Charlotte 49ers 2026 College Football Preview
Posted June 28, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 1-11
ATS – 5-6-1
“Feed ’em to the pigs, Errol.”
— Brick Top, Snatch (2000)
We didn’t think it would get that ugly, but it did. The 49ers were only able to win one game all year, and that came against an FCS foe in Monmouth. Things kept getting worse, as they gave up 48+ points three times in the back half of the season and lost their final three games by a combined score of 90-10.
Year two of Tim Albin’s era begins with plenty of work to do.
Charlotte 49ers 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (American):
- Scoring: 14.3 PPG (#14 American, dead last)
- Total Offense: 285.8 YPG (#14 American, dead last)
- Rushing: 81.8 YPG (#14 American, dead last)
- Passing: 204.0 YPG (#10 American)
- Sacks Allowed: 28 (#12 American)
Those are what the stats look like when you have one of the worst offenses imaginable. The 49ers couldn’t do much of anything, and accumulating a mere 82 yards per game on the ground should be a CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Just kidding. Not really.
There’s some hope emanating from the QB room as the 49ers added Cole Gonzales, who threw 51 touchdown passes with Western Carolina from 2022 through 2024. Gonzales got a CUP OF COFFEE with Pitt last year but only threw 22 passes. Conner Harrell and Grayson Loftis are back, but they combined for a mediocre 12-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2025.
The RB room is obviously in need of a major upgrade, and the 49ers hope that transfers Chance Williams (Cincinnati) and Khamani Alexander (Appalachian St) can give them some more juice. We don’t have high hopes, but we’ll see how things go. As far as the passing attack weaponry, all three guys with more than 150 receiving yards last year are gone, so they’ll need some new faces to step up. The good news is that they added a legit WR1 in Jaden Barnes from Appalachian St (608 yards, 7 TDs), who had a 1,000-yard campaign with Austin Peay in 2024. There’s potential for some inexperienced holdovers and transfers to make an impact, so we’ll be looking for reports out of fall camp.
The offensive line has decent size, and they added a small handful of guys with lots of experience, albeit at lower levels. Run blocking couldn’t possibly get much worse, but they only allowed 28 sacks last season. They’ve got a good coaching staff, so maybe the big boys can outperform expectations?
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (American):
- Scoring: 36.3 PPG (#12 American)
- Total Defense: 471.9 YPG (#14 American, dead last)
- Rushing Defense: 200.3 YPG (#12 American)
- Passing Defense: 271.7 YPG (#14 American, dead last)
- Sacks: 14 (#14 American, dead last)
Wowee wow. Things weren’t much better on this side of the football, as they couldn’t stop anything and failed to achieve any kind of PENETRATION.
There’s a little bit of hope up front with the return of DE Curtis Simpson (4.5 TFL, 4 QBH) and DJ Burgess, who missed almost the entire 2025 season. Burgess was a BEAST at Northwest Mississippi CC in 2023 and 2024 (combined 16 TFL and 7 sacks, two-time NJCAA All-American) and is one of the 49ers’ most important pieces on defense.
The middle of the stop unit will have a pair of steady veterans to call upon in Kadin Schmitz (#2 in tackles) and Gavin Willis (#6 in tackles), but they’re still searching for a linebacker who can be a difference-maker and havoc creator. The secondary might be in a bit of trouble again, as they only return one starter and don’t appear to have done much heavy lifting in the transfer portal. Cornerback looks to be in better shape than safety, given the return of senior CJ Clinkscales and JUCO transfer Tradarius Smith.
SPECIAL TEAMS
It’s a bit of a mixed bag. We’re happy to report that the 49ers retain punter Bronson Long, as well as kick returner Henry Rutledge, who did some good work in 2024. They’ll be breaking in a new youngster at PK, and we’ll have to see how that goes.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The 49ers should be able to get past The Citadel in the opener, but it seems very likely they’ll enter conference action with a mark of 1-3. They catch a YUUUGE break in American play by missing UTSA, and they also avoid Army and South Florida.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Temple (Oct 17)
This will be the second of back-to-back road games, and they’ll have to travel all the way from Denton, Texas to the communist bastion of Philadelphia. Also note that Temple smoked Charlotte by a score of 49-14 last year.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – June 28
Over 2.5 +120
Under 2.5 -150
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
That’s hilarious. The 2.5 win total has the under juiced. Okay, well assuming they take care of The Citadel, they’ve only gotta book two more wins to go over the number. There are only three or four winnable games the rest of the way, so it’s not gonna be easy to get to three wins. Slight preference to the under, but we won’t be pulling the trigger.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Charlotte’s football history goes back further than most people realize. The school actually had a team from 1946–1948 called the Charlotte Owls (because it was a night school). The program was dropped after three seasons and didn’t return until 2013, when students and alumni lobbied to bring it back. Cult classic energy, yo — your first football era ends before COLOR TV, and the reboot doesn’t drop until 2013.
The 49ers are 20-33-2 ATS (38%) at home over the L10Y.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
It was one heck of a miserable campaign for the 49ers and their fans last season. They were brutal on both sides of the football and failed to earn a single victory over an FBS opponent. Thankfully, it looks like the offense is going to be significantly improved, but we’re not convinced the defense has enough talent to make meaningful strides. The schedule will give them the opportunity to pull a minor upset or two, but this clearly appears to be another rebuilding season.
Hail, Charlotte!