Catholic Cougars Prepare to Pick Up Where They Left Off

CHARLOTTE, NC – You cannot talk about Charlotte high school football without talking about the Catholic Cougars.

When thirty-two-year-old Matt Reilly joined the Cougars, under head coach at the time; Mike Brodowicz, he took a job as the junior varsity wide receiver coach. A position he would later realize did not exist. Fast forward to December 2022, when Reilly received the call that he would take over the team.

“So I can’t point to that moment and tell you what it was but to have that confidence as someone who was my mentor for seven years, kinda nominate me for that spot and fortunately for me the school agreed,” said Reilly.

From there he was able to pick up right where the former regime left off, taking the focus off the field.

“The success comes from that. It is not from some exes and oh’s that we come up with its from the work that they put in,” said Reilly.

Reilly put an emphasis on the leaders of the team, to bring even more out of his players.

“You know you don’t win games on a Friday. You win games throughout the week and throughout the summer and that is kind of the tradition that is built and that is what we are trying to keep this year,” said Frank Brewer, a senior strong safety for the Cougars.

The seniors are more than happy with who is at the helm, as they believe he will help put the predatory power back into the program.

“You know we do hear all the media saying we weren’t as good as the Catholic defenses of late, and we have a chip on our shoulder. Our mantra is ‘Dirty D’ and we want to bring that back and play with kind of a hard hat on, be aggressive, have a little nastiness to us. We are trying to build that back this year,” said Brewer.

Charlotte Catholic won four straight state championships from 2017 to 2021. An achievement Reilly and a handful of seniors remember, and are desperate to replicate.

“You know how it feels to be there. You know what it takes to get there and we have worked hard. This offseason, it has probably been one of the hardest working offseason’s we have had at Catholic and its gonna be fun to see how we do,”

“You know I would really love to see those kids get back to a state title game and I think that is everybody’s goal,” said senior tight end Jack Larsen.

The Charlotte Catholic Cougars open up their season against long time rivals, on the road at South Mecklenburg High School on Friday, August 18, 2023.