Bahamas Bowl appearance won’t cost Charlotte 49ers coach Will Healy

Six weeks ago, the Charlotte 49ers were 2-5 and trying to dig themselves out of the muck of a four-game losing streak. Today, the 49ers are taking a five-game winning streak to a bowl game — the first postseason appearance in the program’s seven-year history.

Here are few things to know about the 49ers (7-5) and the bid athletics director Mike Hill accepted to play in the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo (7-5) on Dec. 20.

Keeping the coach?

First-year coach Will Healy has attracted a lot of attention for the job he has done at Charlotte, which hadn’t had a winning season in its first six years of existence. So there’s been a lot of scuttlebutt this week about Healy and Power 5 job openings (Mississippi and Missouri come to mind, where news reports had linked him to their vacancies).

While not specifically addressing the possibility of a potential contract extension for Healy, Hill told the Observer: “We are going to take care of Will Healy.”

Healy signed a five-year contract worth $700,000 per year, plus incentives worth as much as another $1.365 million. According to a USA Today database, Healy’s base salary is in line with several other Conference USA coaches, but far below those of North Texas’ Seth Littrell ($1.865 million) and Florida Atlantic’s Lane Kiffin ($1.432 million).

Behind the bid

Here’s how the invitation to the Bahamas Bowl came about:

In the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 38-22 victory against Old Dominion, Hill texted Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod. The 49ers had become bowl-eligible with their sixth victory of the season a week earlier, but that didn’t guarantee them a spot in one of the six bowls with which C-USA has a primary affiliation.

“Are we safe?” Hill asked.

MacLeod told Hill to sit tight but to expect a phone call after the game.

The call came after the 49ers had wrapped up win No. 7 against ODU. Bahamas Bowl executive director Richard Giannini was on the other end, extending the bid to Hill.

Why the Bahamas?

Hill had no say in where the 49ers would go. That decision was made by MacLeod and the Conference USA office.

“Back in the old days, ADs used to wine and dine bowl officials as a way to negotiate their way into a bowl game,” Hill said. “It’s not that way anymore. It’s totally controlled by conference commissioners. ESPN also has a say, because it wants to put together the best matchups they can.

“So, the conference is telling you you’re going to the Bahamas Bowl. It’s just a formality. There are no negotiations involved.”

The Bahamas Bowl, in its sixth season of existence, also likes to invite teams that are playing in their first bowls or have had long postseason droughts (as it did with ODU in 2016 and Alabama-Birmingham in ‘17), and Charlotte certainly fits that profile.

Costly proposition

The 49ers won’t make any money by playing in the bowl — far from it.

Hill said the Bahamas Bowl has a payout of $225,000 that goes to the conference.

“That money goes into one big revenue pot that the league uses to help each of its bowl teams to cover part of their expenses to the furthest extent it can,” Hill said. “That goes for hotel rooms, charter flights, (player) per diems and such. We pay the rest.

“These are not break-even propositions for the participants. We’re going to lose some money.”

Passport issues

The Bahamas is a foreign country. What about passports for people in a program who only found out about their bowl destination less than a month before the game was played?

Conference USA has that eventuality covered, telling players on every team before the season begins to make sure they have a passport — just in case their team is invited to the Bahamas Bowl.

But that didn’t solve the problem for Hill’s infant daughter Eloise who, yes, needed a passport.

Hill and wife Jessica James-Hill managed to get a few strings pulled with Sen. Thom Tillis’s office and were able to obtain a passport for Eloise.

The passport situation was also sticky for Healy, who had to go to Nassau this week for a site visit and news conference with Hill. Healy’s passport had expired, but he managed to get it renewed before heading to the Bahamas.

Who’s not going?

The 49ers marching band won’t make the trip. C-USA pays for bands to attend all its bowl games — except for the Bahamas Bowl. Moving all those musical instruments overseas would be an overwhelming financial and logistical challenge. Hill did say that a smaller pep band of about 25 members will attend.

Hill said he understands that some 49ers fans might be frustrated that the Bahamas is a difficult destination for some to get to. UNC Charlotte students will be given free tickets ($50 value) if they can make it to Nassau for the game.

“Most of the bowls Conference USA is affiliated with are hard to get to — New Mexico, Dallas, Frisco (Texas), Hawaii,” Hill said. “In a perfect world, we’d be able to load up our students on buses so they can go and support the team, but it’s not possible in this given situation.”

Old friends

The Bahamas Bowl’s Giannini was Hill’s first boss. Hill’s initial job out of college was with the old Blockbuster Bowl, which Giannini ran when he was with Charlotte’s Raycom Sports. They have stayed in touch since. Giannini has also worked in the athletic departments at Duke and Florida and is a former athletics director at Southern Mississippi and Louisiana-Monroe.

This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 5:49 PM.