Biography: Another in a long line of standout quarterbacks to emerge from the Mid-American Conference in recent years, Charlie is primed to follow in the footsteps of Marshall’s Chad Pennington (New York Jets), Byron Leftwich (Jacksonville) and Miami of Ohio’s Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh).

Just like he has done at Akron, Charlie rewrote all the passing records (17) at Willard (Oh.) High School, including most pass completions (482), passing yards (6209) and touchdown tosses (54). Named Northwest Ohio’s District Player of the Year, Frye led the team to a 10-2 record and a berth in the state playoffs as a senior.

He redshirted in 2000 at Akron, but began to shatter the school’s record books the following year. In 2001, he set school season-records for completions (170) and completion percentage (58.8) as he gained 2053 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. His interception percentage of 2.1 also set an Akron season mark. The following year, Frye broke several more season records, including most passing yards (2824), completions (250), attempts (380) and total offense (2949). He ranked fifth in the nation and set a school season mark by completing 65.8% of his passes that year. What makes this performance even more impressive is the fact that Charlie played in the final nine games with a broken bone in his right thumb.

Frye finished the 2002 campaign with 15 touchdowns passing and seven more rushing. He would proceed to break all the school records he set in 2002 as a junior, compiling 3549 yards with 22 touchdowns on 273 of 421 passes (64.8%) and rushed 111 times for 288 yards and seven scores, giving him 3837 yards in total offense.

Talked into returning to school for his final season, Frye operated with an offense that was missing nine key contributors from the previous year. Even with those departures, Charlie continued to shine. He completed 220 of 346 passes (63.6%) for 2623 yards, 18 touch-downs. By the time he was finished at Akron, he owned 54 of the school’s passing and total offense records. In 46 games, Charlie completed 913 of 1436 passes (63.6%) for 11,049 yards, 64 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He added 429 yards and 19 scores on 375 carries (1.1 avg), giving him 11,478 yards and 87 touchdowns in total offense.

He is only the third quarterback in Mid-American Conference history and 16th in NCAA Division 1- A annals to throw for at least 2000 yards in four consecutive seasons. His 11,049 yards passing rank third in conference annals and 15th in NCAA Division 1-A history, while his 11,478 yards in total offense rank second on the MAC career-record list and tenth in NCAA history.