CHARLOTTE – Charlotte Football begins its 2026 season this Saturday (Sept. 5) against The Citadel at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
The 2026 season gets underway at 3:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. Charlotte’s internet radio crew of Matt Swierad, Al Wallace, and Bobby Rosinski will have the call on Charlotte49ers.com.
GAME DAY DETAILS
Charlotte (0-0) vs. The Citadel (0-1)
Saturday, Sept. 5 | 3:30 p.m.
Jerry Richardson Stadium
GAME COVERAGE
Television » ESPN+
Internet Radio » Charlotte49ers.com
GAME DAY EVENTS
Alumni Association Tailgate
Alumni Tailgates are open to all 49er fans. The tailgate starts two-and-a-half hours before each home game (1:00 p.m. on Saturday) and is located at Hauser Alumni Pavilion, presented by Parks Chevrolet Charlotte. Each Alumni Tailgate ticket includes two hours of food and drinks, entertainment, visits from the spirit squads, games, giveaways, and more!
$5 Youth Tickets
Youth tickets are available for just $5 for the home opener! There will be activations for kids throughout the concourse, including face painting, balloon artists, and an inflatable football toss.
2025 RECAP
Charlotte enters 2026 in year two of the Tim Albin era after going 1-11 in year one. The Niners defeated Monmouth, 42-35, behind 382 passing yards from Conner Harrell for the team’s lone win of the season. Derrick Eley turned heads in the return game, taking a kickoff against UTSA 88 yards to the house for just the fifth kick return touchdown in program history as part of what ended up being one of the best special teams units in the country.
YEAR TWO UNDER ALBIN
Charlotte is the third school that Albin has served as head coach, and both of his previous stops saw an improvement in year two. After a 5-5 year in his first season as a head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma in 1997, Albin led his alma mater to a 7-3 season and then a perfect 13-0 record with an NAIA National Championship in year three. The Bobcats went 3-9 in his first season at Ohio in 2021 before rattling off three consecutive 10-win seasons and a MAC Championship in his final year in Athens.
BIGGER, FASTER, STRONGER
An emphasis on speed and strength in the offseason has the Niners bigger, faster, and stronger than they were in 2025. Both lines are over five pounds heavier than last year, with the offensive line averaging 306 pounds and the defensive line sitting at 269. After only 14 players were clocked at running 20 mph or faster last year, the 2026 Niners have over 40 players who can hit that mark. In the weight room, the work of strength coach Jake Miller and his staff has led to an average power clean increase of 80 lbs for the offensive line and 100 lbs for the defensive line.
ROSTER MAKEUP
For the second consecutive season, the 49ers return 50 players from the team a season before. The Niners welcome 62 newcomers this year, with 25 coming from an NCAA school in the transfer portal, 12 joining from the JUCO ranks, and 25 coming straight from high school. Henry Rutledge is the oldest player on the team, joining the Niners in 2021, and is one of 22 players in their final season of eligibility with the new “Five in Five” eligibility ruling.
BUILDING LOCAL
Focusing on the talent-rich Southeast, over 75% of the 2026 roster is from North Carolina or within a two-state radius. North Carolina leads the way with 24 players on the roster, including 13 from the greater Charlotte area, followed closely by Georgia with 22. The Niners have 12 players from Florida, seven from Mississippi, and six from South Carolina, with Alabama, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia all represented as well.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Charlotte returns 30.3% of its starts from last year’s squad, up from 21.8% last season. For the second year in a row, the offense returns 24.2% of starts while the defense brings back 36.4%, mostly along the defensive line and linebackers. Looking at production, the Niners return 87.9% of their passing yards from quarterbacks last year, but only 16.1% of the rushing/receiving yards. On defense, the Green and White return 34.8% of total tackles from 2025, but only 30.2% of tackles for loss and only a quarter of the sack production.
QUARTERBACK EXPERIENCE
The Niners have a deep quarterback room in 2026, with 67 games played and 41 starts across 11 years of experience between Cole Gonzales, Conner Harrell, and Grayson Loftis. The trio has combined for 848 completions, 10,518 passing yards, and 76 touchdowns through the air, along with 675 yards and eight scores on the ground in their careers. Adding to the depth are sophomore Luke McNulty and freshman Jaylen White. McNulty totaled 48 touchdowns over his final two seasons at Maranatha High School while White totaled 5,341 yards and 56 touchdowns over the last two seasons at Clearwater High School.
STRENGTH IN THE THIRD PHASE
Charlotte’s strength in 2025 was in special teams, ranking in the top half of the FBS in kickoff return average, punt return average, kickoff return defense, and punt return defense – one of 11 programs in the country to rank in the top half of all four return categories and one of only two non-P4 programs, along with Delaware and Fresno State. The Niners ranked 16th in the country in kickoff return average, aided by Derrick Eley’s 27.83 average, sixth-best in the nation, and set team records for kickoff and punt return averages in a single season.
ALL WITHOUT RUTLEDGE
Those return numbers were all achieved without one of the top returners in program history, Henry Rutledge. Named to the 2025 Jet Award preseason watch list, awarded to the nation’s top return specialist, Rutledge only played in one game after dealing with an injury and didn’t feature on special teams at all. Back for his final year, Rutledge is third on Charlotte’s all-time kick return list with 1,219 career kickoff return yards, the fourth-most among active FBS players.
ALL EYES ON THE NINERS
Charlotte played over half of its games on linear television last year, the most in a single season for the Green and White. The Niners were featured on ESPN2 and ESPNU twice, and played one game each on ESPN, CBS Sports Network, and the SEC Network. Charlotte already has two linear games on the schedule this year, a Week 2 matchup at CFP semifinalist Ole Miss and a Friday night showdown with Tulane on Oct. 30, both of which will air on ESPN2.
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN SPORTS
Charlotte Football’s sport administrator and Executive Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator, Ragean Hill, is one of only six female sport administrators in the FBS, and the only one not at the P4 level. Charlotte is joined by Baylor, Duke, Kansas State, Maryland, and Oregon as the only FBS programs with a female football administrator.
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
Eight 49ers received some sort of preseason recognition, headlined by a pair of national award watch lists. Derrick Eley was named to the 2026 Jet Award preseason watch list for the nation’s top returner, and Caleb Irving was named to the Allstate Good Works team and the Wuerffel Trophy watch list.
TOWERING OVER THE STADIUM
Jerry Richardson Stadium has a new look this fall, with construction of the new tower progressing toward its completion before the 2027 season. The structure was topped out this summer and will be filled out throughout the rest of the season and the following offseason. The new tower will increase the stadium’s capacity by about 3,000 through premium seating options of seven suites, 24 loge boxes, 150 ledge seats, and 600 club seats.
SEASON-LONG CAPTAINS
Six 49ers were named team captains for the entire season, as voted on by their peers on the team. It shakes out to three captains per side of the ball, with Cole Gonzales, Conner Harrell, and Gus McGee named captains on the offensive side and Kadin Schmitz, Gavin Willis, and Dy’Lon Womack earning the honor on the defensive side. New for this year, each captain will have a “C” patch on their jersey.
WHHHHHO ARE YOU?
To build chemistry and foster team-building across the squad, every member of the program comes up with and shares their “Five Hs” so the team understands their “why”. Each player and coach goes around the room detailing their History, their Hero, a Highlight, a Heartbreak, and their Hope, to bring the team closer together.
DEGREE EARNERS
Charlotte enters the 2026 campaign with 14 players on the roster already holding college degrees. Of the 14, 11 have earned their degrees at Charlotte, while three have transferred in after earning a degree at a different institution.
