This column is sponsored by Uptown Cheesesteak Company, located at 114 Broad Street in Kingsport, TN. Mention I-81 Sports when placing an order at Uptown and receive 10% off your bill.
Charlie Browder remembers, in his formative years, attending the summer football camps held in Kingsport, TN, by Coty Sensabaugh, who went on to play at Clemson and the NFL.
“I would just ooh and ahh over whoever was coaching me,” Browder said, recalling a Clemson quarterback in particular. “Tahj Boyd, he learned my name and was coaching me – told me how good he was. A Heisman dark horse knows who I am and is invested in my football career. Did he care or not? I have no idea. But he made me feel like a superstar.”
Browder looks to help the current batch of youngsters in Kingsport achieve that same type of superstar feeling with his football camp, which takes place Saturday, July 18, at the Kingsport Boys and Girls Club. The event begins at 9 a.m., and lasts until noon. Registration is $10 and can be completed online.
It’s the second time Browder has run his own camp, but he’s been part of several of these events – first as a participant, and then as a coach. Browder, who spent three seasons as part of the University of Tennessee football program and followed Josh Heupel to Knoxville from UCF via the transfer portal. He’s worked with some former Vols on their camps, including Dayne Davis, another Tri-Ctiies area product who went on to major college football.
Browder said, with the current NIL system, it allows more freedom if a college player chooses to run a camp. “There’s a bunch of guys doing camps now, [where] some company is coming in and offering them X amount of money. The only player there ‘coaching’ is the title player. For me, I just want the kids of Northeast Tennessee to see college football players and learn from them.”
Mission accomplished on that front. Browder has mined his connections in the area, at Tennessee, and at ETSU – where he’s preparing for his final season – to assemble more than two dozen current and former college players to come coach at the camp. That roster includes Malik Foreman, a Kingsport native and former multi-year starting defensive back at Tennessee.
“He’s done a lot of these things. I really leaned on him last year,” Browder said of Foreman.
Charlie’s younger brother, Sam, an offensive tackle who transferred to ETSU from Memphis earlier this year also is helping out, as are all three quarterbacks on the Bucs roster: Michigan transfer Jadyn Davis, Louisville transfer Mason Mims, and returning QB Jake McNamara.
Other names on the coaching list include former Vol starting safety Will Brooks and long snapper Matte Salansky, who Browder roomed with for two years during his time with the Vols. There are 21 individuals with ETSU ties expected to coach at the camp, including Bucs alum Chris Davis, the new defensive line coach in Johnson City. Corbin Laisure, another Tri-Cities athlete who played his high school ball at Sullivan East and Science Hill before joining Colorado, also is on the list of attending coaches.
Browder said Laisure, who also plays tight end, was “the big get for me” when it comes to finding guest coaches who play that position. “He just got married. Excited to have him coming.
“I want as many guys that have come from this area to be involved and just kinda show these kids,” Browder said. “Corbin, Sam, these guys have been in my shoes. They’ve played in the Tri-Cities and been able to make it out. It can be done.”
The full list of participating guest coaches can be found in this graphic, which includes a QR code to sign up.
“Really thankful for my current and former teammates to be willing to come out on a Saturday morning, help out the kids in my community,” Browder said.
Browder had about 80 kids attend his first camp last year, after roughly 150 registered.
“We were kind of freaking out, trying to figure out how to handle that many kids. I think, because it was free and there was a chance of rain, we had some no-shows,” Browder said. “This year I put a $10 charge on it. [because] I ended up buying a lot of T-shirts that are just sitting in the garage at home.”
It’s been a busy summer for Browder. He got engaged, and was the subject of a clever marketing video put out by ETSU on the first day of summer to hype the coming football season.
Browder noted the newer video is actually the second; they did a similar one in 2025.”The only props we had last year were a Gatorade bottle and a chair. [Creative Services Assistant] Scott Bowers, our social media guy, texted and said, ‘hey, can you come to the stadium tomorrow at 2 o’clock, tell me your favorite uniform combo and come out there.’ ”
Browder asked about doing another video this year, and the end result had a much more tropical vibe. “I got to have a little more creative input this time., I wanted some Bob Marley or Jimmy Buffett or Kenny Chesney. Something beachy. They ran with it.”
Speaking of uniforms, this will be the first time in Browder’s football career he won’t have the name “Browder” stitched across the back of his jersey. It’ll be “C. Browder” instead, since his not-so-little brother Sam is also on the ETSU roster.
“We’ll line up next to each other in the OTAs, and I hear, ‘oh, here come the Browder boys,’ ” Charlie said. “It’ll be fun to rip it up during camp and get some combo blocks together.
“Me, Sam, and my sister Susannah, we all live together,” he added. “I’ve spent more time with them than I probably have in the last four, five years combined.”
Browder, heading into his sixth and final year of college football, is going to be one of the rarities. With the recent NCAA rule changes, he’ll be one of the final few athletes who gets to play more than five years in their respective sport. Browder has played at UCF, Tennessee, and now at ETSU. And for all those who worry that athletes don’t get an education in the current college sports landscape, Browder already has two degrees: one in marketing, completed at Tennessee; and his MBA, which he finished at ETSU this spring. He’s taking classes this fall, just to stay eligible for football. One of the courses will give him his certificate in esports management, whatever that is, by the end of the fall semester, so get those kill counts up, Fortnite players …
“I’ve been working part time in the athletic department in fundraising. That’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “My title is the Associate director of Advancement for Athletics.”
With a career in athletic administration in his sights, his camp on the near horizon, two degrees in hand, his final season approaching, and a wedding upcoming, Browder had a succinct summary of his summer:
“It’s a good time to be Charlie Browder.”