Charlotte 49ers mix transfer portal additions, high school signings on road to rebuild

Christmas came early for the Charlotte 49ers, and at the top of Biff Poggi’s wish list was a quarterback.

And he got him.

The Charlotte 49ers have signed 29 players and are expecting upwards of 30 total signatures on 2024 National Signing Day. After a heavy dose of the Saint Frances Academy pipeline in Poggi’s first season with the program, the second-year head coach took a different approach, poaching some of the top talent from the SEC and other Power Five conferences, utilizing NIL to re-tool the roster.

“Exciting, exciting day. As of this morning, according to the Transfer Portal Report, Charlotte is number five in the nation, including Power Five and Group of Five, and number one in the nation in the Group of Five,” Poggi said. “Our staff, starting with our recruiting staff, have done an unbelievable job finding and evaluating talent. It is an extremely talented class, and it fills the needs we needed filled.”

“Last year was Band-Aids,” Poggi said of the 49ers’ roster during the 2023 season, which featured just three victories. “The American Conference is not Conference USA; it is really good football. It’s the best Group of Five, there’s no doubt about it. This year, we did a careful analysis of what we needed. We did a complete and utter transplant operation on the roster. That’s what you see here.”

While signings will continue to trickle in and Charlotte will continue to scour the portal for talent through the off-season, the 49ers have landed multiple “erasers” on the perimeter and “crushers” in the trenches, according to Poggi. But Charlotte needed a signal-caller to inspire confidence throughout the locker room, and Poggi believes he’s landed a “program-changing” quarterback of the future.

Max commitment

Following a season where Charlotte quarterbacks tossed a combined seven touchdowns and 16 interceptions, it was clear that the 49ers would be buyers in the transfer portal. And Charlotte landed on Florida transfer Max Brown, who helped build the highly ranked class, according to Poggi.

“As far as the starting point, we started with the quarterback position. Anybody who watched us last year knows that that was the Achilles’ heel of the team. We made it a priority to get a guy, and we got Max Brown,” said Poggi. “He’s a total program changer. It’s like saying you want an automobile, and you got a top-of-the-line Ferrari. That’s what he is.”

“He’s a great football player. He’s also a baseball athlete, but he won’t be playing at Charlotte. He’ll be concentrating on football. His goal is to go to the NFL, and he will be a highly sought-after player. He was drafted by the White Sox in baseball. He’s a shortstop. Just a remarkable athlete. He was the key. I will say this: Max Brown helped put this class together.”

Brown is a 6-foot-3, 218-pound dual-threat quarterback who saw action in four games as a redshirt freshman, including starting in place of Graham Mertz against Florida State in the Gators’ final game. As a three-star prospect in the class of 2022, Brown received offers from Washington, Central Michigan and Temple before making the decision to join Billy Napier in Gainesville. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native has three years of eligibility remaining and will join offensive coordinator Mike Miller’s quarterback room, which includes walk-ons Trexler Ivey and Stephen Johnson, who saw action last season, as well as Carson Black and 2024 commit Deshawn Purdie, who was the first commitment in the class.

After scoring just 17.5 points per game in 2023, it was clear that Charlotte needed an upgrade at multiple skill positions and, most importantly, new bodyguards for the 49ers’ quarterback of the future.

Additions to the offensive line through the portal include Clemson transfer Mitchell Mayes (6-foot-3, 305-pound OT), Texas A&M transfer Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (6-foot-5, 340-pound IOL), Tennessee transfer Mo Clipper Jr. (6-foot-5, 308-pound IOL) and Florida transfer Jordan Herman (6-foot-8, 370-pound OT) will spend another year with Brown. Charlotte added four offensive line commits through the high school and JUCO ranks, who will now be coached by John Morookian, who served as tight ends coach for the 49ers last season.

After losing a combined 100 carries with the losses of Durell Robinson and Shadrick Byrd to the portal, Charlotte added tailback Rod Gainey Jr. from Tampa Bay Tech High School and Cartevious Norton, an Iowa State transfer who Poggi coined as Charlotte’s “lead guy” at running back. Charlotte added multiple big-frame receivers, spearheaded by Middle Tennessee transfer Justin Olson (6-foot-2, 200-pound WR) and Independence C.C. transfer Isaiah Myers (6-foot-5, 185-pound WR).

