Zach Charbonnet

Early life

Zach Charbonnet was born on January 8, 2001, and grew up in Camarillo, California. His mother, Seda, is part Cambodian and Chinese, and she immigrated to the United States from France. His father, Mark, is African-American. Charbonnet did not begin playing football until the seventh grade.

He attended Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California, where he tallied 4,741 rushing yards and 62 total touchdowns, most of which stemmed from his junior year where he recorded 2,049 yards and 23 touchdowns. Former Oaks Christian coach Jim Benkert described Charbonnet as follows: "He's the best there is. He's got all the measurements and loves the game. He's one of those guys who can take over a game on either side of the ball and is probably the best running back in the country. He competes at a high level on every play. You can't coach that kind of stuff. He's a throwback player. He does his job and doesn't care about statistics. All he cares about is winning."

Charbonnet was rated among the top running back prospects in the country – ranked No. 3 by 247Sports.com, No. 4 by Rivals.com, and No. 6 by ESPN.com. He was also invited to play in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game. On June 23, 2018, prior to the start of his senior year in high school, Charbonnet committed to play college football at the University of Michigan.

Michigan

Shortly after his enrollment at Michigan in January 2019, Charbonnet underwent knee surgery. He missed spring practice while recuperating, but was recovered by late summer.

Charbonnet started at running back in Michigan's 2019 season opener where he totaled 99 all-purpose yards, 90 rushing yards on eight carries and nine receiving yards on two receptions. On September 7 against Army, Charbonnet had his first 100-yard rushing game on 33 carries and recorded three touchdowns, one of which was his first collegiate touchdown, in the 24–21 double overtime victory. On October 12 against Illinois, Charbonnet had 108 rushing yards in the first half, the first Wolverine to do so since Karan Higdon in the previous season. He finished the 42–25 road win with 116 yards on 18 carries and a rushing touchdown. On November 2 against Maryland, Charbonnet recorded two receiving touchdowns in the 38–7 win, setting a Michigan program record for most touchdowns by a freshman (11).

Charbonnet concluded the 2019 season with 149 carries for 726 yards and 11 touchdowns. During the 2020 season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Charbonnet played in five of six games and totaled 19 carries for 124 yards with one touchdown. In January 2021, Charbonnet announced his intent to transfer and entered the NCAA transfer portal.

UCLA

On January 30, 2021, Charbonnet announced his intention to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles. During the 2021 season, he and Brittain Brown shared the Bruins' rushing duties in a two-back system. While Brown was injured during UCLA's game against USC, Charbonnet had season-highs in carries (28) and rushing yards (167), while surpassing 1,000 yards on the ground for the season. For his efforts, Pac-12 coaches voted Charbonnet second-team all-conference, and the Associated Press named him the conference's newcomer of the year. He finished the season with 204 carries for 1,137 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, ranking second in the conference in rushing yards per game (94.8) behind B. J. Baylor of Oregon State.

On January 14, 2022, Charbonnet announced that he would return to UCLA in 2022 for his senior season. On September 24, he made 3 rushing touchdowns in a 45–17 road win over Colorado. On October 8, he had 22 carries for a career-high 198 yards and a rushing touchdown in a 42–32 win over No. 11 Utah. Three weeks later against Stanford, he tied his career-high 198 rushing yards on 21 carries in the 38–13 win, scoring three touchdowns while also leading the team with five receptions for a season-high 61 yards. The following week, he scored another three rushing touchdowns, compiling 24 carries for 181 yards, in a 28–34 loss to Arizona. Charbonnet finished his senior season with 195 carries for 1,359 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, while catching 37 passes for 321 yards. He was named a first-team All-American as an all-purpose specialist by the Football Writers Association of America. Charbonnet was seventh in the nation in rushing yards per attempt (7.0), and his 1,680 all-purpose yards were the seventh-highest single-season total in UCLA history. After the season, Charbonnet declared for the 2023 NFL draft, forgoing his remaining year of eligibility, which was granted by the NCAA for all players on a roster during the 2020 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.