I agree that Harrell had me convinced. He started rough, but was playing better each game, and I think Charlotte would have won the Rice game had he not been injured, a probably would have won against Temple as well. That opinion, and 2 bits, er 20 bits, will buy you a cup of coffee. As for the other two QBs, right now I think Loftis has a lot of potential, but that it will never be realized. I think Wilcke is a serviceable QB that can function for now. I do agree that Charlotte should continue to bring in new, talented QBs to challenge for the starting spot. As it happens, they have one committed already for 2026 who I think will be a top-tier AAC QB. I’m not worried about the future, only about the present, and I’d be a lot less worried about the present if Harrell was healthy.
As for the purpose of sports in college, once upon a time it existed because of ancient beliefs that a sound body and a sound mind went together, and that, if you were active in sports, it would improve learning. That led to intramural sports, and to competing with other schools. Now it serves two other functions. First, it helps to tie the people of the city to the school, a sort of bonding. People from the community will support Charlotte sports, if Charlotte can win, and will have a more positive attitude towards the University.
Second, sports is tie between donors and the school, and a long term bond to alumni. If a school doesn’t have sports, the alumni of that school are apt to support the sports of some other school in the area, and then, in time, to make major donations to other schools. This is why schools that have successful sports are leaders in growing their endowment, which in turn allows them to build new buildings and hire top staff. Go to any B1G or SE Conference school, and you’ll find tremendous increases in endowment over the last 20 years, and lots of new buildings on campus. Can the same be said for many old-line universities that used to be leaders, but who don’t offer sports? Those at the very, very top, such as U. Chicago, MIT, and Claremont have done fine, but that’s not true of mid-tier Universities, some of which are struggling to increase endowment.
As for how to raise NIL money, how about this idea? Try to develop programs with local businesses where if someone buys that product or service in a transaction routed through the NIL office, the business pays 5% towards NIL. The price remains the same. Thus, the buying business pays exactly the same price, but routes it through the NIL office, resulting in an NIL donation. The service selling program loses 5% of it’s revenue, but has no sales expense, as the orders simply come in with no salesman to get the commission. It becomes a Win-Win. If there is a loser, it would be that the selling company has a smaller sales staff.
