Charlotte Football Preview 2025: New Coaches, New Look, New Hope for the 49ers

Miami Herald

10-05-2025

It was an interesting idea that didn't work. Now Charlotte is going the more conventional route.Biff Poggi went from being a key assistant at Michigan to the Charlotte head coach in 2023, but the former hedge-fund manager didn't have a whole lot of luck getting the 49ers going - they won the last two games after he left - going 6-16 in his two seasons.Charlotte has just one winning season in its ten years as an FBS program, and now it's up to Tim Albin to make the program a winner.
A long-time assistant under Frank Solich at Ohio, Albin - who also won an NAIA National Championship at Northwestern Oklahoma State in 1999 - took over the reins in 2021, had a rough first year, and then went 30-10 with two bowl wins and a MAC Championship.This is still a young Charlotte program. It has plenty of positives, but this is a total building job - it's not even a rebuild - with almost no returning talent, a new staff, and …Hope. Albin is a good one. It might take a bit, but the 49ers will soon start winning.
Charlotte 49ers Preview 2025: Offense
X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN- The offense couldn't complete passes, couldn't keep the chains moving, and turned it over too much, but it started to pick it up late. The good and the bad news are pretty much the same - almost no one is back from last year's attack.- Step One is to get the offensive line in place. Under Albin, Ohio was 12th in the nation in rushing last season, but that team had the parts. Charlotte gets back Jonny King at center with the transfer portal helping to fill the key gaps. Don Chaney was a good running back at Miami and got in a little work at Louisville last year - he'll be the main man. There's decent depth for the rotation, and now …- There has to be a passing game, and that's ALL about the transfers. Conner Harrell (North Carolina) and Grayson Loftis (Duke) are each decent quarterback options, but all the new wide receivers - most are from Power Four schools - need some seasoning. Tight end Jake Young (Western Carolina) will be an instant target.
Charlotte 49ers Preview 2025: Defense
- Defensive coordinators Nate Faanes and Kurt Mattix were part of Albin's staff at Ohio. Their defense was ninth in the nation last year, first in the MAC in scoring D, and fourth in the nation against the run. They'll have to make magic with a whole slew of transfers, especially in the secondary.The corners are new, but there are options. The safeties should be the early stars - Caleb Curtain was fantastic over the last few years at Elon.- The tackles are relatively home grown, but there's not a lot of experience. Jaylon Johnson was a terrific pass rusher at the JUCO level last year, and Braden Mullen was an Ivy League all-star at Dartmouth over the last two years.- On a team that's almost completely starting over, the leading tackler is back. Reid Williford isn't huge, but he cleaned up in the middle of the linebacking corps with 77 stops and two sacks. Outside linebacker Gavin Willis was a tackling machine last season at Bucknell with 129 tackles.
Charlotte 49ers Key to the Season
Complete more passes.The 49ers couldn't move the chains last season mainly because the passing game couldn't hit the midrange throws. They were 131st in the nation in completion percentage, 129th in third down conversions, and even with that they were 4-2 when throwing for more than 200 yards and 0-5 when throwing for fewer, so …
Charlotte 49ers Key Player
Conner Harrell, QB Jr.Or Grayson Loftis. One of them has to take over the starting quarterback gig and be steady. Harrell got in a little work over the last two seasons at North Carolina hitting 61% of his throws for 560 yards and four scores with three picks, and he can run.
Charlotte 49ers Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: Don Chaney, RB Jr.The veteran wasn't able to quite catch on with Louisville last year, but he was a solid part of the Miami rotation as a freshman, was out for most of the next two years, and ran for 478 yards and two scores in 2023. There's plenty of tread on the tires with the talent to be a statistical force in the attack.Top Transfer Out: O'Mega Blake, WR Sr.The passing game wasn't always bad last year. Blake averaged almost 25 yards per catch with a team-leading 795 yards and nine touchdowns. He would've been a much-needed no. 1 deep threat target, but now he's at Arkansas.
Charlotte 49ers Key Game
North Texas, Oct. 24Just how good will Charlotte be by the end of October? November will be a massive problem with three of the last four games on the road. If things are starting to progress in Albin's first year, winning at North Texas might just put the 49ers in a position to go bowling if they can pull this off.- 2025 Charlotte 49ers Schedule Breakdown
Charlotte 49ers Top 10 Players
1. Reid Williford, LB Sr.2. Don Chaney, RB Sr.3. Caleb Curtain, S Sr.4. Gavin Willis, LB Jr.5. Braden Mullen, EDGE Sr.6. Treyveon McGee, S Sr.7. Jaylon Johnson, EDGE Jr.8. Jake Young, TE Jr.9. Ja'Qurious Conley, S Sr.10. Conner. Harrell, QB Jr.
Charlotte 49ers 2024 Fun Stats
- Sacks: Opponents 34 for 267 yards, Charlotte 18 for 159- Fumbles: Charlotte's 15 (lost 7), Opponents 9 (lost 2)- Passing Yards: Charlotte 2,689, Opponents 2,674
Charlotte 49ers 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
It'll be a very, very uneven year.The coaching staff will be good, and there should be a few moments when everything clicks and all seems right, but there's too much turnover, and the schedule gets too tough, to push past the five wins of last year.The offense will be better, though, but can the defense hold up enough to pull out the close games?
It'll be better than Tim Albin's first year at Ohio - he went 3-9 - but there will be a few too tough losses to get to a bowl.Set The Charlotte 49ers Win Total At … 4.5Likely Wins: Monmouth, Rice50/50 Games: App State, at Army, at East Carolina, North Texas, Temple, UTSA,Likely Losses: at Georgia, North Carolina, at Tulane, at USF
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