Charlotte 49ers head coach Will Healy has strengthened his football staff with the additions of Adam Braithwaite as linebackers coach and Charles Bankins as special teams coordinator.
“I’m really excited to add two high-caliber coaches to our staff,” Healy said. “Both are tremendous coaches but even better people. They have excellent experience. Both have been coordinators at the Division I level and are great additions for our staff.”
Braithwaite has been a defensive coordinator for the past seven seasons, four of them at Chattanooga—where he worked with Healy and others on the current 49ers staff—and then the past three at Richmond, Healy’s alma mater.
Braithwaite said, “Obviously, Charlotte is a program on the rise, but more importantly I have tremendous respect for Coach Healy and his staff. I already have a great relationship with Will, Marcus (West) and Coop (Brandon Cooper) from our time together at UTC, and I can’t wait to get to know our players and start working with them.”
Under Braithwaite, Richmond led the Colonial Athletic Association in sacks in 2018 and ranked second in 2017. His units at Chattanooga ranked sixth in the FCS total defense in 2016, fourth in 2014 and 17th in 2013.
Bankins, who has worked as a special teams coach or coordinator since 2005, spent the past four seasons as running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Old Dominion. In 2018, the Monarchs ranked 16th in the FBS in punt return defense and 31st in punt return average. In 2017, ODU’s Isaiah Harper was named Conference USA’s Special Teams Player of the Year; Harper returned three kickoffs for touchdowns.
“I’m extremely excited having been on the opposite sideline and seeing all the energy going on over there,” said Bankins. “Coach Healy was a player when I was with him, but he has that same energy. You see that on the sideline, and you see that energy in the workouts. This group is excited about being at workouts and being in the weight room. These guys embrace the work and still have the discipline and attention to detail. They are able to mix discipline with youthful enthusiasm. At the end of the day, it’s still a game and it’s supposed to be fun and exciting.”
Prior to joining Old Dominion, Bankins was special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt for five seasons. In Nashville, his kickoff coverage units twice ranked in the top 15 nationally. He was special teams coordinator at Maryland for two seasons.
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