Will Healy’s second Charlotte 49ers football team has practiced several times already this spring, laying the foundation for a 2020 season that opens Sept. 5 with a trip to Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.
The Volunteers closed last season with six straight wins that included a Gator Bowl triumph over Indiana, but Healy isn’t using February to focus on his first foe.
“We’re not going to put too much into the Tennessee game,” Healy said. “It’s not that hard figuring out what they have coming back. It’s a top-20 team in the country, and we’re playing them at their place. The hype will be enough when that game gets closer, so I don’t need to add to it during spring practice.”
Healy, the former Boyd Buchanan quarterback, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga receivers coach and Austin Peay head coach, will be the featured speaker Tuesday, March 3, at the annual “Night of Impact Banquet” benefiting the local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The event will be held at the Colonnade Center in Ringgold.
Charlotte and Tennessee had identical 7-5 regular seasons last year, including matching 2-5 marks before their flourishing finishes. The turnaround by the 49ers resulted in the first postseason invitation in program history, with Charlotte and Buffalo getting paired in the Bahamas Bowl.