Charlotte 49ers football: What concerns Biff Poggi heading into bye week
The Charlotte 49ers’ football program is in a rebuilding mode.
The first season under head coach Biff Poggi hasn’t lived up to expectations through five games, and the reeling 49ers (1-4) enter a much-needed bye week on a four-game losing skid.
Charlotte’s latest loss, a 34-16 defeat at SMU on Saturday night, was the first time this season that the 49ers looked like a bad football team in all three phases. The offensive struggles have been apparent since the first possession of the season. The defense has looked both elite and anemic through five games. And the special teams had been a bright spot until Saturday.
Poggi’s disappointment was clear following the loss to the Mustangs in a game that was further apart than the score showed.
“... I’ve done a pretty poor job getting them ready. We just make too many mistakes,” Poggi said. “We’re going back and forth between quarterbacks, and there are so many errors. We can’t score in the red zone. I think we gave up a bunch of yards (against SMU). ... It’s all three phases of the game.
“Have we gotten any better? I don’t know, quite frankly. I’m not sure, really,” Poggi continued. “If I were trying to be analytical about it instead of emotional, I would say we’re a little bit (better), but not a whole lot. Not enough to compete in the league.”
Who is the QB?
For the 49ers to find success this year, Poggi and offensive coordinator Mike Miller need to pick a quarterback and stick with him. Jalon Jones’ athleticism has sparked the offense, leading the team in rushing, but untimely turnovers and the lack of a downfield passing attack often have rendered Charlotte’s offense ineffective.
Trexler Ivey, a redshirt sophomore walk-on, gave the 49ers life at SMU on Saturday night. He led the team’s only touchdown drives of the game once the Mustangs had a controlling 27-3 lead in the second half.
The issue is that neither QB option is as consistent and efficient as needed. And that’s where Poggi and the staff need to focus their recruiting efforts moving forward.
Charlotte did land a three-star recruit in Oklahoma transfer Micah Bowens this off-season, but he’s struggled to learn Miller’s system and is serving as the scout-team quarterback. The 49ers also signed three-star true freshman Carson Black, flipping the Monroe product from AAC-foe Memphis following Poggi’s hiring. Neither quarterback has seen any in-game action, nor has Dom Shoffner — who rejoined the 49ers following a season at Eastern Illinois.
There’s still more than half of the season to play, but Charlotte must capitalize on this extra week of preparation.
“We’re just looking to put a complete game together,” Poggi said recently. “I think we have a chance to be a really good football team if we do.”
Great expectations
Succeeding in Poggi’s first season was always going to be a challenge. Charlotte lost the program’s leading passer in Chris Reynolds, its top four receivers, and saw nearly 40 players exit for the transfer portal. Despite adding 70 players and a completely new, youthful staff, Poggi claimed that Charlotte would compete in — and even win — the American Athletic Conference. He thwarted questions of a rebuild, calling the 49ers’ situation a retooling and reloading of talent, with four- and five-star talent from across the nation joining the program.
Poggi also said, on multiple occasions, that if the 49ers did not win in his first season that he was not the man for the job.
“If we’re not in the hunt, then I’ve failed as a coach. We’ve got really good players. We’ve got really good young coaches, but I’ve never won a college football game as a head coach. So, we’re going to find out if (athletic director) Mike Hill made a huge mistake or not,” Poggi told The Observer earlier this year.
“I think we’re going to win the league,” Poggi told The Observer two weeks before the 49ers’ season-opener. “... The only thing that will stop us from winning the league, in my opinion, is if I screw it up. So, if we don’t win, I screwed it up.”
After just the third game of the season, Poggi brought the idea of staff changes into the picture, stating, “I just met with our coaches, and we’re going to get it done the way I want it done — or either I’m not going to be here, or they’re not going to be here.”
Poggi walked those comments back the following week, taking accountability and expressing his love for his players and young coaches, echoing the belief in the process. His comments after the team’s fourth-consecutive loss were, again, troubling.
“Just not good enough job by me, and our kids play like a team that isn’t well coached.”
While every team’s goal is to win its conference, Poggi’s comments set unrealistic expectations on a rebuilding team that joined a new, much more talented league. With seven games remaining on the schedule, Charlotte has more questions than answers and a dwindling chance to earn the second bowl appearance in program history.
Reasons for optimism
Poggi signed a five-year deal in November of 2022. He will be with the program moving forward — and he should be. This is the most relevance the program has had since its 2019 late-season surge, scoring five straight victories to close the season in Will Healy’s first year.
Charlotte landed its first five-star prospect in program history when Eyabi Okie-Anoma joined the 49ers for his final year of college football. Charlotte has taken significant steps toward securing funding for Jerry Richardson Stadium’s renovation and has played in nationally televised games on NBC and ESPN’s family of networks. The average attendance is 15,016 in a stadium that holds 15,300.
People are talking about Charlotte. But if that’s going to continue, Poggi and company must win some games.
This is a perfectly timed bye week for the 49ers, with two full weeks to prepare for Navy’s triple-option offense. Charlotte’s next three games, two of which are at home, are all against one-win programs.