Rennix Solomon Rogers Noah Henderson Caleb Parker Bryson Whitehead Ben DeLuca Calvin Camp Jonnie Pitman Ishod Finger Trey Bly Kendric Ivey Benny LeMay Jaylon Sharpe Jeff Gemmell Josh Tilque Lacy Williams Robert Cheatem Max Blitstein

QB LB K P QB DB WR WR DB RB DB RB DB WR RB DB DB RB DB RB DB DB RB LB LB LS DB DB K

R-Fr. Fr. R-Sr. R-So. Fr. R-Sr. Fr. So. R-So. Fr. R-Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. R-Fr. Fr. Sr. R-So. R-Fr. R-Fr. Fr. So. Sr. Fr. R-Sr. R-Fr. Fr. R-Jr. Fr.

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FOOTBALL ROSTER ##

NAME

POSITION

CLASS

##

NAME

POSITION

CLASS

38 39 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 68 69 70

Jaylan Williams Kyle Corbett Georga Maya Markees Watts Christian Kaplan Tiaseer Rambert Ryan Braithwaite Jaxon Hughes Javonte Misenheimer Dillon Overholt Jack Wellenhofer Michael Kelly John Thierfelder Peter Agabe Matthew Longley Jalen Allen Dominic Taylor Michael Adams Will Graham Brady Alls Johnny Ray B.J. Turner Bryan Wallace Doug McLaughlin Austin Lee Jacob Webb Jaelin Fisher Dejan Rauso D’Mitri Emmanuel

TE P/K LB LB K LB DB DE LB LB LS DL LB/LS LB DE OL OL OL LB OL DL LB DL LS OL OL OL OL OL

Fr. R-Jr. R-So. So. Fr. Fr. R-So. Fr. R-So. R-Fr. R-Jr. Fr. R-So. Jr. R-Jr. R-Sr. Sr. R-So. R-Jr. Fr. R-Jr. F-Fr. R-Fr. Fr. R-Jr. R-So. R-Jr. R-Fr. R-So.

71 72 73 74 75 77 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Cameron Clark Gage Welborn Yontez Jarrell Tim Baten Jonathan Timmons Malik Harkness Christian Roberson Tyler Ringwood Zach Gemmell Chris Wiggins Rhett Read Ryan Carriere Moss Saccomanno Antoine Shaw Isaiah Harris Jacob Hunt Quinton Patten Tommy Doctor Corey Mobley Demond Stewart Emmanuel White Isaiah Belk Andrew Favaro Jaison Williams Damon Weldon Timmy Horne Taylor Chandler

OL OL OL DL OL OL TE WR WR WR TE TE TE DE DE TE WR DL DE DL DE DL K DE DE DL DE

R-Sr. R-Fr. R-Fr. Fr. R-Jr. R-Fr. Gr. R-Jr. R-So. R-Fr. Jr. R-Jr. R-So. R-So. R-Sr. So. Fr. R-Sr. Jr. Jr. R-So. R-Fr. R-So. Sr. R-Fr. R-Jr. R-Fr.

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Life in front of the camera What Christian Haynes does off the field

by Kennedy Hehr Assistant Sports Editor

“I just know I want to be in front of the camera,” said Christian Haynes, a senior defensive back on the Charlotte football team.

What is your hidden talent? Haynes, also known as, “The Black Badger,” has a special one that’s aside from athletics.

He shows off his talents, drive and determination on the football field and in front of the camera.

Born July 20, 1997, Haynes was raised in Jacksonville, NC and attended Southwest Onslow High School. After playing basketball, baseball and running track, Haynes started to follow in his brothers’ footsteps when starting football at the age of eight and sticking with it. With having five brothers and watching three of them go on to play college football, he wanted to do the same. Haynes’ main goal was to play division one football. After applying to Charlotte, he didn’t get accepted until the spring. Haynes attended Elizabeth City State, a public HBCU, and played football there in the fall. Following one season there, Haynes knew he had the ability to play somewhere bigger as a walk-on or otherwise. He came to Charlotte in the spring of 2016 without the football team or the staff knowing who he was.

