Charlotte 49ers football performance coach a feather in team’s cap as they prep for FAU
For the first time since November of 2021, it’s game day for the Charlotte 49ers. The offseason work under director of football performance Chris Laskowski has been put to the test as Charlotte concluded its training camp consisting of 19 practices in 25 days leading up to the season opener against Florida Atlantic.
With a feather in his bucket hat and a hoodie no matter the temperature, Laskowski — a Florida Atlantic alumnus — is hard to miss. He’s also, according to many players and staff, “one of a kind.”
Laskowski is entering his fourth year on Charlotte’s staff, following stops at Austin Peay, Virginia and Old Dominion. He’s been in the weight room with the players, leading various drills and applying techniques to achieve peak performance from more than 120 athletes.
He is a natural leader, which is why head coach Will Healy brought him on his staff at Austin Peay more than five years ago.
“From a culture perspective and a toughness perspective, he is the program,” Healy said. “His passion for the job and passion for making sure that our players stay healthy and develop good habits, he’s really good at what he does, and that comes from his experiences as a player. He’s always eager to learn and is humble enough to challenge what he does and compare it to the best of the best.”
Laskowski was one of 164 students who tried out to join the FAU football program ahead of the inaugural 2000 season. He made the team as a walk-on linebacker under head coach Howard Schnellenberger. Laskowski played in every game, eventually earned a scholarship, led the team in tackles in 2002, and was named team MVP in 2002 and 2003.
At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Laskowski was named the Athletic Department’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year. He signed a free agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts in 2005, serving as a linebacker-turned-safety before a sports hernia sidelined him prior to his second season in the NFL. In 2009, Laskowski was inducted into the Florida Atlantic Hall of Fame after leaving as the program’s all-time leading tackler.
With so much history in Boca Raton, all three matchups since joining the 49ers have had a bit of significance for Laskowski, but there’s something special about Saturday on Florida Atlantic’s campus.
The field at FAU Stadium was named after Schnellenberger in 2014, honoring the late coach that led the Owls for their first 11 seasons. Schnellenberger joined when Florida Atlantic didn’t even have a program, and just three years in they were just one win away from being in the national championship game.
“It will be special once we’re there,” Laskowski said. “We lost him last year and it was really challenging for me. I’ve had a lot of leaders in my life, a lot of mentors. Not just one or two, but tens — dozens of them. They’ve all had imprints on my character and on the way I coach and teach. I’ll channel him sometimes if there’s a certain situation and I find myself reacting a certain way or seeing it through a certain lens, or even standing a certain way, I think about him. I watched him for four and a half years. He was special. He was special for me and special for the thousands of people in his life.
“Once we get down there and see the statue, I mean I grew up in Boca Raton essentially. That’s where I transitioned out of that boyhood into manhood,” Laskowski added. “Special place, special people. Now, it’s just another opponent on a football team that I’m a part of. It’s going to be a powerful deal. They’re a good football team and we’ve had some great games against them. But right now, tunnel vision.”
Tunnel vision is a mentality that many veterans on the 49ers’ roster share, with Charlotte having dropped its past three matchups against the Owls. The last victory came in Brad Lambert’s final game when Jonathan Cruz connected on a 56-yard kick to keep Lane Kiffin and company out of bowl contention.
Sixth-year quarterback Chris Reynolds echoed Healy’s comments on Laskowski, highlighting the energy that the 40-year-old coach brings every single day.
“You want to talk about a passionate person, Coach L has a passion that you can see very vividly. When you have someone like that and it trickles down to his players, it’s powerful,” Reynolds said. “He’s very detailed in the way he instructs us and trains us. Everything has a reason, and he pushes us to understand the why behind what we’re doing.”
Opening the season with a key conference game is a tall task, but one Laskowski and the 49ers aren’t taking lightly.
“Compared to previous years, the leadership is on a different level. The work ethic overall is on a different level. Being at a place for four years has been special,” Laskowski said. “We’re not going to tolerate certain things anymore. The line is drawn and there’s a lot more urgency.”