Charlotte 49ers begin search for their fourth head football coach
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The Charlotte 49ers have begun a national search for their fourth head coach after firing Biff Poggi Monday night.
Why it matters: The program is investing $70 million into expanding its football stadium. School officials want a winning product to match that type of investment.
State of play: Poggi leaves the 49ers with a 6-16 (4-10 American Athletic Conference) record. Associate head coach Tim Brewster is serving as the 49ers interim head coach for the final two games of the season. Brewster confirmed to reporters Tuesday that he's interested in the role full-time.
- "Golly, I love what I do," says Brewster, who has coached at the high school and collegiate level, plus in the NFL. "I get out of bed at 4:30 in the morning and I'm ready to rock."
Between the lines: The 49ers are a young program — they're in their 12th season and made a quick transition from being a Football Championship Subdivision program to a Football Bowl Subdivision program. For reference, schools like Georgia and Alabama are FBS programs. If you want to be big-time, you're an FBS school.
- Charlotte has been to one bowl game in 2019, which coincided with their only winning season.
- The 49ers entered FBS as a member of Conference USA before transitioning to the American Athletic Conference in 2023.
- Growing at this rate isn't normal, but joining the American was the right move, 49ers director of athletics Mike Hill told reporters Tuesday.
The big picture: Charlotte is one of the largest schools in the UNC system and it's in a city that's growing by 117 people per day.
- "Based on the interest in the job, we're going to be fine," Hill says.
Zoom in: Hill says they're looking for a person of integrity, someone who really wants to be at Charlotte, who has a proven track record of coaching at the collegiate level, is a quality recruiter and a great communicator.
The intrigue: Steve Wilks, a Charlotte native and former coach with the Carolina Panthers, has worked with the program as an advisor. While Wilks likely won't be the 49ers' next head coach, some fans online sure wish he would be.
What's next: The 49ers (3-7) at Florida Atlantic (2-8) on Saturday at 3pm this weekend. They host UAB in their regular season finale on Nov. 30 at 3:30pm. Both games will air on ESPN+.
The bottom line: The 49ers know how to win in other sports. Now it's time to figure out what it takes for football to succeed.
- "Do we have a sense of urgency? You're damn right we do," Hill says.