‘He built it:’ Charlotte 49ers prepare to face former coach Brad Lambert

Brad Lambert will be in Richardson Stadium on Saturday for what might be a historical day for the Charlotte 49ers.

As the team pursues a sixth victory that would make it bowl eligible for the first time, Lambert won’t be on the home team’s sideline, where he was a fixture as Charlotte’s first and only head coach for six seasons before being fired in 2018.

He’ll instead call plays as co-defensive coordinator for Charlotte’s opponent -- the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Lambert will make his return against a team full of players he recruited, in a stadium he had a hand in designing.

In short, against a program he was instrumental in constructing.

“It’s definitely going to be special, because (Lambert) brought me here to Charlotte and he invested a lot of time into us,” said senior linebacker Jeff Gemmell. “It’s going to be a special game and there will be a lot of high emotions.”

Lambert, who through a Marshall spokesman declined to be interviewed for this story, was hired in 2011 with the task of building the 49ers program from scratch. Coming from Wake Forest, where he’d been an assistant on coach Jim Grobe’s staff for 10 years, Lambert did all the dirty work to get the Charlotte program up and running and the team ready to play its first game in 2013 (a 52-7 victory against Campbell).

The 49ers played as a Football Championship Subdivision independent for two seasons before moving quickly up to the Football Bowl Subdivision and Conference USA in 2015. Working under those conditions, the 49ers never had a winning season under Lambert and he was let go by first-year athletics director Mike Hill after the 2018 season.

But Lambert left a solid foundation for successor Will Healy. Several players Lambert recruited -- including running back Benny LeMay, receiver Victor Tucker, kicker Jonathan Cruz, defensive end Alex Highsmith, safety Ben DeLuca and Gemmell -- have developed into all-conference caliber performers. Two former 49ers -- defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and offensive tackle Nate Davis -- are in the NFL.

Lambert was also the lone FBS coach to recognize the talent of a lightly recruited quarterback from Davie County High named Chris Reynolds, who is having a breakout sophomore season for Healy.

“He’s the only one -- the only one -- who gave me an opportunity to play football at this level,” said Reynolds. “I can’t thank him enough.”

Reynolds was asked what it will be like playing against a defense his former coach has schemed to stop him.

“I hope he takes it easy on me!” Reynolds said, laughing.

Healy, who has coached the 49ers to a 5-5 record, said he has never met Lambert. That might change Saturday.

“He deserves a lot of credit of what this place has turned into,” said Healy. “What this (field house) is; what this stadium is. What type of players we have on this roster. We were fortunate to inherit a program with a very stable foundation

“He built it.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 3:54 PM.