Captain Munnerlyn, a former Carolina Panthers cornerback, will become the next head football coach, according to a source. Munnerlyn, 36, attended Mobile High School in Alabama before going on to play All-SEC football at South Carolina. He was selected by the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Munnerlyn played for the Panthers and Vikings from 2009 to 2018. On Friday at 3 p.m., the school will hold a press conference to introduce Munnerlyn in its auditorium. Munnerlyn, 36, will become the ninth coach at Chambers, which started in 1997. He will replace Brandon Wiggins, who went 22-12 in three seasons. The former NFL starter is no stranger to high school coaching.
Munnerlyn coached defensive backs at Myers Park, also in Charlotte, for the previous two seasons. “I’ve had the opportunity to teach with a few of NFL players,” Myers Park head coach Chris James said, “and Captain has been the most disciplined of all of those individuals I’ve worked with. And if there is a paradigm for what it takes to be a high school coach, I believe he followed it.” James met Munnerlyn while he was training Charlotte-area high school and middle school students. He believed Munnerlyn got the job at Myers Park to determine whether he wanted to coach full-time. And James believes Munnerlyn will do an excellent job at Chambers.
“He’ll be great in building relationships with kids,” James told me. “Clearly, he understands the Xs and Os component. People will pay attention because he played for the Panthers and is a former Gamecock, but I don’t think they realize how close he is to the Charlotte community.” Munnerlyn expressed an interest in high school coaching prior to joining Myers Park. During the 2011 NFL lockout, Munnerlyn volunteered as a spring practice coach for defensive backs at his alma mater, Murphy High in Alabama.
Munnerlyn was also the featured speaker during his school’s baccalaureate service, and was thought to be the youngest person to do so at the time. “It was fun,” Munnerlyn told the Alabama Media Group about his coaching experience. “(Head coach Ronn) Lee gave (me) the opportunity to coach the (defensive backs) and give them some of the knowledge I have from the past, from high school, college and the NFL.” Munnerlyn will now take over a program at Chambers that has previously been rated as the greatest public school in the state. From 2018 to 21, Chambers made four consecutive state championship appearances under head coaches Aaron Brand and Glenwood Ferebee, winning two.
Brand finally left for a position at Irmo (SC) near Columbia. Ferebee took a position at Virginia Tech, but has now returned to high school, coaching at Butler High School in Matthews.
Munnerlyn will join a long list of former NFL players who coach or have coached in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, including former South Mecklenburg head coach and Panthers linebacker Carlton Bailey, former Panthers quarterback and current Vikings assistant Josh McCown, and former Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad. Among active former pros, West Charlotte assistant Chris Coleman, the Lions’ offensive coordinator and in-school teacher, played for the Titans. Maurice Harris, Myers Park’s wide receiver coach, played for the Commanders.
Brad Hoover, a former Panthers fan favorite, was the head coach at Concord’s Cannon School before becoming a physical education teacher and staff member at Charlotte Latin. And three former Panthers legends, Greg Olsen, Luke Kuechly, and Jonathan Stewart, are coaching at Charlotte Christian, primarily in the middle school. Almost every current former pro is an assistant coach. However, Munnerlyn will be in charge. “Being a head coach is difficult,” James explained. “He’ll have to learn. We’ve had some chats, and he has some coaches in Charlotte who will do whatever they can to support him. But I know he’ll bring some of the enthusiasm back to Chambers, just like Brand and Ferebee did.
Chambers was once a Charlotte staple, and with him and the right personnel in place, he has the potential to restore that.
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