Charlotte 49ers football

The Charlotte 49ers are a collegiate football program that represents the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees officially voted to add Forty Niner football on November 13, 2008, after a unanimous recommendation by the Football Feasibility Committee made possible by Student Government initiatives starting in 2006 by then Student Body President, Benjamin Comstock and Student Body Vice President Jordan Van Dyne (also Student Senate President), namely the first step of organizing a transparent student vote on football that disclosed possible hikes in tuition fees as a result of football. The online poll was approved by the Student Senate and administered in collaboration with the University's IT Department. Despite the possibility of potential rises in student fees, the vote clearly displayed a student interest in a football team. The program will take the field in 2013.

Team history
In 1946, 22 young men began practice as the college's first athletic program: a football team. The team finished the season 2–4, with wins over Pembroke State and Belmont Abbey, and losses to Davidson JV, Catawba College JV, and Clemson's "B" team. The team hosted 2 home games that year at American Legion Memorial Stadium. In part due to the effects of fewer World War II veterans entering college in the late 1940's, the football program ended after the 1948 season. The final football game was played on October 27, 1948.

On July 12, 2006, a group of 15 UNC Charlotte students and alumni held the inaugural Charlotte 49er Football Initiative (CFI) meeting. The mission of this group was to "promote the creation of a Division 1 college football program at Charlotte," eventually employing methods such as a promotional website, merchandise sales and a pledge campaign. A student organization, Charlotte Football Advocates (later CFI Students), became a part of the larger CFI group during the fall of 2006. In February 2007, UNC Charlotte students voted overwhelmingly in favor of football in an official campus-wide vote and the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees voted to authorize $150,000 to study adding 49ers Football, and establishing a Football Feasibility Committee to be headed by outgoing board president and prominent Charlotte businessman Mac Everett. The committee held several meetings throughout the summer of 2007, plus three public forums in the fall of 2007.

In December 2007, the Football Feasibility Committee voted unanimously to recommend the addition of 49ers football. In September 2008, a major student-led March to the Endzone rally was held on campus. On September 18, 2008, Chancellor Dubois officially recommended adding a 49ers football program with the condition that its fans first raise $5 million to help fund the stadium complex. On November 13, 2008, the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees voted to add a Charlotte 49ers football program by 2013.

The 49ers will play Independent during their two years in the FCS subdivision.

Coaches
On March 1, 2011 the 49ers announced Wake Forest defensive coordinator, Brad Lambert, as their head coach. At his introductory press conference, Lambert introduced former West Virginia offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen as Charlotte's offensive coordinator. On April 4, 2011 James Adams, Cornerbacks Coach for Wofford College and Trevor Lambert from the Wake Forest football staff, joined the 49ers coaching staff. On April 21, 2011 Bruce Tall, former Defensive Line Coach of the Michigan Wolverines was hired as Defensive Coordinator.

Forty Niner Seat Licenses
To generate financial support for the launch of the football program, Chancellor Dubois created a program called Forty Niner Seat Licenses, or FSLs, which essentially served as seat deposits for season tickets. The Chancellor initially set forth a goal of 5,000 FSL reservations within 6 months. However, due to the tremendous level of support for the new program, the goal was met in only 2 months.

In February 2008, a fundraising capital campaign was established and led by prominent community leaders. These leaders included Mac Everett, Johnny Harris and Gene Johnson. Additionally, three other UNC Charlotte alumni were introduced as executive chairs: David Hauser, chief financial officer for Duke Energy Corporation; Bob Hull, chief financial officer for Lowe's Companies, Inc; and Joe Price, chief financial officer for Bank of America Corporation.

Seat licenses are being sold in three tiers of seating: Green, Gold and White Gold. Green seat licenses are being sold at $1,000 per seat and will be located between the 30 yard line and the end zone; Gold seat licenses at $2,500 per seat and will be located between the 30 yard lines; and White Gold seat licenses at an undisclosed amount in a block of exclusive seating. Seat locations will be determined by the ticket holders' Charlotte 49ers Athletics Foundation rank which is determined by the amount of the cumulative financial contribution the donor has made to the Foundation.

FCS to FBS timeline
Chancellor Dubois originally recommended that the university start Division I football at the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) level with no timeline to move up to FBS. The team will play their first full season in the fall of 2013 as an FCS Independent. On May 4, 2012 Charlotte agreed to rejoin Conference USA for all sports except football in 2013, with football joining in 2015 (the first year the 49ers would be eligible due to the NCAA requirement that start-up programs play a minimum of two years in FCS). Charlotte will move to the FBS in 2015 and will become FBS bowl eligible in 2016. The 49ers were founding members of C-USA from 1996–2005. Other schools to join C-USA with Charlotte include Florida International University, Louisiana Tech University, University of Texas San Antonio, University of North Texas, and Old Dominion University.

Stadium
Chancellor Dubois conducted a lengthy review process of the committee's results before making his final recommendation to the Board of Trustees. He presented the findings of his own internal review to the board at the June meeting which included estimates from stadium design firm Populous which significantly increased facilities construction numbers from the feasibility committee figures and which are significantly higher than those for the much larger facility recently constructed for the University of Central Florida's Bright House Stadium.

On February 12, 2010, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors approved a debt service fee increase to fund the construction of the football stadium and football center, and on August 2, 2010 Governor Bev Perdue signed the debt service fee bill into law to clear the way for stadium construction. Designed by the architecture teams of Jenkins-Peer Architects and the DLR Group, its location was shown near the campus entrance at Highway 29 north of Hayes Stadium. On April 28, 2011 Charlotte held a groundbreaking ceremony for the football stadium. The stadium is scheduled to be complete in summer 2012 to allow for the 49ers first all-time game against Campbell on August 31, 2013.