Burlington (Ma.) Dexter Southfield head coach Casey Day doesn’t have to think hard about where Charlie Hanafin fits in with the wide receivers that he’s coached over his 15-year career.
That’s because he is the first that he’s coached that will play at the Power Four level after committing to West Virginia following his official visit to campus.
“There’s no question about it. He’s our first power four receiver. We’ve had a tremendous run of linemen that have gone power four but he’s the first receiver,” he said.
Hanafin is the type of player who genuinely loves the game of football and brings a level of competitiveness to the table that not many are equipped with at his age.
“I’ve seen it at every camp and at that level where you’ve got to play with that urgency and have that mental toughness he possesses every single day. He’s just got that "it" factor and that’s going to be right in his wheelhouse,” he said.
Hanafin comes from a tremendous family and has two older brothers who have gone on to play at the power four level in Ronan Hanafin at Clemson and Shane Hanafin at Boston College. Day believes that being able to watch those two and how hard the younger Hanafin has worked has only helped put him in position for the opportunity to make his own mark at the highest level of college football.
“He has a lot of physical talents but the overriding thing you saw at camp is how competitive he is and how much urgency he plays with and he does that on a daily basis at practice and in workouts,” he said. “It’s all done with urgency.”
Day said it was evident from the time that Hanafin arrived at his school that he had the opportunity to blaze his own path and he quickly proved that on the field to showcase his ability to go up in traffic and catch those 50/50 balls as well as highlighting his strength by catching screens and ripping off chunks of yardage. But even more impressive is the commitment he has to blocking and the toughness that Hanafin plays with at all times.
“Stock blocking is important to him. West Virginia is getting a guy that can do a lot on the field in every single capacity,” he said.
But for as impressive as Hanafin is on the field, it’s how he conducts himself away from it that’s perhaps the thing that stands out the most.
“He is mature beyond his years. He’s what every coach could hope for,” he said. “...He’s a tremendous kid that possesses a really high character.”
Hanafin plans to enroll at West Virginia in January.
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