Charlotte 49ers:
The revolving door of college football never stops spinning and Charlotte is a prime example. While the 49ers didn’t get to their namesake with 49 players going in or out, they got pretty close and that means a new-look roster for head coach Biff Poggi. This was a 3-9 bunch last season, but the wins came over Tulsa and East Carolina, who combined to go 6-18, and South Carolina State, who went 4-4 against FCS competition last season.
Poggi felt like an odd hire. While he came from Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan and is a football lifer, he had only been a high school head coach until the Wolverines used him as an associate head coach in 2021-22. Many pro teams have gone the business route with hires and analysts, which is Poggi’s background having run a hedge fund. It remains to be seen if it’ll work in the Queen City.
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Offense
Former Florida QB Max Brown is one of two big highlights here. The other is RB Cartevious Norton from Iowa State. This was an objectively bad offense last season that ranked 123rd in yards per play and 122nd in total passing yards. Charlotte’s seven passing TDs tied for the second-fewest and their 16 interceptions tied for 121st in the nation.
Even if Brown isn’t a dude, he can’t be worse than what the 49ers had last season. Second-year OC Mike Miller likes a mobile QB and Brown has some upside in that regard. Not only were the turnovers a problem, but Charlotte allowed 31 sacks and Poggi spent his NIL money on offensive line upgrades. But, this group needed a lot of help and it’s hard to say they fully got it.
Defense
All things considered, the defense wasn’t a total debacle. The 49ers were 88th in yards per play allowed and 89th in scoring defense. Given that they were -5 in turnover margin, they did the best that they could in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, it would have taken a Herculean effort to make this team better, as the 49ers ranked 123rd in Brian Fremeau’s Net Points Per Drive metric.
Leading sack man Eyabi Okie-Anoma ran out of eligibility and top tackler Demetrius Knight II ran out of patience and transferred. The defense is short on impact players and the transfer portal brought in a lot of lower-division guys, so DC Ryan Osborn’s best hope might be a better offense.
Outlook
Poggi’s dedication to turning around the Charlotte program is admirable. He donated his own money to the program to pay assistants and fuel the NIL fund, plus his business background might be getting a few more donors. But, the talent here just isn’t good enough and it is hard to sell transfers on a team with one bowl appearance since joining FBS in 2015. My numbers call for 2.87 wins.
Pick: Under 3.5 Wins