“I was just going to take a leap of faith, work my butt off, show my face consistently to the staff, and get on the football team,” said Haynes. When the football team would be out on the field practicing early in the morning, Haynes would run up the hill beside them. He wanted to show his passion and drive, while also training his body to do what division one athletes do (waking up early, working out, practicing, etc).

“By the time I was done, they would be done and I would go down to the coaching staff and say hello.” said Haynes.

Haynes met up with former football player, Aaron McAllister, in class one day and started training with him. Due to Haynes’ work ethic and consistency, McAllister mentioned his name and phone number to the Charlotte coaching staff and Haynes received a call shortly after from the former head coach. Haynes is now a senior, defensive back, at Charlotte in his last season as a 49er.

Haynes adopted the name “Black Badger” in high school.

His favorite football player, Tyrann Mathieu, is nicknamed “The Honey Badger.” The reason for Haynes’ favoritism towards Mathieu is the drive he has despite his short height. Matheiu had a gold Mohawk which sparked the name “Honey Badger.” When walking into high school with a black Mohawk, his friend said, “Hey Black Badger!” The name stuck and has been a part of his identity ever since that day.

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“Black Badger” started his career in front of the camera when Snapchat came out. He would make acting skits and use Snapchat to record them.

His friends advised him to make a YouTube channel, but Haynes respectfully declined. However, he does watch a lot of YouTube.

“I thought that maybe I should give this a try because I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to show,” said Haynes.

Haynes’ parents bought him a camera shortly after so he could put his ideas into action.

“It seems like a lot of people enjoy it.” said Haynes.

Haynes wanted to implement his teammates into the videos to show how they are not just football players. He wanted not only his personality to show, but his teammates as well to prove that they are more than athletes.

“We are more than just the guys behind helmets.” said Haynes.

One of the reasons Haynes does YouTube videos is to practice for his future dream of being on television one day.

Becoming YouTube famous would be a blessing to Haynes and it would only get his desired career started ahead of time. With the preferred profession of sports broadcasting, Haynes has a couple ideas that would suit him perfectly.

The show “Sports Nation” has been an inspiration to Haynes and his capabilities in front of the camera.

“I want a show like Sports Nation, but funny at the same time. I want to bring the comedic thing into sports and just have fun with it,” said Haynes.

“All I know is that I want to be in front of the camera, acting or otherwise.” said Haynes.

With plans for graduation in December 2019, Haynes has some post-graduate plans to think about. While wanting an internship in the broadcasting field, if the NFL opportunity is there, he will not pass it up. When it comes to pro-day, it depends how this upcoming season goes for Haynes.

As a student-athlete at Charlotte, Haynes already has an impact on tons of people. Haynes loves being an inspiration to kids and a motivation for them to follow their dreams.

“My main goal is to get on a big enough platform to make a positive impact to people all over the world whether that’s as an athlete or otherwise,” said Haynes.

With a new coaching staff for Charlotte Football under Head Coach Will Healy, Haynes had a chance to prove his walk-on willpower and ability another time in a different way. While only appearing in 12 games in the last two seasons and making two tackles, Haynes consistent hard work on and off the field shows to all, especially in the classroom

Photo courtesy of Charlotte 49ers Athletics/Sam Roberts

and community. Haynes has been named to the C-USA Honor Roll and the Chancellor’s List.

On the last day of a long and tiring fall camp, Athletic Director Mike Hill, surprised the football team with tickets to the Carolina Panthers pre-season game against the Buffalo Bills on Friday, Aug. 19.

At a break in the game when the crowd was quiet, the announcer came over the public-address system to reveal a special message from Healy; a walk-on 49er football player would be put on scholarship. Little did Haynes know that his wish of wanting to be the focus of the camera would come true that night, in an NFL stadium. His name and

photo popped up on the video-board and he was awarded a full scholarship for his last year at Charlotte. All his dreams came true that night. Haynes was overwhelmed with joy and surprise when he heard his name. His teammates erupted with excitement and celebrated such an amazing accomplishment that was so well deserved. The videos with outpouring of love and support are still being

Photo by Chris Crews

shown.

“I don’t know that there’s a more rewarding opportunity than to give a guy a scholarship whose earned it,” said Healy. “It’s a pretty rewarding part of the job.”

