Carson-Newman Football Position Previews: The Wide Receivers
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the second part in a nine-part series chronicling Carson-Newman football's positions for the 2025 season. This feature breaks down the Eagles' wide receivers with help from offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen.
VIDEO: Coaches in Cars Getting Coffee – Chuck Petersen
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the second part in a nine-part series chronicling Carson-Newman football's positions for the 2025 season. This feature breaks down the Eagles' wide receivers with help from offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen.
Carson-Newman returns its top three receivers who caught passes last season in Jeremiah Carroll, Cade Meeks and Zach Williams.
A highly versatile wideout, Carroll appeared in 12 games with 10 starts for C-N offensively. He led Carson-Newman in receiving, catching 23 passes for 364 yards and four scores, with a long reception of 73 yards. He also rushed the ball seven times for 148 yards and a 64-yard touchdown.
"JC has become a better leader than he was even a year ago," Petersen said. "He was pretty good then. He was instrumental in taking charge of our summer workouts position wise and from an offensive standpoint. I'm excited about having those two guys back. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to to grow the offense around of around JC and Cade."
He topped triple-digit all-purpose yards against Wingate (Sept. 21) when he caught four passes for 100 yards and two scores. His third-quarter touchdown grab ended up being a game-sealer for the Eagles. He caught a 73-yard score against Anderson (Nov. 2) and rushed for a 64-yard score on a reverse against Barton (Oct. 5). He was C-N's fourth leading scorer for 2024.
"It's not that he's going to get 20 touches a game," Petersen said. "But when we do give him the opportunity, I think he understands it. We're looking for something big to happen, whether it's in the screen game, whether it's over the top, whether it's a reverse, because he had a couple of those last year. He is a big time player that takes great pride in the things that he does. Fortunately for us last year, we were able to get him involved somewhat and look to do even more this year."
Meeks appeared in 11 games, with eight starts at wide receiver for C-N. He was the Eagles' second-leading receiver, catching 16 passes for 266 yards and three scores. Meeks also had a 15-yard rushing touchdown at Tusculum on a reverse. He was a CSC Academic All-District selection.
"I've gone through years where we didn't want a receiver to touch the ball. That is certainly not the case this year with those two and some other guys," Petersen said. "That's a beautiful thing. Our offensive staff is phenomenal. And it's not me. It's a joint effort which includes, obviously the head ball coach, and everybody has input, everybody's involved in a game plan and certainly on game day. But we're going to try to do the best we can to put them in positions where they can compete and be successful."
After making the transition from linebacker last season, Zach Williams gives C-N quality veteran depth.
"He's an under-recognized kind of person, kind of kid," Petersen said. "Does everything you want him to do, the position he plays. Ask a lot of him because we're going to put him on the line of scrimmage and ask him to block guys much bigger than he is. But then we're going to flex him out and let him run routes."
Williams repeats as an Academic All-District selection after earning the honor as a linebacker last year. Williams caught two passes on the year, including a 52-yard touchdown in the Eagles' opener against Reinhardt.
Petersen said he wants the room and the offensive to live by the motto "Don't beat yourself."
"I think that's the number one thing that we talked about is, as a man of faith we're going to all make mistakes," Petersend said. "There are things that we will do in our faith life that that we wish we had back. But again, to me as as a man of faith, that applies to everything you do in the way you live it and the way you treat people, the way you study - the way you do anything. You know you're going to stumble and fall, but it's about getting back up and being better the next day."
Carson-Newman's position previews continue Sunday with the linebackers.
