Conner Harrell (born September 9, 2004) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

. He previously played for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

Early life and high school

Harrell was born on September 9, 2004, in

Alabaster, Alabama Alabaster is a city and southern suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 33,284. Alabaster is the 16th largest city in Alabama by number of residents. History George L. Scott Sr., ...

. Harrell attended

Thompson High School Thompson High School is a public high school established in 1921 in Alabaster, Alabama. History In the early 1920s, Shelby County Schools (Alabama), Shelby County Schools had determined there was enough population in the northwestern area of ...

Alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

. Rated a three-star prospect, Harrell committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

College career

North Carolina

2022

Harrell saw limited action and redshirted his true freshman year in 2022.

2023

In 2023, Harrell appeared in five games and made his first collegiate start against

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

in the

Duke's Mayo Bowl The Duke's Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. Originally commissioned as the Queen City Bowl, it has undergone many name changes due to spon ...

, where the Tar Heels lost 30-10.

2024

With

Drake Maye Drake Lee Maye (born August 30, 2002) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, ...

leaving for the NFL, Harrell competed with

Max Johnson Max Johnson (born July 25, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, North Carolina Tar Heels. Johnson attended and played high school football at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia and ...

for the starting quarterback job throughout spring practices and fall training camp. Johnson won the starting job, but suffered a season-ending leg injury in the opening game of the season against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

., Harrell completed two of the four passes he threw in relief of Johnson for 34 yards, as the Tar Heels beat the Golden Gophers 19-17. The following week, Harrell made the second start of his career against Charlotte, completing 16 of 25 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception en route to a 38-20 victory. Harrell made another start the following week against NCCU, but only completed two of the six passes he threw for 22 yards while splitting time with

Jacolby Criswell Jacolby Criswell (born October 16, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. He has previously played for the North Carolina Tar Heels and Arkansas Razorbacks. Early life and high school Criswell attend ...

in the game. The next week, Harrell was benched in favor of Criswell, who started the Tar Heels' 70-50 loss to

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. Harrell came in for a play after Criswell's helmet came off, and lost a fumble in his only snap. He did not play in Carolina's loss to rivals

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

the following week, as Criswell solidified his position as Tar Heel quarterback. Harrell's next action came in the loss against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, where he completed one of two passes thrown for seven yards. Harrell next appeared in the Tar Heels' win against FSU, rushing once for sixteen yards in

garbage time In sports, garbage time is the period toward the end of a timed sports competition that has become a Blowout (sports), blowout and the outcome has effectively already been decided. Typically during garbage time, the coaches of one or both teams wi ...

duty. Harrell entered into the transfer portal following the conclusion of the regular season.

Charlotte

On January 5, 2025, Harrell announced that he would transfer to Charlotte.

Statistics

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio

Charlotte 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrell, Conner 2004 births Living people American football quarterbacks North Carolina Tar Heels football players Players of American football from Alabama People from Shelby County, Alabama