Virus test results for Charlotte 49ers athletic department continue to be encouraging
Results from coronavirus testing continue to be encouraging for the Charlotte 49ers athletics department.
Since June 10, 49ers athletes, coaches and staff have been tested weekly. Of the total of 1,296 tests that have been given so far, eight have returned positive for a .6% positivity rate. Last week, there were zero positive results from 434 tests, the second consecutive week with no positives.
Football coach Will Healy doesn’t think the numbers are an accident. He has constantly stressed to his team the importance of being responsible and making good choices.
“What are you willing to do to stay safe?” Healy said he tells his players. “What are you willing to to do to make sure we can continue to play football? Everybody’s got to have each other’s back, because all it takes is one. And so a commitment to making sure that we take care of one another is extremely important.”
Healy spoke those words last week, before UNC Charlotte announced it won’t hold in-person classes until Oct. 1. So until at least then, the football team will at least continue to be somewhat more isolated or, as become the parlance of this summer, remain in a “bubble.”
But the 49ers have hardly been in a bubble. Healy estimates about 75% of his team lives off campus.
“It’s communicating with them,” Healy said. “That whatever we’re asking them to do here is also what we want them to do when they’re away from here. And understand that every decision you make could affect this entire football team. We’ve got to trust them, and this football team’s done nothing but give me more confidence that they’re trustworthy.”
The 49ers first began reporting test results in mid-June, after athletes were allowed back on campus for voluntary workouts. Six positive tests were reported the first week, including two football players, Healy told The Observer. Both were placed in quarantine and have since been cleared to play. The 49ers have had no players opt out of playing due to coronavirus concerns.
Charlotte’s test numbers have been in contrast to several other Carolinas athletic programs and football teams. N.C. State announced this week that it is pausing athletics due to a COVID-19 cluster within its program. Appalachian State, against whom the 49ers open their season on Sept. 12 in Boone, announced a cluster of cases with its football team and briefly suspended practice.
East Carolina paused football practice Aug. 20 after positive tests and hasn’t yet resumed. North Carolina temporarily suspended athletic activities last week after positive tests increased on campus. Clemson dealt with an outbreak on its football team earlier this summer.
Football is the only team sport being played at Charlotte this fall, with Conference USA announcing volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer being postponed until the spring. No fans will be allowed at the 49ers’ home opener Sept. 26 against Georgia State.
49ers notes
▪ Healy said linebacker Henry Segura (personal reasons) and defensive end Jaison Williams (health-related) have left the program. Segura was Charlotte’s fifth-leading tackler last season with 66. He also had two interceptions, including one for a 49-yard touchdown against Massachusetts and a late-game pick that sealed a victory against Texas-El Paso.
Williams was a Football Championship Subdivision All-American at Austin Peay who transferred to Charlotte after Healy left the Governors for the 49ers in 2019.
▪ Charlotte junior defensive end Markees Watts and senior safety Ben DeLuca were named to the preseason All-Conference USA team. Watts had 9.5 sacks last season, which ranked fourth in the conference, and 13 tackles for loss, which tied for 11th in the league. DeLuca missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, but was a 2018 honorable mention All-Conference player who is third on Charlotte’s career tackles list (103).
Marshall running back Brenden Knox was named the league preseason offensive player of the year; Western Kentucky end DeAngelo Malone the defensive player of the year; and WKU punter John Haggerty the special teams player of the year.