Charlotte-area high school football transfers, like in college, are on the rise

A standout defensive lineman and a highly-recruited running back are moving to a championship contender. One of the region’s top pass rushers and run-stuffers is transferring to a defending championship team.

Yes, it sounds like the college football transfer portal, operating full speed ahead.

Except it isn’t.

Those are high school players, part of a large number of Charlotte-area prep football standouts who will be wearing different uniforms this season.

The Charlotte Observer kicks off three weeks of preseason high school football coverage by looking at a major trend across the region — players on the move.

“It’s the high school transfer portal,” said Daryl Vereen, head football coach at North Mecklenburg. “It’s the new reality.”

Among some of the players on the move this season, according to coaches and players’ own social media announcements:

▪ Ohio State commit Trajen Odom, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound senior defensive lineman, has transferred from the Raleigh area’s Panther Creek to defending 4A state champion Weddington.

▪ Elijah Littlejohn, a junior defensive lineman with more than two dozen FBS offers from SEC, Big Ten and ACC schools, among others, has moved from West Charlotte to Charlotte Christian.

▪ Charlotte Christian also has landed junior running back Jamal Rule, heavily committed by FBS schools. Rule moved from Salisbury.

▪ Jared Lockhart, a multi-threat quarterback who led Porter Ridge to the playoffs a year ago, will play this season at Myers Park.

▪ Meanwhile, quarterback Brock Jenkins is moving from Myers Park to West Charlotte

One thing is clear about this football movement — area coaches aren’t eager to talk about it. Most coaches contacted by The Observer in the past week either did not respond or declined comment.

‘It’s everywhere’

Vereen, the first-year head coach at North Mecklenburg, was an exception.

He said he expects his program to be a victim of the mass movement.

“I think we had a ton of movement,” said Vereen, defensive coordinator with the Vikings the past four seasons.

He said he won’t know for sure until practice begins Wednesday, but he believes a number of 2023 Vikings will play elsewhere in 2024.

“It’s everywhere, but it especially seems to be happening in Charlotte,” Vereen said.

Charlotte Christian coach Chris James will direct a program that appears to have a net gain of talent this season. But James, a former assistant at Ardrey Kell and Myers Park, said he has been on both sides of the equation.

“Kids want to play with other good players,” James said. “All the top players are on group chats. They all want to be with each other, on winning teams.”

As one Union County coach told The Observer last season, “You don’t see kids moving to 1-9 teams.”

Trickle down from college

High school coaches say the growing phenomenon starts at the college level.

“Fewer kids are being recruited,” James said. “It’s getting hard to be recruited. Kids say, ‘I want to play where I’ll be noticed.’ “

College coaches are not recruiting as many high school players, some analysts say, because they are using the transfer portal as a source of talent. Why take a chance on a high school senior, when you can have an experienced college player instead, analysts say.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders told Signing Day Sports in January, “I feel bad for high school kids, because we’re taking like four to five high school kids this year.”

Vereen, who said he is “a little bit old-school” when it comes to transferring, said first-year head coaches are especially vulnerable.

“Kids get worried about playing time and possible schematic changes, so they look elsewhere,” he said.

Vereen said he talked to North Mecklenburg’s prospective returning players last spring and tried to allay their concerns.

“We’ll try to add some things this year,” he said. “I think we’ll add some pre-snap movement on offense and a few other things.”

Culture is key

He said it’s important for players to buy into a team’s culture.

“We’re trying to make it a why-not-North culture,” Vereen said. “We’re in a conference with powerful teams. Why can’t we join them?”

James and Providence Day coach Chad Greer both said the availability of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for private school student-athletes, approved earlier this year by the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association, is not a big factor in football players leaving public schools for the private schools.

“The number of NIL deals is really small,” Greer said a few months ago, shortly after the NCISAA change was announced.

“The kids that do have the deals are few and far between,” James said.

James also said there is a danger in having too many new faces.

“Some schools will get 10 to 11 new kids a year,” he said. “But you want mostly home-grown kids. They know the system.”

However, James added, players and their parents want to win.

“At the end of the day, you have to compete,” he said.

Area transfers

Here are some of the area players who have changed schools: