‘Almost laughable’: Charlotte 49ers football dealing with yet another postponed game
Forgive Charlotte 49ers coach Will Healy if the constant battle to keep the college football season afloat has dissolved into a practice in exasperation.
“It’s almost laughable, how crazy it is,” Healy told The Observer on Friday after the 49ers’ scheduled home opener Saturday against Florida International had been postponed — potentially to December — due to an increased number of positive COVID-19 tests within the Panthers’ program.
Rather than preparing for what would have been the sixth game on Charlotte’s reworked schedule on Saturday against FIU, the 49ers are instead hoping to play a fourth game next week at home against Texas El-Paso.
It’s the third game the 49ers have had either canceled or postponed this season due to coronavirus concerns. It’s made it tough to find traction for a program that was hoping to gain some momentum after the success of 2019, when the 49ers posted the first winning record and played in a bowl game for the first time in program history.
“You prepare yourself in the summer for a season that’s going to be like no other (because of the coronavirus),” Healy said. “Then what you get is something that’s turning out to be exactly like that. It’s frustrating that you don’t get to build on the momentum from last week, much less last year. You feel like you’re getting better and you want to protect that. You want to keep spirits high.”
Healy said he informed his coaching staff by group text late Thursday night about FIU’s decision not to play. He asked each position coach to forward the information to their players.
“I love you, but I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Healy said of his text. “I’m tired of being the bearer of negative news. FIU called and postponed and cannot play Saturday. We’ll meet at 7:30 on Friday morning and discuss direction.”
The 49ers certainly haven’t been alone in the struggle to play this season. A Conference USA game Saturday between Southern Mississippi and UTEP has also been postponed, as have four others around the country. But Charlotte is among a handful of Football Bowl Subdivision teams to have had at least three games either postponed or canceled — a list that also includes Houston, Baylor and FAU, according to CBS Sports.
Charlotte (1-2, 1-1 C-USA) has managed to play three games — a season opener against Appalachian State on Sept. 12, as well as C-USA road games on consecutive Saturdays against Florida Atlantic (Oct. 3) and North Texas (Oct. 10).
The 49ers canceled their game on Sept. 19 at North Carolina (which had been scheduled as a replacement game after original games against Tennessee and Norfolk State had been called off) when nine members of the offensive line had to go into contact tracing quarantine after one of them tested positive. Healy said he simply didn’t have enough players at those positions to field a team against the Tar Heels.
The following week, Georgia State informed Charlotte the day before their Sept. 26 game that the Panthers couldn’t play after several test results came back positive. Georgia State athletics director Charlie Cobb later said the results had been misread, and the game could have been played.
Charlotte athletics director Mike Hill said there is hope that the FIU game can be rescheduled in early December. C-USA moved back its championship game from Dec. 5 to Dec. 18 to allow postponed games to be played.
But Hill said the Georgia State game will likely not be rescheduled. The 49ers have an open date on Nov. 14 (originally scheduled for a C-USA game against Old Dominion before the Monarchs canceled all fall sports) that Hill said he is still “exploring” to fill.
“We look at the calendar and there’s still 10 weeks out there where we have an opportunity go play a football game,” Healy said. “That’s the possibility that we’re looking at.”
The mood around Charlotte’s program this weekend is drastically different from when the 49ers learned they wouldn’t play Georgia State. On that Saturday, 49ers players and coaches tried to have fun, playing Wiffle ball, par-3 golf and touch football. On this Saturday, 49ers players will have lunch together and then be tested for COVID-19 before breaking up for the rest of the weekend.
After consulting with team captains Chris Reynolds, Jaelin Fisher, Tyriq Harris and Ben DeLuca, Healy allowed the players to go home if they want. Those who do will be quarantined when they return until they receive a negative result from a test to be taken Monday.
“They just said, ‘We’re tired, we kind of feel that even with the breaks (in the schedule) we’ve had, we haven’t been able to get away from it,’ ” Healy said. “Our legs might be OK, but we haven’t had a break to get away mentally from it.”
Football hasn’t been the only Charlotte program impacted by the coronavirus. Men’s basketball practice and in-person meetings have been suspended indefinitely after seven positive cases of athletes and staff were reported Tuesday. Since June 10, 49ers athletes, staff and coaches have been tested 7,723 times with 37 positive results, a .48% positivity rate.
“I am frustrated & confused,” 49ers football strength and conditioning coach Chris Laskowski said on Twitter. “Athletics is only one form of our economy and culture, but it sure brings joy and purpose to many. I hurt with our men who continue to get opportunities to celebrate & play taken away. Send them grace & strength to stay the course & remain positive.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 5:18 PM.