After coaching shuffle, 49ers coach promises ‘changes’ offensively against FIU

Charlotte 49ers football coach Brad Lambert said there will be changes in the team’s offense Saturday night , but he is downplaying the impact of a Monday coaching shuffle that changed offensive coordinators.

“We are all still working together,” Lambert said Tuesday during a meeting with reporters, in advance of the 49ers’ Conference USA opener at Florida International.

A day earlier, Lambert announced that running game coordinator Greg Adkins had taken on the additional duties of offensive coordinator. Jeff Mullen, who had been in that role, was named quarterbacks coach.

The change came after Charlotte dropped to 0-4 Saturday night with a 28-0 loss to Georgia State. The 49ers are the lowest-scoring team in Conference USA, with 45 points this season.

On Tuesday, Lambert described the coaching staff as a collaborative group aimed at boosting the octane in the 49ers’ attack. But he conceded that fans will see some differences against Florida International (2-1, 1-0 Conference USA).

“There’ll be some changes,” he said. “We’ll probably scale it back a little.”

Lambert had said for the past two weeks that he was concerned the coaching staff was asking quarterback Hasaan Klugh “to do some things that weren’t working.”

Kansas State and N.C. A&T had interception returns for touchdowns in the 49ers’ second and third games, and Georgia State picked off a Klugh pass in the end zone Saturday night.

The new offensive wrinkles will be tested against a Panthers team that has allowed its past two opponents 17 points combined, after a season-opening 61-17 loss to Central Florida.

“They have a lot of experience, a lot of seniors on defense,” Lambert said of Florida International. “Their linebackers are very fast.”

“We know we’ll have to execute really well against that defense,” 49ers offensive tackle Eugene German added.

The Panthers held each of their past two opponents – Alcorn State and Rice – to fewer than 275 yards total offense.

The “Alex and Alex Show”: That’s how Lambert referred to the Panthers’ offense, led by seniors Alex McGough at quarterback (237 passing yards a game and a 63 percent completion rate) and Alex Gardner at running back (67.3 rushing yards a contest).

A familiar name: Florida International’s first-year coach is a veteran – Butch Davis, former head coach at North Carolina, Miami and with the Cleveland Browns. Lambert said that when he was an assistant coach at Georgia, he and several other Bulldogs coaches traveled to Miami to talk with Davis about defense.

Finally at home: The Panthers are the only FBS team that has not played a home game this season. They’ve played twice on the road and another at a neutral site in Birmingham, Ala. A fourth game was canceled because of Hurricane Irma.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 7:37 PM with the headline "After coaching shuffle, 49ers coach promises ‘changes’ offensively against FIU."