In an era of NIL, many top FCS players end up being poached by bigger schools. That makes it less common for small-school prospects to get selected in the NFL Draft.
Stephen F. Austin cornerback Charles Demmings is a rare example of a player who got looks from bigger schools, stayed with the team that developed him first, and is still projected as a likely draft pick come April.
Demmings concluded his 2025 season with a career-high 4 interceptions, breaking up 31 passes over his last three years. After appearing at the Senior Bowl and excelling at the Combine, he now looks to carry that momentum over to the NFL level.
PFSN spoke exclusively with Demmings about his journey to the NFL as a small-school prospect, how he stays grounded through a rigorous pre-draft process, his preparation for the 2026 NFL Draft, and much more.
At what point in your time at Stephen F. Austin did you start to realize you had the attention of NFL scouts?
CD: “When I had a conversation with my head coach, I would say my sophomore year of
college, at the end of my sophomore season. In the fall, he expressed to me that I had talent to play elsewhere. He wasn’t pushing me into the portal or anything of that nature, but he kind of singled me out in that meeting and let me know the potential I had.
In my mind, I went, ‘wow’. This is a collegiate head coach who has a national championship under his belt and coached a bunch of NFL guys in his career, and I’m one of the guys he is saying it to. That was the first key moment for me where I realized, ‘okay, I may got more talent than I think.’
You got plenty of attention in the transfer portal. Can you speak to your decision to stick at SFA and what motivated that?
CD: “Like I said, when I had that conversation with my coach at the end of my sophomore year, talking about getting forward, he wasn’t against none of that, because he believed I could play elsewhere. Then, the time comes for me to make a decision at the end of my junior year on what I wanted to do with my last season. I was in the portal, and I’m getting talks from Mississippi State, Texas State, a bunch of [Group of 5 schools], Power Four schools, but the one thing that was common amongst all those schools was the NIL check; do you want to be paid good? You come out here, and you come out here and play, or do you care about being the highest paid player?
“It really wasn’t the developmental piece that I was trying to hear, because I had my first job at 13, and it wasn’t even legal for 13-year-olds to have a job at the time, man. I understood the value of a dollar and what hard work gets you, so my heart didn’t idolize money. I wasn’t chasing the next big NIL bag, so that wasn’t a factor for me. I just wanted tools to help me stick at the next level instead of just
making it to the next level.
“When I reflected with myself, I walked into SFA a boy, and I was leaving a man. SFA gave me a bridge to God. SFA gave me my degree. A lot of guys look up to me here. I have a face in the community. I’ve done a lot for here, and I’m respected that. I understood this is where God placed me. It was one question I asked myself: ‘do I want to be a fountain, or do I want to be a drain?’ That stuck with me.
“With that, I took the ability to help my brother move down here and give him a better step at life, and help him build his own stability in his own life with the blessing that God given me by being at Stephen F. Austin, being developed being a man of Christ, a son of God, and just a servant of all cause. I was just wanting to continue to find ways to serve, and it was on my heart to do that here, man. That’s what led to the decision of me staying at SFA: basically to leave a legacy.”
You got invitations to the Senior Bowl and the Combine this year. What were your experiences like?
CD: “The Senior Bowl was definitely a great experience. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that a bunch of scouts have the question, ‘well, can he play with the elite level talent? Can he play against good guys on a consistent basis?’ That’s the question coming from smaller school guys like me. At the Senior Bowl, I saw that as my ability to showcase that and answer that question for scouts. I went out there and did just that. I was confident in my ability to play against those guys and look the part.
“Not only that, I had the chance to step up and take charge as a leader. I will lead. I will close out the practice in prayer. I will talk to guys about their faith. My purpose is to hear God and express his heartbeat, and I used every moment I had at the Senior Bowl to do exactly that.
“What I did in my cleats was great, and I checked the box for a lot of the scouts as, ‘okay, he can play with elite level talent on a consistent basis and look the part.’ But what it was about, for me, it was about those relationships that the guys gave me off the field, and how could I be more of service to those guys in their lives with the short amount of time I got with him. I felt like it was another challenge guy gave me with football as a vehicle, man.
“I loved my experience there, and now, I get the Combine invite. That’s like the real deal right there. You hear people talk about that all the time. For me, I didn’t grow up in sports, so an NFL Combine invite and being there for the first time, that wasn’t something I expected to get, and it wasn’t the scenery that I expected to see in my lifetime. It was surreal for me the first day, man. I had to take 20 minutes out of my day just to be in the stadium and breathe, and just be in the moment and realize where I am right now, and what I’m doing.
