Fired College Football Coach Receives Standing Ovation At Practice
11/19/2024 11:45 AM
Three college football head coaches were fired on Monday, including Charlotte's Biff Poggi.
Poggi, along with fellow AAC head coaches Tom Herman of Florida Atlantic and Don Brown of UMass, was dismissed yesterday. In one-plus seasons with the 49ers, Poggi posted 6-16 record. Charlotte is 3-7 in 2024 following a 59-24 loss to USF on Saturday.
"Terrible. It all starts with me," Poggi said Saturday after the loss. "The entire organization looks like it looks because it's the way that I chose it to look. All the blame squarely needs to go on me. These are the kinds of games that you have as a coach when your team is three and (seven), things don't end well sometimes. I'm fully aware of that. I'd say my grade has been not good."
While Poggi's record at Charlotte was not good, it's clear his players still maintain a great deal of respect for him.
When Poggi returned to practice on Tuesday to address his team after getting fired, he received a standing ovation.
Following his dismissal as head coach, Biff Poggi rolls up to @CharlotteFTBL practice this morning. pic.twitter.com/8GxwwrvVFC
— Cameron Williams (@camwillsports) November 19, 2024
Of course, Poggi undoubtedly wishes his tenure went better and he won more, but it had to make the 64-year-old coach feel great to get that type of reception.
It will be interesting to see where Poggi goes next. He had never been a head coach at the college level before Charlotte hired him in 2023, but had two successful stints at Maryland high school programs: Gilman School (1996-2015) and Saint Frances Academy (2017-20).
In 2016, Poggi was an analyst under Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan. He returned to Ann Arbor in 2021 and served as Harbaugh's associate head coach for two seasons.
As for the 49ers, they have turned to longtime college football assistant Tim Brewster as interim head coach for the final two weeks of the season.
In addition to his stints on staff at Colorado, Jackson State, Florida State, Texas A&M, Texas and Mississippi State, Brewster had a four-year run as head coach at Minnesota from 2007-10.
In those three-plus seasons, Brewster went 15-30 with a pair of bowl appearances.
Related: A 3rd College Football Head Coach Has Been Fired Monday