Charlotte needed playmakers on offense to compliment Ryan Osborn’s defense from a season ago, and Poggi brought in just the guy to lure a different level of talent to Charlotte.

Brewster’s on the trail

It was announced just three weeks ago that Tim Brewster would join Charlotte’s staff, following two years with Deion Sanders at Jackson State and Colorado. Brewster, known for his recruiting expertise, will serve as the 49ers associate head coach and tight ends coach.

Immediately following his hire, Charlotte’s presence on the recruiting trail and the transfer portal ramped up, adding multiple Power Five drop-downs into the fold. Poggi spoke highly of Brewster, calling him Charlotte’s “secret weapon.”

“He’s highly experienced. As far as recruiting, I’ve never seen anybody like him. He’s a great analyzer of talent. He’s a great motivator. He has a way with young people and their families that is sincere, honest and true. He’s a secret weapon.”

Recruiting the Carolinas, with an emphasis on the city of Charlotte, has been a focal point for Poggi and his staff. The 49ers added seven recruits from the state of North Carolina, headlined by Mayes, South Carolina transfer D’Andrew Martin (6-foot-4, 306-pound DL) and Missouri transfer Xavier Simmons (6-foot-2, 230-pound LB).

Poggi elaborated on keeping local talent in the Queen City and how the 49ers plan to address bounce-backs in the portal moving forward.

“Anybody that comes into Charlotte, we’re going to recruit against them. We’re going to prevent them from coming in and taking the best players out of Charlotte. Our strategy in the portal is to get the Charlotte kids who are left and are bouncing back to stay home,” said Poggi. “I’m pleased with how we’ve done that, and we’re going to keep doing it. There’s a lot of local talent in Charlotte, and it was under-recruited by our university (previously), and now we are pounding the area.”

NIL and staff changes

The 49ers recently rolled out the Goldmine Alliance, a donor-managed NIL collective, which exclusively focuses on the 49ers’ football program. After singing multiple athletes with well-defined NIL profiles, Poggi spoke about the collective and how Charlotte is able to compete with some of the bigger programs in the nation.

“We’re very fortunate to have that. It was founded and is run by Matt Magan. We have people who are interested in supporting our football student-athletes. They realize that NIL is a new part of college football, so we are able to compete. It’s been going great so far, and you see the results of it.”

Charlotte’s recruiting success has continued to build momentum for year two under Poggi, and despite losing multiple key producers from a season ago to the portal, the 63-year-old head man says that the 49ers haven’t lost anyone they didn’t want to lose.

“We have not lost anybody we didn’t want to lose. And that is saying something,” said Poggi. “What we say to kids who are on our roster is: ‘You’ve been with us. You know who we are. If you want to stay and you believe in what you’re doing, then stay. If you don’t, then we’ll help you find another home.’ We have not had that happen. We’ve had guys get in, and we’re excited for them to find another chapter in their lives, and we’re helping them do so.”

Charlotte lost a couple of key staff members, including former associate head coach and offensive line coach Kyle DeVan, to his alma mater, Oregon State, as well as cornerbacks coach Rod Ojong to Indiana, who Charlotte will play in the non-conference this upcoming season.

Poggi announced that he will be retaining both coordinators Mike Miller and Ryan Osborn, and Charlotte will be announcing the hires of a senior defensive coach, as well as a new cornerbacks coach in the coming weeks.

“We’ve added some more senior gentlemen to those rooms. Offensively, bringing Tim (Brewster) in will be a great help to Mike (Miller). Greg Froelich will continue with the running backs, and we have a new wide receiver coach in Jason Barnes. We really love the offensive staff, and Mike is really comfortable with all of those people.

“We are really happy with where we stand staff-wise,” Poggi continued. “While our young staff was a good staff last year, this is exactly what we needed. You learn as the year goes on what you need, and we were able to examine a year of data and we’ve made the adjustments we thought I needed.”