Does Charlotte's coaching search have you feeling a bit off your norm? Did you just nod? Me too.

FootballScoop.com just dropped a new update, linking Charlotte's search to Tim Albin (Ohio), Tre Lamb (ETSU), and Tim Brewster. Albin is also linked to Purdue, and Tulsa sites list him as a potential candidate for the Golden Hurricanes. Tre Lamb just concluded season 1 at ETSU, after being the HC at Gardner-Webb, and he's inked an extension already, however his buyout is only $500,000. I have respect for TIm Brewster, the job he did to finish the season, but I've not been of the mindset that he's a legitimate candidate throughout this process. If it was going to be Brewster, it would have been done sooner. You could also say the same for Lamb, as his Buccaneers squad finished the season back on November 23rd. If Charlotte lands on Brewster, Lamb, or even Kerwin Bell (WCU), that tells a story, and it's not really a flattering picture for Charlotte, Mike Hill or Chancellor Sharon Gaber.

Yes, the optics are always one sided in searches, but optics matter in the court of public opinion. The ruling, if its Bell, Brewster or Lamb, will point to Charlotte missing out on multiple candidates, with Neal Brown, Tony Gibson and Bobby Petrino seemingly a part of that group. That will also lead you to question the plan Charlotte had in place when it pulled the trigger on Biff Poggi prior to the completion of his second season. That's not to question the decision, I firmly believe a change was needed.

Every story has two sides, and the other side could be Tim Albin and Charlotte have had a deal unofficially agreed to earlier this week, which is why you saw Brown, Gibson and Petrino say no "publicly". To coin a Charlotte fan favorite phrase, "we don't know what we don't know." That is also a bit scary for Charlotte fans given how the Mike Houston situation unfolded when he had not yet signed and flipped to ECU, because ink had not been applied to the deal.

This much I know, searches are really fun in the first week and then become increasing hard on fans, especially when they drag out like this (Poggi was fired on November 19th, 17 days ago), but hopefully the end is near, and the new coach is ready for portal chaos.