‘Re-recruiting Charlotte’: How new 49ers football coach Tim Albin has begun his tenure

Tim Albin likened his first week as Charlotte 49ers’ head coach to drinking from a firehose.

Following a 20-year stint at Ohio, where he served as head coach since 2021, Albin’s priorities in Charlotte have been clear since day one: Assemble his staff, recruit what is left of the current roster, and attack the transfer portal for foundational pieces of his first-edition 49ers.

And although there have been some bumps early, including the exits of dynamic duo DeShawn Purdie and O’Mega Blake to the transfer portal, Albin is recruiting former 49ers out of the transfer portal — and more are on the way.

Re-recruiting Charlotte

With more than 40 players entering the portal following Biff Poggi’s firing in late November, Albin has been tasked with picking up the pieces while many of the team’s top talents are making the leap to the Power Four.

Albin has lured at least four players from last year’s roster back to the Queen City, with center Jonny King, guard Mo Clipper Jr., defensive end Donovan Spellman, and three-star running back Rod Gainey Jr. withdrawing from the portal.

“I’ve been here about four days straight now. I’m going through the roster right now and basically re-recruiting the current roster. I just want to make sure they understand our vision. I want to listen. I want to build on things that were done well here and fix things that need to be fixed,” Albin said on a recent appearance on the Highway 49 Podcast. “It’s been very eye-opening to listen to these student-athletes. They love Charlotte, and I’m looking forward to working with them when we get going in January.”

And with a defensive end, two starting offensive linemen and a promising young tailback withdrawing, the focus is turning toward who will run the offense at quarterback.

New quarterback?

With dozens of key contributors and starters hitting the portal, two of Charlotte’s three starting quarterbacks from last season — Purdie and Max Brown — have exited, leaving just Trexler Ivey, whose future is still up in the air.

Albin’s first meeting after his introductory news conference was with Purdie, who has received scholarship offers from North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Auburn, among others.

Albin stressed the importance of respecting the student-athlete’s decisions.

“I did talk with DeShawn. I’ve gone through that process before with Kurtis Rourke and several players at Ohio,” said Albin. “No one should be upset with the student-athlete in this process — they did not make the rules, nor did I. DeShawn has my full support. They have to make decisions based on what’s best for them.

“For us, as far as recruiting the quarterback position, we are in the process of doing that. We have extended offers to several quarterbacks. This weekend will be big, we’ll have two to three quarterbacks visiting.”

Albin has extended offers to three quarterbacks, including Zach Wilcke from junior college NWCC, Cole Gonzales from Western Carolina and Camden Orth from Bowling Green, per social media.

And this coming weekend, Albin and the 49ers will host nearly 20 athletes, including the quarterbacks.

“We’ve got several staff members that are joining us this week. We’ve got a big weekend planned with recruiting — probably close to 20 mid-year players will be coming to campus and having an official weekend,” Albin said. “And I’ll have boots on the ground with staff. It’s a work in progress, but it’s a lot of fun.

“It’s more of an art, not a science. It changes by the minute. It really does,” Albin said of the portal. “But at the end of the day, something that won’t change is who we’re targeting. We want good men. If you’ve got a locker room full of good men, the wins will take care of themselves. That’s our approach right now, and we’re hitting the ground running.”

Staff updates

Albin made his first football staff hires this week, with Jake Kirkendall joining as director of football operations and Clay Finney taking over as director of player personnel. The on-field staff is still up in the air, but Albin does have ideal characteristics in mind.

“My defensive coordinator, we’re going to base out of a 4-2-5. Building the relationships, getting the best 11 men on the field,” Albin said. “We want to get after the quarterback. I know that’s the philosophy, but we’ve been able to be very successful defensively the last three years (at Ohio), and that’s what we’re going to get done at Charlotte.”

While there have been no announcements on coordinator hires, Albin is much closer to hiring a defensive coordinator than an offensive coordinator, he said on the Highway 49 Podcast.

“(Offensive coordinator) will be the last spot I fill. I’m going to go slow with this. I’ve talked with several candidates. It’ll be my last spot. I’ve got some options, but the time of possession, identity of running the ball and getting our playmakers the ball. I think as an offense, the first thing they’ll hear is that we want to end every series with a kick — whether it’s a field goal, extra point or a punt. That will be a major focus.”