Charlotte 49ers head football coach Will Healy fired as team languishes in FBS cellar

The Charlotte 49ers have fired head coach Will Healy in his fourth season, after the team limped out to a 1-7 record this year.

Healy posted a 15-24 record overall with the 49ers, including going 7-6 in 2019 and leading the 49ers to their first — and only — bowl appearance, a loss in the Bahamas Bowl.

But the past season and a half have been disastrous for Charlotte. The 49ers have lost 12 of their past 14 games by an average of 24 points. Charlotte’s latest loss, Saturday on homecoming, was a 34-15 setback to two-touchdown underdog Florida International.

Former standout FCS head coach and current 49ers’ offensive line coach Pete Rossomando will serve as interim head coach. Rossomando was named FCS Coach of the Year in 2017 at Central Connecticut State and was Division II national coach of the year at New Haven prior to that.

Healy led the 49ers, which became an FBS program in 2013, to their first bowl game and winning season in 2019, but the lack of success since then has been evident. Since ranking 71st in the nation in recruiting in 2020, Charlotte has ranked 108th, 114th, and 129th in 2021, 2022 and the ongoing 2023 class respectively.

“We’re disappointed with the results of the season thus far. It’s unacceptable. I know that our players and coaches would echo that,” Charlotte athletic director Mike Hill said during the 49ers’ bye week. “I think clearly, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We recognize that and we know that — every aspect of our program we have to take a look at to make sure that we’re competing at the level that our players deserve, and our fans deserve.”

The upcoming offseason is particularly important for the 49ers — potentially their biggest yet — given their impending move to the American Athletic Conference, and now with a coaching search to conduct.

Early candidates to become the program’s third head coach include Charlotte native and current Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, former Carolina Panther and current Campbell head coach Mike Minter, former Independence star and current Alabama tight ends coach Joe Cox, and Miami’s offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who was a candidate for the position prior to Healy’s hire in December 2018.

This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 10:31 AM.