Zachariah Charbonnet (born January 8, 2001) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for the
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...
before transferring to
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...
in 2021. He was a two-time
all-conference selection in the
Pac-12
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
with the Bruins, earning first-team
All-American honors as a
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
in 2022.
Early years
Charbonnet was born in 2001 and grew up in
Camarillo, California
Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...
.
[ His mother, Seda, is part ]Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
n, Chinese and French and immigrated to the United States from France.[ His father, Mark, is African-American. Charbonnet is also of Louisiana African-American/Creole descent. Charbonnet did not begin playing football until the seventh grade. He recalled: "As soon as I touched the field, I fell in love with the sport."][
He attended ]Oaks Christian School
Oaks Christian School (OCS) is a co-educational, college-preparatory, non-denominational Christian school serving grades 5–12. Oaks Christian School is located on in Westlake Village, Los Angeles County, California. The school was established i ...
in Westlake Village, California
Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vill ...
, where he tallied 4,741 rushing yards
Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught.
Rushing may refer to:
Tactics
* Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush.
* Human wave atta ...
and 62 total touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s. He had 2,049 yards and 23 touchdowns as a junior.[ Former Oaks Christian coach Jim Benkert described Charbonnet as follows: "He's the best there is. He's got all the measurements and loves the game. He's one of those guys who can take over a game on either side of the ball and is probably the best running back in the country. He competes at a high level on every play. You can't coach that kind of stuff. He's a throwback player. He does his job and doesn't care about statistics. All he cares about is winning."]
Recruiting
Charbonnet was rated among the top running back prospects in the country – ranked No. 3 by 247Sports.com, No. 4 by Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, and No. 6 by ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
. He was also invited to play in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game
The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5, ...
. On June 23, 2018, prior to the start of his senior year in high school, Charbonnet committed to play college football at the University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
College career
Michigan
Shortly after his enrollment at Michigan in January 2019, Charbonnet underwent knee surgery. He missed spring practice while recuperating, but was recovered by late summer.
Charbonnet started at running back in Michigan's 2019 season opener. He totaled 99 yards, 90 rushing yards on eight carries and nine receiving yards on two receptions.
On September 7, against Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, Charbonnet had his first 100-yard rushing game, and recorded three touchdowns. On October 12, against Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, Charbonnet had 108 rushing yards in the first half. He finished the game with 116 yards on 18 carries, and a touchdown. On November 2, against Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, Charbonnet recorded two touchdowns, setting a Michigan program record for the most touchdowns by a freshman with 11.
Charbonnet concluded the 2019 season with 726 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns (a Michigan freshman record) on 149 carries.
During the 2020 season, Charbonnet totaled 124 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries. In January 2021, Charbonnet announced his intent to transfer and entered the NCAA transfer portal.
UCLA
On January 30, 2021, Charbonnet announced his intention to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. During the 2021 season, he and Brittain Brown
Brittain Brown (born October 10, 1997) is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils and UCLA Bruins. During the 2021 season, he and Zac ...
shared the Bruins' rushing duties in a two-back system. With Brown out injured against USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
, Charbonnet had season highs of 28 carries and 167 yards, while surpassing the 1,000-yard milestone for the season. Pac-12
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
coaches voted Charbonnet second-team all-conference, and the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
named him the conference's newcomer of the year. He finished with 1,137 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, finishing second in the conference in rushing yards per game with 94.8, behind B. J. Baylor
B. J. Baylor (born September 8, 1998) is an American football running back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon State Beavers football, Oregon State.
Professional career Green Bay Pa ...
of Oregon State
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...
.[
On January 14, 2022, Charbonnet announced that he would return to UCLA in ]2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
for his senior season. On October 8, he rushed for a career-high 198 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in a 42–32 win over No. 11 Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. He tied his career-high against with 198 yards rushing in a win against Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, rushing for three touchdowns while also leading the team five receptions for 61 yards. Charbonnet finished the season with 1,359 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns, while catching 37 passes for 321 yards. He was named a first-team All-American as an all-purpose specialist by the Football Writers Association of America
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...
. He led the nation with 168 all-purpose yards
All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing t ...
per game. His 1,680 all-purpose yards were the eighth-highest single-season total in UCLA history. After the season, Charbonnet declared for the 2023 NFL Draft
The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...
, forgoing his remaining year of eligiblity, which was granted by the NCAA for all players on a roster during the 2020 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.[
]
College statistics
References
External links
UCLA Bruins profile
Michigan Wolverines profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charbonnet, Zach
2001 births
Living people
African-American players of American football
People from Camarillo, California
Players of American football from California
Sportspeople from Ventura County, California
American football running backs
Michigan Wolverines football players
UCLA Bruins football players
21st-century African-American sportspeople