Charlotte 49ers football season in review: Was 2020 a step forward or back for rebuild?

It’s been less than a year since the Charlotte 49ers completed a winning season and played in a bowl game for the first time in the program’s FBS history.

The future seemed limitless. That was before COVID-19.

It was before the virus laid waste to the 49ers’ 2020 schedule, causing a series of starts and stops that ruined any momentum the team might have hoped for, wiping out several games against big-name opponents along the way.

The season ended not with a last-second field goal or a big victory, but with a news release.

“The Charlotte 49ers’ football game at Marshall Friday night has been canceled due to medical concerns within the Marshall program. This cancellation will complete the 49ers’ 2020 football season.”

The 49ers finished with a 2-4 record, playing about half the number of games as some other teams in Conference USA. Nine times during the season, head coach Will Healy had to tell his players that a game was postponed or canceled.

Charlotte lost at Duke on Halloween and played only one more time in the five-plus weeks that followed, leading up to that news release about the Marshall game earlier this week.

Healy acknowledges that COVID-19 slowed the program growth that the 49ers displayed last year in Healy’s first season as head coach in Charlotte.

The 2020 season is merely a speed bump for the program, he said.

“I don’t think that a single game or a six-game schedule will change that,” Healy said last week, referring to the positives accomplished last year.

The 49ers hope to announce a strong recruiting class Wednesday, and Healy said the 2020 season didn’t get in the way.

“They know we’re still under construction,” Healy said of prospective recruits. “That’s one of the things that attracts them — the chance to help us grow.

“But they also know what we stand for. They want to be part of change.”

Healy and his coaching staff enter the offseason facing a complex juggling act.

The NCAA is allowing current athletes another season of eligibility. That means seniors on this 49er football squad have the choice to return next year.

“A lot of seniors are coming back,” senior linebacker Tyriq Harris said. “I’ve talked to them, and I know many of them will return.”

Harris, a candidate for at least two NCAA awards — for academics and community involvement — said he hasn’t decided about next year but admits, “The idea of coming back next year and doing something special is weighing on my mind.”

Players like Harris and safety Ben DeLuca could be picked in the 2021 NFL Draft. Even if they don’t return, the 49ers will have plenty of firepower coming back. That includes junior quarterback Chris Reynolds and receivers such as Victor Tucker.

Healy said he was waiting for “a big moment, like a big victory or something” to talk with seniors about returning. That never happened.

“Now I’ll have to have that conversation,” he said. “Our athletic department has decided that if any seniors want to come back, they can.”

While Healy and his staff are recruiting seniors to return in 2021, they’re also recruiting high school players and junior college standouts.

“We’re recruiting as usual,” he said.

As for the 2-4 record this season, Healy said Charlotte played well in spots but often showed rust after COVID-caused layoffs.

They played well for three quarters in a 35-20 season-opening loss to Appalachian State. Then came a two-week COVID break and a flat performance in a 21-17 loss to Florida Atlantic. Last Sunday’s 37-19 loss to Western Kentucky came after a five-week break.

There were a lot of news faces on the roster in 2020, but Healy said players never got to know one another very well because of COVID-caused social distancing.

“With all the new faces, it was a problem,” Healy said.

Reynolds said what happened this season will make the 49ers stronger in 2021.

“This team has been through a lot of adversity,” he said. “It’s how you respond to the bad times that defines who you are as a person.

“That’s made us all stronger this season.”

Healy agreed that his team has grown but said it was unwieldy.

“This,” he said, “was the most awkward, unique season ever.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 7:00 AM.