Going into his last season as a 49er, Haynes has more drive than ever, after receiving such a great reward for all his hard work.

“My teammates started going crazy. It was a very surreal moment,” said Haynes. “The fact that it came now is extra motivation to go harder, especially since this is my last season. I’ve got to bring it all, bring 100% and show them that I was worthy of this scholarship.”

“The Black Badger” will continue his YouTube channel so you can subscribe, like and tune in to catch Haynes in action. The first football game against Gardner Webb is on Thursday, Aug. 29 where Haynes will show out for one last season.

If you see Haynes on campus, be sure to yell, “Hey Black Badger!”

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Faith and Football Alex Highsmith is a star on the field but still puts his faith first

by Sam Palian Sports Editor

Photos by Chris Crews

If there’s one thing that someone might know about Alex Highsmith aside from the fact that he plays football, it’s that his faith is is extremely important to him. Becoming one of the most notable CUSA athletes on a team that was picked to finish last in the conference in 2019 says a lot, but there’s more to every athlete than their sport.

A member of Charlotte’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Highsmith has made his faith the forefront of his life and is confident that the relationship he fosters with God and his dedication are what have gotten him to where he is.

“Jesus died for me, I’ve got to live for Him. That’s why it’s so important because all the things in this world are fleeting. I love this game of football, it’s amazing, but it’s not my God. I’ve tried to put my identity in the sport at times and it’s let me down. This game, it’s great, but it’s not going to be God,” said Highsmith. “Having a foundation in Christ is so important to me because Jesus Christ is the same forever.

Today, yesterday, forever. That’s why it’s so important; He gave it all for us, so we’ve gotta give it all for Him.” Of course, no one is perfect and it’s not always easy to keep a strong relationship with God. When you surround yourself with the right people who will encourage you and

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help you build that relationship, it can become much easier.

“I’ve always had a church background. I went to church with my parents growing up and I kind of stopped going in high school and I felt like for me, I was a believer because I would say that I believe in God, but my actions didn’t really follow it,” said Highsmith. “It wasn’t until I came here [and] I got plugged in to FCA. Guys like Jeff Gemmell, Trevor Stacy and Ben Jacques [plus a] couple other guys that used to play here, helping them and getting involved with FCA is really what helped me to get back to my faith.”

Finding the right place to strengthen his faith and help others strengthen theirs came to be a vital part of Highsmith’s life and being a 49er. Ryan Gloer, the football team’s chaplain and one of the FCA staff members has also become an important part of Highsmith’s life. Highsmith considers the fellowship he has with other Christian athletes and with Gloer to be quite a blessing. He also met his girlfriend, another Charlotte athlete and member of FCA, after getting involved with the organization and is grateful for that as well.

“I remember in December 2015, our annual FCA Winter Blast camp that happens at the end of the year every year,

we had that and I remember that Saturday night, that was the night that I gave my life to Christ and you know, I felt that presence in my life and that was the night I sort of laid it down,” said Highsmith. “It’s definitely been a struggle, the walk isn’t easy, but it’s worth it because you know at the end of the day, all that we do for God matters.”

Highsmith has found a way to put his identity in Christ and with that has come blessings upon blessings.

Having played football since he was about six years old, Highsmith grew up with it, but even going into highschool he wasn’t exactly in love with the sport. By his junior year, he’d hit a growth spurt and ended up having a good season and decided that playing football at another level didn’t have to be a dream and that if he put his heart into it, it could become a reality.

“It’s been awesome. Coming in here as a walk-on, I just wanted to prove people wrong and show people that I could play at this program. I just wanted to keep my head down, be the first one to enter the building and the last one to leave and so it’s just always been motivating to me that I was a walk-on,” said Highsmith. “Even now, I’m still motivated by that in the back of my head. People didn’t want

me, so that’s one of the things that motivates me as well.”

The redshirt senior from Wilmington, N.C. spent 2015 in his redshirt season and played in every game in the 2016 season including one start. Highsmith was given a scholarship in the summer of 2017 and has certainly proved that he’s deserving. That season foretold what was to come for the athlete, gathering 22 of his 33 tackles of the season in just the final five games. A true breakout year came in the following season, starting every game and earning multiple honors including 2018 first-team all-Conference USA and earning the highest run-defense grade in CUSA at 90.6.

