What Charlotte 49ers AD Mike Hill said he’s searching for in next head football coach
Charlotte football is searching for its new permanent leader.
The athletic department’s top brass had a lengthy meeting following the team’s 35-point blowout loss to South Florida on Saturday night, and director of athletics Mike Hill ultimately made the difficult decision to fire coach Biff Poggi.
“It’s obviously the hardest to hear it and be the recipient of it. It’s second-hardest to deliver it,” Hill said. “It really was a master class in grace, humility and thankfulness for the opportunity.”
Fewer than 24 hours after the announcement of the firing, Hill was introducing interim head coach Tim Brewster in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Hill, who has begun the nationwide search, spoke extensively about what he’s searching to find in the fourth head coach of Charlotte. He said he’s already been receiving plenty of interest — as soon as Tuesday morning — and will do his due diligence to vet the best candidate.
“I would love to hire a football coach who has had some high-level success and stays here for two decades. But really, more so, I want to hire a football coach who is coveted by everybody else in about three years,” Hill explained Tuesday. “And if we lose him? OK, we’ll fight to try and keep him, but it would mean we’re having success. That’s the real key: We want to hire someone who can come in, build a program and have success, and if we can sustain continuity with that same person over a decade or two, that would be really an added bonus.
“I think it’s hard, though, if you hire a coach who already has one foot out the door to the next job. And that’s the point we’re trying to make. You have some coaches who see it as a stepping stone, and if you don’t pay attention to the job you have, you’re not gonna have success in that job. Let’s want to be here, grow where our feet are planted and have success here.”
Coaches have rebuilt programs under Hill at Charlotte
Hill likened the situation to that of former Charlotte softball head coach Ashley Chastain.
The former South Carolina softball player took over a 49ers program that had never been to an NCAA Tournament when she was hired in 2020.
Chastain went on to guide Charlotte to unprecedented back-to-back conference championships — and that success led her all the way to the Gamecocks’ head coaching position.
“I tried like heck to keep her — I had to fight others off for two years,” Hill said. “She finally left to go to South Carolina, and I get that. Her alma mater. In the SEC. That’s where I want to see us be in football.”
Is there a timetable for hiring Charlotte’s next football coach?
Hill said he will never put a deadline on a coaching search, but did open up about the logistics of this process.
Early signing day has been bumped up to Dec. 4 after previously being close to Christmas. Then, players will be jumping in the transfer portal, which now opens Dec. 9, while the nation’s top 12 programs will be preparing to compete in the College Football Playoff.
“We have a sense of urgency,” Hill said. “The most important thing is that we get it right. That’s why I would never set an absolute, drop-dead date, because there are different things that come into play in searches. They always take twists and turns.”
Is there any chance Brewster becomes the permanent HC?
Hill left the door open for Charlotte to hire its interim head coach.
“Brew has expressed to me that he has an interest in this,” Hill said, “and I can assure that we’ll have a chance to sit down after the season and visit about the opportunity.”
Brewster, who was a head coach in the Big Ten for four seasons, will be the leading the Niners in their final two games. He became Poggi’s associate head coach this year following a pair of seasons on the staff of Deion Sanders, at Jackson State and then Colorado.
His extensive coaching career dates back to the early 1980s, following an All-Big Ten playing career as a tight end at Illinois.
“I played football for a long time, and if you can’t play football, the next-best thing to do is to coach football,” Brewster said. “I think I’m a better coach than I was player, but my passion is developing players. My love for the game of football. And one of my favorite sayings is if you love football, football will love you back, and football has been amazing to my family and me.
“Nothing has diminished. I’m as fired up (Tuesday) as I was when I was at Lafayette Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, Indiana, when I had 23 (players) on my varsity football team. There were 97 students in four grades. I loved it there — I had a nun who sat in the back of my class and critiqued me all the time, and I said: ‘I want to win football games. I want to see your lesson plan.’”
What’s most important in picking a long-term head coach?
Hill joked that he’ll sleep next week, as his inbox keeps blowing up.
While there are plenty of candidates looking for a breakthrough head coaching job at this point in their career, Hill understands the importance of bringing in the right leader whose passion truly lies with growing this program in Charlotte.
At the forefront of this search, Hill said, are established recruiters, talent developers and communicators. As important as it is for the next head coach to lead the team and staff, an ability to really embrace the Charlotte community at large is imperative.
“Someone who understands the current landscape, how to manage today’s environment with the transfer portal, the post house settlement that we’re all careening toward here July 1,” Hill said. “Somebody who understands one side of the ball or the other, who’s really being considered an expert in that space, who has a proven track record of success as a college football coach.
“Someone who is a proven recruiter and a developer of talent. And as I said earlier, someone who really wants to be here — is going to embrace this university and our community. Because we’re gonna need this university and this community to get where we want to go.”
Poggi shows up at practice on Tuesday morning
The Niners’ most recent former head football coach made a surprising appearance on Tuesday.
Poggi walked out onto the field from the corner of Jerry Richardson Stadium early in the team’s practice on Tuesday morning. He raised his arms in the air as players applauded and congregated around him.
