CAK QB Charlie High transfers from UT to Tech

Charlie High is certainly familiar with the Tucker Stadium turf.

After two record-breaking performances as the Christian Academy of Knoxville quarterback in the TSSAA BlueCross Bowl, High made a lot of great things happen in the stadium.

Now, he’s going to get the opportunity to do so again.

High, a two-time Mr. Football winner and state champion, announced on Friday that he was giving up his preferred walk-on spot at the University of Tennessee and transferring to Tennessee Tech.

As fall camp has not yet begun, no one from the team can comment on the transfer.

But High himself was excited about the opportunity.

After turning down a spot with the Golden Eagles for the walk-on spot with the Vols in February, Tech head coach Watson Brown offered a place for High if he ever changed his mind.

“It was a great thing for Coach Brown to do that,” High told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “I’m really thankful he did.”

High, a 6-foot, 190-pound QB, faced stiff competition at the position with junior Justin Worley, sophomore Nathan Peterman, and freshmen Riley Ferguson and Joshua Dobbs all signed to scholarships.

“It was nothing against Tennessee,” High said. “I thought Tennessee Tech would be the perfect place for me to play and have a chance to play earlier. I guess the reason why I went to Tennessee first was: it’s always been my dream to play at Tennessee and be the starter. I had to get that out of my system and try it and see. I have now.

“I’ve just been thinking about it, and Tennessee Tech would be the best fit for the next four years for me.”

There is no guarantee that High will play immediately, as the Tech roster is filled with quarterbacks, including Darian Stone, who is set to be the Golden Eagles’ starter this season. Tech also has Jared Davis, Matt Hamby, Trent Thompson and Livingston Academy standout Brock McCoin among others waiting in the wings.

“They throw it a lot,” High said. “Their past two quarterbacks (Tre Lamb and Lee Sweeney) have broken Tennessee Tech passing records. That’s what CAK likes to do.”

That he did.

Between the 2010 and 2012 seasons, High set TSSAA records in career completions (744), completions in a season (378 in 2012, breaking his own 357 mark in 2011), most passing attempts in a season (496 in 2012), career passing yards (10,978), season passing yards (5,191 in 2011), career touchdown passes (131), touchdown passes in a season (65 in 2011, 59 in 2012), combined rushing and passing touchdowns in a season (69 in 2011, 64 in 2012), total offense in a career (11,371) and season (5,364 in 2012).

His top effort was seven touchdowns against Milan on Dec. 2, 2011, in the Class 3A championship, a 49-14 victory. High completed 32 of his 41 attempts in that game for 476 yards.

In the 2012 Class 3A title game, High threw for six touchdowns in CAK’s 48-14 win over Milan to earn the offensive MVP honors for the second year in a row. He completed 35 of 42 passes for 461 yards.