Charles Waddell

Position: Deputy Athletics Director

Charles Waddell joined the South Carolina staff as an Associate Athletics Director in February 2006 and was promoted to Deputy Athletics Director in July 2011. Prior to joining the South Carolina Athletics Department, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Advancement at Fayetteville State. Waddell, a former three-sport standout at North Carolina, boasts an impressive and wide-ranging resume.

Waddell oversees the Athletics Department’s Sports Medicine program and Strength and Conditioning programs. Additionally, he serves as an administrator for football and women’s basketball.

At Fayetteville State, he was responsible for all development and fundraising-related matters and for the planning and organization of university relations and public affairs programs. He worked in close partnership with the chancellor and members of the Board of Trustees on all development efforts, including the cultivation of individual donors, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Waddell spent nearly 10 years of his professional career as Director of Marketing and Sponsorships for Richardson Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was responsible for the advertising and corporate sponsorships for the Carolina Panthers Football Club. He helped generate over $100 million of revenue for the 1995 through 2002 NFL seasons.

While working with the Carolina Panthers, Waddell became the President and co-owner of Waddell Distributors, Inc., where he managed and funded a bottled water franchise for a three-year period.

Waddell served as Assistant Commissioner for the Big Ten Conference from December 1990 to July 1994, where he created and supervised Big Ten Conference marketing and licensing programs. He also served as a representative to the Big Ten Conference compliance committee, minority advisory commission, sports medicine committee and the promotions and public relations committee. He served as the conference liaison to Athletic Directors, head football coaches and track and field coaches.

Waddell is a 1975 graduate of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations. He is the last three-sport letterman at UNC, earning letters in football (1972-1974), track (1973) and basketball (1973-1974). He was an All-ACC football player and earned All-American honors from The Sporting News in 1974. He also received The Patterson Medal in 1975, which is the highest athletic award at UNC. Waddell played professional football with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers. He earned his master’s degree in business from UNC in 1984.

Waddell was recently named in the Top 100 of North Carolina High School Athletes for the last 100 years and was the recipient of the 2015 UNC Trailblazer Award.

Waddell and his wife, Sandra, have three grown children: Christa, Cassandra and Cortez.