How a Charlotte 49ers redshirt sophomore is growing into a leader at the right time

The Charlotte 49ers have found their deep threat on offense.

Following the departure of the team’s three best receivers from a season ago — Grant DuBose, Victor Tucker and Elijah Spencer, known as the Big 3 — the 49ers have been searching for a go-to target.

Jairus Mack, a redshirt sophomore from Athens, Georgia, looks to be stepping into that role through two games. Mack, known as “No-No” by his teammates, played the best game of his collegiate career on his biggest stage yet, in College Park against the Maryland Terrapins on NBC.

Mack scored the game’s opening touchdown on a 48-yard deep ball from quarterback Jalon Jones and reeled in four of his five targets for 106 yards and a score in the 38-20 loss.

Following a year without football due to a denied waiver from the NCAA, last Saturday night under the lights was special for Mack.

“That whole game, the moment was really surreal,” Mack told The Observer. “I’m back through the power of prayer, and it’s finally here, and you see how I did. I’m looking to build on that and keep going for the rest of the season. I enjoyed it, and my mom called me and almost cried.”

Mack comes from an athletic family, giving a nod to his mother for his speed, as she ran track for most of her life, and his love of the game to his dad, who played his collegiate football at South Carolina State, which Charlotte played in Week 1.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound wideout committed to former Charlotte head coach Will Healy and his staff in 2021, with his first college game coming in the 49ers’ lone Power Five victory, a 31-28 win over Duke at Richardson Stadium.

But with over 40 players hitting the transfer portal when Biff Poggi was hired, it was a no-brainer for Mack to stay in the Queen City.

“I didn’t play my second year, so it was pretty much a fresh start for me. They turned on the film and saw my work from my first year,” Mack said. “I knew I had to work to get to the spot where I am now. It was really a no-brainer, and I didn’t want to leave. I just had to show them what I could do.”

Mack saw plenty of play time as a true freshman despite a crowded receiver room headlined by DuBose, now a Green Bay Packer. The three-star prospect out of Clarke Central High School played in 11 games with two starts as a true freshman, where he averaged 12.6 yards per catch and scored his first collegiate touchdown against Gardner-Webb in the second game of the season.

Utilized as primarily a slot receiver and scat-back, Mack’s speed and quick first step made him the ideal player for jet-sweeps and special teams, where he learned from DuBose and the other wideouts on how to take his game to the next level.

“I learned a lot from those guys, Victor Tucker, Grant DuBose, Elijah Spencer, and even Cameron Dollar. Me and Spencer came in at the same time and are pretty close. They taught me better mechanics as a wide receiver. Coming in my freshman year, I was just fast. I knew what to do, but I didn’t know how to do everything,” said Mack. “They really sat me down and taught me stuff, especially Grant — with how fluid he was with his routes. What he taught me, plus my speed, it really made me a better player.”

“Now I’m actually running more routes, getting out of cuts fast and stuff. I do want to improve in my blocking and being more crisp with my routes, but my speed is definitely my strong suit,” Mack said.

Charlotte’s offense is much different than it was when Mack joined the program two years ago, and he’s learning every day under new offensive coordinator Mike Miller. While it’s clear that Charlotte is a run-first offense, the 49ers have fallen behind the chains often with penalties and opponents stacking the box and daring Miller’s offense to throw the ball down the field.

Without a clear go-to target going into the season, Mack is now the team’s receiving leader with 109 yards with an average of 21.8 yards per catch through two weeks.

His breakaway speed makes him most effective as a deep ball target, a position Mack embraces.

“I won’t shy away from the moment. If they want me to be that I’m going to be that,” Mack said in reference to being a focal point of the offense. “I’m prepared for that, and I’m ready for it. We’re still really young, we have a young receiving corp. I think the oldest person is Randy Fields, and everybody else is in my grade. If they ask me to be number one, I’m going to be that. I’m ready for it.”

Tackle Jasper Parks is in the huddle with Mack at practice every day and has seen him take the next step in the leadership department.

“I’ve noticed he’s a leader in the wide receiver room. He’s one of the older guys, and so he’s helping a lot of the younger guys really find their way and figure out what it is to be a college football player,” said Parks. “He’s done a great job this year, and I think he’s going to do even better things in the upcoming weeks.”

Charlotte’s next game is against Georgia State, a program just 90 minutes from Mack’s hometown, which overlooked the former three-star prospect.

There will be multiple familiar faces on the visitor’s sideline on Saturday night for Mack, including former 49ers Rico Arnold and Trevor Timmons, as well as a former youth football teammate, Montavious Cunningham.

“Rico Arnold, he played here a while back. I worked out with him a few times this summer, and we’ve been really competitive about it. Talking a little trash back and forth, you know how that goes. And then Trevor Timmons, who starts on their offensive line now.

“Then there is Montavious Cunningham; me and him grew up together. He went to Clarke Central with me. We played for the same little league team, middle school and high school. We’ve been together for pretty much our whole lives. A lot of familiar faces over there that I know, and I can’t wait to play against them.”