Going into this season, CUSA coaches selected him for the 2019 Preseason All-Conference USA and was placed on the 2019 Bednarik Award for Defensive Player of the Year.

“It’s always great when your best players are your best leaders, and nobody works harder than Alex. For us as a coaching staff to inherit this program and have a guy who’s a great player and works so hard and does everything the way you want it done, and then to see the success that he’s seen on the field sets a great example for the guys we’re trying to bring up,” said Healy. “Because they can say, ‘That’s who I want to be and that’s what he’s doing to be able to get there.’”

An exercise science major, Highsmith has hopes of a potential NFL career, but if that doesn’t pan out, he plans on going into the sports performance field or pursuing work in physical therapy. While he has entered his final season playing as a Charlotte 49er, he knows that whatever happens after graduation, his walk with God is never-ending.

“His faith is extremely strong. He’s an example to all of us because he lives it,” said Healy. “And I think that what he teaches you is consistency, he teaches you humility, but he’s also a great person to hold me and our staff accountable as well because he lives life the right way and for the right reasons.”

“

It’s definitely been a struggle, the walk isn’t easy, but it’s worth it because you know at the end of the day, all that we do for God matters.

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by Sam Palian Sports Editor

2019 Season Preview Photos by Chris Crews

The Charlotte 49ers are entering their seventh season on the field, but their first with Head Coach Will Healy at the helm. Along with Healy, comes Carter Crutchfield as the recruiting coordinator and director of football relations, who was with Healy at Austin Peay prior to joining the staff at Charlotte. Crutchfield helped to garner Austin Peay’s top five recruiting classes to help Healy turn the program around. This bodes well for the recruiting classes at Charlotte and among many other factores, will potentially contribute to the turnaround of this program as well.

Charlotte has a big season ahead of itself all things considered. Since the hiring of the new head coach and all of the things that have followed, the program has generated a lot of support, but the 2019 season itself could generate a whole new fanbase for the Niners. Part of the hope is to get those that are already at Charlotte more invested in this team than ever. That doesn’t appear out of thin air, sure, but no one’s claimed that it will.

Aside from the less tangible things like support, the program is facing an interesting schedule. Most notably, Charlotte will take on the 2019 National Champions, the Clemson Tigers. This is huge. It’s clearly something that sparked a lot of conversation from the public since the plan

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was made and even more so once people began realize what was going to be taking place in the fall of 2019. Charlotte, in its seventh season, is traveling to Death Valley to play against a program thar has been around for over 100 seaons. This is going to be a really beneficial thing for the Charlotte 49ers in a lot of ways.

To begin the Healy era, the 49ers kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Gardner-Webb at home inside Jerry Richardson Stadium.

at Appalachian State, Sept. 7, 3:30 p.m.

Charlotte faced this in-state opponent in particular for the first time ever in 2018 at home and will travel to Boone this year for another matchup with the Mountaineers. The outcome in 2018 wasn’t ideal at a 45-9 loss, but was a slightly similar situation to playing Clemson this season, mostly in the exposure it brought. App. scored 21 points in the second half alone while Charlotte scored their nine points in the second quarter and was unable to do so again.

vs. Gardner-Webb, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.

The last time the Niners met with the Bulldogs they fell 24-27 in Boiling Springs in 2014, six games into the season.

The season prior, Charlotte faced Gardner-Webb at home and came out on top at 53-51. Either way, it’s important to consider that these were also the program’s first and second seasons. In 2013, the Niners rallied from a 21-point deficit going into the fourth quarter. Of course, none of the players present for either of these games will be suiting up this year.

Even so, the Niners have a lot of defensive weapons that are likely to keep the Bulldogs from such a high-scoring game.

vs. Massachusetts, Sept. 14, 6 p.m.

