Friday football observations

Offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen is satisfied with how things have gone the first two days of practice:

"I'm really impressed with the recall," said Mullen. "Last year in the fall, it was figuring out who we are. In the spring, it was to do what we are. Now it's all repeat. We didn't get all crazy and go to football in the summertime and put in a bunch of new stuff."

-- The 49ers will go to shoulder pads for Saturday's practice, then go to full pads beginning Monday.

"We're at the start of a five-day acclimatization period," said coach Brad Lambert. "It's mostly about getting used to being in those pads in the heat."

-- For what it's worth, the 49ers have already picked up some preseason honors: Making CollegeSportsMadness.com's preseason FCS independence all conference first team is safety Desmond Cooper, with defensive lineman Brandon Banks, linebacker Mark Hogan making second team and offensive lineman Daniel Blitch third team.

Cooper and Hogan were also first-teamers on PhilSteele.com's preseason all-conference list.

The 49ers are one of six programs playing as an FCS independent this season, along with Old Dominion, Houston Baptist, Monmouth, Abilene Christian and University of Incarnate Word.

-- Charlotte's secondary has a slogan: Accountability TCB.

TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, or Taking Care of the Ball, or Taking Care of your Brother, secondary coach James Adams said, whatever works at the time.

The secondary also has a small wooden ground sled that players push along the grass for conditioning purposes. Accountability TCB is painted on it.

-- Linebacker Mark Hogan is an interesting story. He was Georgia State's first football scholarship player when the Panthers started football in 2010. He played three seasons there and graduated as the program's all-time leading tackler (157). He had a big game at Tennessee last season, with nine tackles and a forced fumble. He also had seven tackles against Alabama in 2010. His best game came against ODU in 2010, when he had 14 tackles. He's a good baseball player, too, hitting .313 with four homers and 15 doubles in two seasons as an outfielder at Georgia State.

Hogan grew up in Massachusetts, where he played high school ball at Lincoln-Sudbury. His family moved to Matthews while he was at Georgia State and still lives there.