Former Wake Forest football star is new Charlotte Christian head coach

Former Forest Hills High School football coach Jammie Deese is leaving to take a similar job at Charlotte Christian.

Deese will be the Knights’ head football coach and director of football operations.

“The Charlotte Christian community is excited and grateful that God has led Jammie Deese to be our next football coach,” Knights’ athletic director Andy Ross said. “As impressive as his professional resume is, what stands out the most is that Coach Deese is a passionately Christ-centered leader of men. Coach Deese’s positive student-focused energy makes him a natural fit for this role, and we look forward to seeing how God uses him to build on and expand the impact of Charlotte Christian football.”

Deese has coached at Forest Hills since 2020 and has led the Yellow Jackets to a 49-21 record and was the 2025 Union County public schools coach of the year after he led Forest Hills to a 9-3 record and a playoff berth.

Deese’s teams have had five straight winning seasons. Before working at Forest Hills, Deese was an offensive coordinator at the University of West Florida, where he helped lead to the team to the NCAA Division II national championship in 2017. Deese was at West Florida for six years and was an assistant at UNC-Pembroke and Purnell Swett High School in Pembroke, NC, before that.

In high school at Scotland County, Deese was a Shrine Bowl pick who later became a four-year starter at Wake Forest an all-ACC selection. He finished his college career with 184 catches for 2,348 yards and 11 touchdowns.

After college, he signed a free agent deal with Washington and later played in the Arena Football League and the National Indoor Football League.

At Charlotte Christian, he replaces Chris James, who coached the Knights for three seasons. James’ teams were 22-14. Charlotte Christian reached the NCISAA state championship game last season.

This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 3:51 PM.