Program field guide · 2026

American Athletic · North Carolina

Charlotte

49ers

Charlotte’s North Carolina-developed core fell from 71 to 16 players.

2026 roster · Roster geography

In 2016, 71 of 121 roster spots were filled by North Carolina players with no earlier college team detected. On the 2026 roster, 16 of 110 fit the same definition. Detected transfers went from 2 to 35.

In 2016 the median player grew up 90 mi from campus. Now it is 321 mi.

Of the 35 players who came from another college, 4 are from North Carolina. Those home-state players make up 11% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

The record reaches back to 2012, when 85% of the roster came from North Carolina. Today it is 18%.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–2551.4%27.9%2.9%30.7%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core51.4%27.9%
Transfer stock2.9%30.7%

The roster, at a glance

  • 381 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 101 located players.
  • 18.2%In-state18.2% of the roster is from North Carolina.
  • 19.8%Backyard19.8% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 31.8%Detected transfers31.8% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where Charlotte ranks

Most In-State#10818.2%Most Transfers#3131.8%Closest to Home#39381 miFarthest From Home#100381 miBiggest Localism Shift#718.2%Most Backyard Players#6719.8%Fewest Transfers#10831.8%Biggest Transfer Shift#2831.8%

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

0100200300FBS median (250 mi)201220152018202020232026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedOutsider developedOutsider transfer201520172019202220242026

Where do Charlotte's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
202611018.2%31.8%321 mi
202510922.9%42.2%317 mi
202411832.2%39.0%234 mi
202312029.1%34.2%320 mi
202212744.9%18.9%176 mi
202114244.6%19.0%160 mi
202013550.4%12.6%134 mi
201912153.4%9.1%138 mi
201811448.7%4.4%171 mi
201711049.1%2.7%157 mi
201612160.3%1.7%90 mi
201511260.4%0.9%91 mi
2014archive9869.8%0.0% proxy59 mi
2013archive9282.0%0.0% proxy36 mi
2012archive7284.5%0.0% proxy43 mi

archive = official athletic-site roster. “Proxy” is the share listing a previous school where that field behaved like a transfer field; it is not the same measure as detected transfer stock.

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

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Homecoming Radius: 321 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

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