Photo credit: Paul Jones, Charlotte Football Creative

As Fall camp is nearing its end, I've been thinking what questions I have most about this team leading up to the season opener versus James Madison at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Charlotte, like everyone else, has dealt with a tremendous amount of roster churn and burn, which to some extent is a healthy thing. We've heard Head Coach Biff Poggi discuss the divide that was in the locker room last year due to the influx of so many players from St. Frances. The 2023 roster listed 29 players from St. Frances, and this season it's down to 12. Let's hope that's enough of a reduction to help bridge any silos in the locker room.

Question 1: Is Max Brown the answer at Quarterback?

Most of you know Max Brown's background by now, but the quick and dirty is that Brown was Florida's #2 last year and stepped in when Graham Mertz was hurt, where he played well for a redshirt freshman. With Mertz returning, Brown wanted somewhere to go and play, enter Charlotte.

Brown is 6'3, 230 and a solid athlete that shined on the baseball field, spending a season with Gators baseball program before focusing on football. Behind Brown will be Trexler Ivey and true Freshman Deshawn Purdie.

The Highway 49 podcast and guest Chris Reynolds broke down some film on Max Brown at Florida, and it's a must-watch.

There is clearly much to like about Brown, but he's still a young quarterback, and bumps are to be expected as he gains more on-the-job experience. I fully expect a similar gameplan to what Charlotte wanted to do with Jalon Jones, leveraging the quarterbacks running ability to apply pressure on the defense, and to be a run-oriented team. That said, Charlotte can't simply annex Michigan style of play here. We simply cannot expect to dominate both lines of scrimmage like Michigan can, and to win in the AAC, you have to have an offense that puts points on the board. The low scoring games in league play are few and far between.

Is it too much to state that the ceiling of the 2024 season falls directly on Redshirt Sophomore Max Brown? I don't think so.

Question 2: Can the offensive line gel?

The offensive line was overhauled last year under Biff Poggi and now departed Kyle Devan, who returned to his alma mater Oregon State. So that means Charlotte has a new OL coach, John Morookian (coached Tight Ends last season), which has always seemed like a revolving door since the tragic passing of Phil Ratliff. If my memory serves me correctly, only Pete Rossomando spent more than 1 season in this role since then. Either way, the lack of consistency in that role — unfortunately — has been one of the most consistent items in Charlotte's young history.

Jonny King returns and looks to be locked in as the anchor of the OL at Center. Beyond King, we will likely see new names on both sides of him; Mitchell Mayes (Clemson, Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (Texas A&M), Mo Clipper Jr. (Tennessee), Johnny Hassard (Umass), Tyler Gibson (Georgia Tech) and Jordan Herman (Florida). Depth appears to be in place, but the question to me is, how cohesive will they be come game 1?

Question 3: Retooled, not rebuilt, defense?

After taking over one of the worst performing defensive units in the country, Ryan Osborn's defense in year 1 of the Poggi era was by far the biggest highlight. That said, Osborn's defensive unit lost quite a bit to graduation and the portal; Eyabi Okie, Demetrius Knight (South Carolina), Nikhai Hill-Green (Colorado), Dontez Fagan (West Virginia) and Kameron Howard (Alabama) are the most notable departures, but much like on the offensive side, there has been an influx of talent via the portal.

Key portal additions include: Ja'Qurious Conely (DB, UNC-Chapel Hill), Mordecai McDaniel (DB, Florida), Aidan Kaler (LB, Stony Brook), Chantz Williams (DL, Miami), Charlie Jackson (DL, Gardner-Webb) and Stephen Sings V (DL, Auburn/Liberty). There are certainly more names that could be mentioned here, but it feels that the defense is positioned to be the anchor, again, in year two for Poggi's Niners.

With returning pieces such as Prince Wallace-Bemah, who will wear the helmet with sideline communication, Dontae Balfour (Reese's Senior Bowl Watch list), Stone Handy, Demon Clowney, Jalar Holley, Al-ma'hi Ali and Dez Morgan, I feel here is a solid foundation to add to, which I think they've done. We'll find out soon enough.

If I had to weigh the importance of my questions into determining the success, or lack thereof, for Charlotte this season, I would go with #1 at 75%, #2 at 20%, and #3 at 5%. As you can see, I'm more confident on the defensive side of things.

The one thing I know for sure, August 31st can't get here quick enough, see you all at the Normbulance.