While the 2018 season was the first in which the Niners faced the Minutemen , the loss wasn’t nearly as substantial as the loss to the Mountaineers. It was the first road game of 2018 and the Niners let the game get away from them early on. Massachusetts took a 28-0 lead before Charlotte was able to score in the second quarter. Simply unable to come back after giving the opponent the upper hand, it’s a trend that the Niners will have to remedy this season in order to play a good full four quarters and give themselves the advantage right out of the gate.

at Clemson, Sept. 21, TBA As mentioned before, this is the first meeting between the two teams. It’s expected to be a big loss for Charlotte as far as numbers go and it’s unlikely Clemson will play much if its first string, or very scarcely if at all. Either way, the Niners under Healy playing the Tigers under Dabo Swinney is sure to be an interesting meeting, probably taken seriously as a learning experience. Teams need games like this, even if they don’t always come when the fans think they should. The program is excited about it and they have every reason to be. vs. FAU, Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m.

Charlotte’s first Conference USA matchup will be against the FAU Owls, the fifth game between the two teams overall. This will be third meeting in Jerry Richardson Stadium following a big 27-24 win for Charlotte in Boca Raton, Fl. in 2018 that kept the Owls from a bowl game and finished the 49ers’ season off with a 5-7 record. Charlotte is 2-2 against FAU and the previous meeting was the lowest point margin of any of the meetings, the second lowest having been in 2016 when the Niners won 28-23. This will also be the earliest in the season that the team has played and obviously is a flip flop from FAU being Charlotte’s final opponent in 2018. at FIU, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.

The fifth matchup between FIU and Charlotte holds potential to be Charlotte’s first win over the team that was picked to finish second in the east division ahead of the Niners, a team that was picked to finish last in the division. Since a 17-point loss in 2015, the Niners have closed in on the Panthers, with a 1-point loss in 2017 and falling at home 42-35 in 2018. The last meeting between the two teams saw scores for each team in each quarter, but FIU was able to get the additional points needed over Charlotte. Benny LeMay had a record game in that loss, scoring four of five 49er touchdowns and is entering his final season as a 49er. at WKU, Oct. 19, 4 p.m.

The fifth matchup between FIU and Charlotte holds potential to be Charlotte’s first win over the team that was picked to finish second in the east division ahead of the Niners, a team that was picked to finish last in the division. Since a 17-point loss in 2015, the Niners have closed in on the Panthers, with a 1-point loss in 2017 and falling at home 42-35 in 2018. The last meeting between the two teams saw scores for each team in each quarter, but FIU was able to get the additional points needed over Charlotte.

Benny LeMay had a record game in that loss, scoring four of five 49er touchdowns and is entering his final season as a 49er. vs. North Texas, Oct. 26, 3:30 p.m.

A game against North Texas brings the Niners back to Jerry Richardson Stadium for their fourth CUSA game of the season. This is the first meeting between the two teams and while Charlotte was picked to finish last in the east division, North Texas was picked to finish first in the west division after a 9-4 overall record last season. The Mean Green is likely to give the 49ers a tough game, but Char-

lotte has become incredibly in their home, so how they fare throughout the season leading up to this game could prepare them for this matchup. vs. Middle Tennessee, Nov. 2, 3:30 p.m.

Even though the Blue Raiders played in the 2018 CUSA Championship and fell to UAB only 25-27, they had an 8-6 overall record and they were picked to finish in the east division in only fourth, three spots above Charlotte. Of course, as Charlotte intends to prove, the preseason poll isn’t typically the end all be all, and in their four meetings so far, Charlotte has yet take down Middle Tennessee. The 49ers outdid the Blue Raiders in terms of offensive yards, but they’ll need to capitalize on turnovers and cover the passing game more carefully. at UTEP, Nov. 9, 3 p.m.

This will also be the first meeting between the two CUSA teams as the Niners travel to El Paso, Texas to take on the Miners. UTEP had a record of 1-11 overall in 2018, were picked to finish last in the west division and it should be a decent win for Charlotte, but it will be an interestin matchup either way.

vs. Marshall, Nov. 23, 3:30 p.m.

The last home game of the season for Charlotte before preseason ball, bring Marshall to Jerry Richardson Stadium for the fifth meeting between the teams. Charlotte has lost three of the four games and the one occasion on which the 49ers had the win, many of the current senior standouts were freshman. In the 2016 win Ben DeLuca forced a game-changing fumble in the third quarter to help get the Niners back into gear and on their way to a win. at ODU, Nov. 30, 2 p.m.

