Photo Credit: Charlotte 49ers

With yesterday's firing of Biff Poggi, Mike Hill will search for the 4th head coach for Charlotte Football, which will be Hill's third such hire. We can all hope that the third time is the charm. Hill's first two hires for Charlotte have been outside the box to say the least, from an upstart FCS HC with a losing record, to former hedge fund manager and HS football head coach. This alumnus is looking for simple things: normalcy and experience, it from the sounds of things, so are many of you.

I hope Charlotte avoids the path that solicit these types of comments:

Honestly, that's what I wanted after the doors on Club Lit were closed, but the truth of the matter is this, there are no guarantees in hiring coaches, just see Tom Herman at FAU. I thought he was a no-brainer, ended up fired at 6-16 as well.

Beyond Healy and Poggi both being out of the box hires, they were also CEO type of head coaches. Will Healy had never been a coordinator, let alone coached in any capacity at the FBS level. Poggi was in an advisor-like role with Jim Harbaugh at Michigan for 2 seasons and had zero Group of Five (G5) experience. The next hire needs to understand what life is like as a G5 coach and the struggles that come along with that.

Offensive or defensive minded coach? Personally, I don't care. Whatever you go with, the balance needs to be there with a strong and experienced coordinator hire on the opposite side of the ball. Biff Poggi had minimal collegiate experience, hired two inexperienced coordinators, and a young group of assistants. His best initial hire I felt was Lewis Caralla for Strength and Conditioning, and then after 1 year, the football program shifted this to the US Performance Center on campus, instead of the highly regarded subject matter expert that was hired for the job. Enter game one with a litany of injuries, and a team that struggled at the point of attack most of the season.

NIL will likely be one of the first topics during the interview process, and I'm curious about the direction of Charlotte's efforts moving forward. Currently, the Goldmine Alliance leads the way for Charlotte Football. That collective was started by someone with no connections to Charlotte Athletics due to his admiration of Biff Poggi. Off the record commentary leads me to believe Charlotte has a solid NIL budget that far exceeds the results on the field. Question is, does the Goldmine Alliance cease to exist with the departure of Poggi? Are things consolidated/streamlined with the Niners Basketball Collective (which is already helping sports beyond the hardwood)? Does Charlotte jump in and go in-house with their NIL to get ahead of things? Regardless of NIL consolidation, etc., I think it's time for a General Manager for football.