“I just took the moment to fully accept the blessing of being at the NFL Combine, and with that, my mission never changed: how can I still pour into other people and be observant to other people? Other than just the ability to come out here and showcase my skills, because I’m going to do that to the best of my ability, either way it goes. God gave me a whole week down here and one day of performance, and I felt like that was for a reason.
“Other than just NFL meetings and other meetings, so I took full advantage of that. I have a plethora of new brothers for life. I have a plethora of dudes who I reached out to and connected to through Christ, and it’s just going to be about how I can make my impact even bigger with a spotlight on me and give all glory to Him. The Senior Bowl and the Combine were two events that I got to do that, and it was real great for me.”
I know you’re very open about your faith. Can you speak to how that’s helped you in your pre-draft process and throughout your time in college?
CD: “It’s my identity. When my identity is rooted in Christ, it definitely doesn’t put any weight on my shoulders, but it gives me that relief. In all these moments of pressure, and all this chaos, and all this adversity, I have someone holding me up. I have someone giving me the bridge to peace, giving me a bridge to joy, and giving me a bridge of love in those moments where I felt maybe life was moving fast. Or the moment may be a little nerve wracking, or I felt butterflies in my stomach, or I was kind of anxious about thinking about the Senior Bowl, a bowl game, or how my senior season, is going to go.
“You can get caught up in those moments when it’s a lot of pressure when you hear a lot of stuff in your ear. My faith being the cornerstone, and my faith being my identity, I’ve always have something to lean on, and by that something, I mean Jesus Christ.
“He’s always been there, over my back. He’s been giving me the strength, giving me the compassion. I always ask for mental richness so that I’m able to align my mind, my habits, and my behavior with whatever God’s purpose is for me. That’s been able to keep me in the moment with what I was doing. It helped me not only model leadership, but be able to mold it into other young men and freshmen who came in after me, the guys older than me, and the people around campus. It gave me the ability to do that.
“With that, I became a better man, and with becoming a better man, I became a better football player, because it was a direct translation. Seeing all that play on one accord for me, it just made me rely on my faith more than ever. I use prayer as a steering wheel, and I hold on to it tightly everywhere I go. With that, I’ve been happy about everything, even my mistakes and my learning moments.
“I don’t believe in losses or delays or detours: just divine speed limits. I’ve been able to have that clarity and awareness so that I’m able to stay in the moment, be the best version of me, do everything, and still have the ability to grow, either being an influential leader or a zealous follower.”
I’ve never heard the term “divine speed limit” before. I think that’s really cool.
CD: “I appreciate that, man. Surrendering my life to Christ was the best decision I ever made. You got to wake up every day, and you gotta wake up every day and make that decision to do that, so I appreciate that.”
How do you like to spend your free time outside of football?
CD: “I’m a guy who really loves movies. I’m not gonna say I get entertained easy, but it’s just something about movies, and not just TV shows…literally, going to the movie theater or renting a movie on my TV, just having a movie day, a movie night, or I have movie morning.
“Sometimes, if I get the chance to, I really love watching movies. I love fishing, I love doing outdoor activities, and bowling. I don’t want to say it’s my favorite activity, but it is something that, if anybody says bowling around me, it’s straight competition mode for me. It’s fun and all, but I grew up playing it so much, and I love that.
“Any outdoor activity, like go-karts and paintball, those are the things I love to do. The last thing would be with people. I just love being involved with people. I’m a guy whose social battery never dies, so I love creating new relationships, meeting new people, doing new things. We could go paint, we can go for a walk, or we can go sit by the lake.
“If it’s with someone, I love doing it, because I just like being around other people. I just love God’s creation that much, man. It will have to be those things that I do when I’m off the field. I’m not a guy who does too much. I’m happy with little, so it isn’t a long list outside of football.”
I’m gonna put you on the spot here. What’s your Mount Rushmore of favorite movies?
CD: “Okay, number one will be ‘Law Abiding Citizen’. Gerard Butler is a fantastic actor. It will have that will be number one. Number two would have to be ‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing’ with Nick Cannon and Christina Milian. Number three, we’re going to go with ‘The Fate of the Furious’. That’s the [Fast and Furious movie] I want specifically, that’ll be up there. Number four, we’re going to go with … this one may shock people, but we’re going to go, ‘Twilight: Eclipse’. I’ve watched the Twilight saga over 15 times. I love that right there, man.”
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Let’s say I’m an NFL general manager. What would I be getting if I drafted you to my team?
CD: “You’ll be getting a guy who prepares like a starter, executes like a role player, and who’s detail-oriented, and a guy who shows up consistently on and off the field. I don’t need a spotlight to impact the room, so you’ll be getting the best version of me that doesn’t swing with moods or results every day.”