The final regular season game of the season for the 49ers will take place in Norfolk, Va. in the fifth matchup between ODU and Charlotte. The 2018 meeting saw Charlotte out on top with a 28-25 win at home after falling just 6-0 the season prior. The win was courtesy of a number of things Once again, some of the standout Niners such as Jeff Gemmell, Anthony Butler, Aaron McAllister, Benny LeMay Jonathan Cruz, and the duo of Chris Reynolds and Victor Tucker were key pieces of the team win among countless others. This game in 2019 came as the first CUSA game of the season and was right on the heels of a big loss to Appalachian State, so between that and the home field advantage, some of the factors may be very different and Charlotte will need to maintain their momentum at the end of this season.

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COACHING

Photos courtesy of Charlotte 49ers Athletics

Will Healy

Marcus West

Alex Atkins

Mark Carney

Brandon Cooper

Head Coach Alma mater: University of Richmond Hometown: Chattanooga, Tenn.

Assistant Head Coach/ Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Alma mater: University of Memphis Hometown: Columbus, Miss.

Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line Coach Alma mater: UT Martin Hometown: Chicago, Ill.

Quarterbacks Coach Alma mater: Fordham Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio

Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Alma mater: UT Martin Hometown: Cincinatti, Ohio

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Sean Dawkins

Montario Hardesty

Eddie Hicks

Run-game Coordinator/Running Backs Alma mater: Troy Hometown: Rutherdfordton, N.C.

Wide Receivers Coach Alma mater: Tennessee Hometown: New Bern, N.C.

Cornerbacks Coach Alma mater: Southern Miss Hometown: Clarksdale, Miss.

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Tommy Langford

Nickels Coach Alma mater: Minnesota State University Hometown: Bettendor, Iowa

STAFF Max Thurmond

Cody Woodiel

Matt Cannata

Tyler Chadwick

Nick Murphy

Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Alma mater: Jacksonville State Hometown: Sylvester, Ga.

Tight Ends Coach Alma mater: Troy Hometown: Hernando, Miss.

Offensive Graduate Student

Graduate Assistant Alma mater: Coastal Carolina Hometown: N.C.

Defensive Garduate Assistant Alma mater: Coastal Carolina Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

Landon Stratton Special Teams Graduate Assistant Alma mater: Georgia Hometown: Ruselville, Ky.

Carter Crutchfield Recruiting Coordinator/Director of Football Relations Alma mater: Tennessee Tech Hometown: Dalton, Ga.

Kevin Donnalley

Chris Laskowski

Director of Player Development Alma mater: UNC Chapel Hill Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.

Strength & Conditiong Coach Alma mater: FAU Hometown: Melbourne, Fl.

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Mini Senior Features

18 Jackson Vansickle Position: Kicker

Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

For the Fall 2019 season, we will feature two or three seniors from Charlotte 49ers Football in each print edition in the sports section just like these two players are.

Keep an eye out for these every edition to get to know your football seniors!

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Benny LeMay

Position: Running Back

Favorite place to eat in Charlotte: Del Frisco’s Fun fact: Has been to nine different countries including France, Italy, Amsterdam, Mexico, Jamaica, Austria, Germany Jackson spends some of his freetime fishing and sometimes playing video games.

“I’m really excited for this upcoming season, this team is a lot different with the new staff. We have a lot of enthusiasm actually coming into it and everyone kind of has a different mindset, so we’re going to go 100 percent this season, we’re going to go all out.”

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Isaiah Harris

Position: Defensive End

Hometown: Matthews, N.C.

Hometown: Indian Trail, N.C.

Favorite place to eat in Charlotte: Nakato

Favorite place to eat in Charlotte: Mr Tokyo

Fun fact: Is terrified of the water

Fun fact: Does not like chocolate

Benny likes to spend his free time watching movies, especially any Denzel Washington movies

“I love the whole staff, I really do. I feel like Coach Healy is a great guy, he bring a lot of energy to the team. My position coach, Coach Dawkins is a great coach. I’m really exctied to be around them.”

14 AUG. 27, 2019

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“I’m excited about it, they’re excited about it.

The energy is contagious and we’re just looking forward to getting it all started.”

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AUG. 27, 2019

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16 AUG. 27, 2019

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