Thank you Brad Lambert. Thanks for setting the foundation for our program and the hard work you put in. By all accounts you were a stand up guy.
Letās be honest here thoughā¦Lambert accepted this job when we were planning on being fcs. The second we accepted the invite to CUSA, he became the sacrificial Lamb-ert. Going from no football to fbs in 3 years makes it near impossible for success. He had to know deep down the chances of this marriage ending happily were slim. I do appreciate the work he and his staff put in. I really enjoyed the first 4 1/2 seasons. Watching guys like Ogunjobi, Duke, Kalif in 49er green was soooo much better than watching other college teams on Saturdays. In the end we just didnāt win enough or gain enough momentum as a program.
I will be forever grateful for the efforts Lambert put in to bring awareness to this program and getting this thing off the ground.
I wish Lambert and his family nothing but the best moving forward. Hopefully he can catch on as an assistant at a P5 school.
ā¦Oh and thanks for giving Judy the final push out the door
Nice post. It has been so much better watching the football team this year vs. last year. Winning a few, but being competitive in most made it a much more enjoyable experience. No hard feelings toward Lambert. Best of luck to him in the future.
Agree - thanks to Brad and his family for their dedication to the Niners since starting. He came on when there was no team, no building, no uniforms etc. and helped build a program from scratch. The jump to CUSA was faster than expected and he did not adapt as quickly as he needed so while I am sad to see him go, itās the right thing for the program. He will always be our first coach and have his name in the record books for the many accomplishments but not itās time to turn our eyes towards a #GoldStandard coach that can lead us to building a team that competes for championships and annual bowl appearances.
I agree. He is a good dude with nothing but the players best interests in his heart. I didnāt love him as a football coach, but is a quality human being and I would have no problem telling him so if we ever cross paths.
Brad took on a challenge a lot of HCās wouldnāt touch and did all he could to make it work. The field goals for him being successful were already pretty far away and then our quick move to FBS put the field goals even farther out. We all had our doubts about his ability to succeed at this level, but I never questioned whether Brad put his total efforts towards it. He did all he could, against an indifferent administration and an AD who probably didnāt know how to provide the right help to make Bradās job easier. He had a devastating loss when Ratliff died, and at the worst possible time in a season. He couldnāt retain good assistants long enough to build off their abilities, and he apparently had a tough time on the recruiting trail.
One could say that Brad faced some unusual challenges that other G5 coaches donāt ever see or see rarely and he did it with class and integrity.
Thank you Brad Lambert, you will always be Charlotteās first football coach.
Agree with everything Iāve read in this threadā¦good luck Coach Lambertā¦and Thank You for everything you did to help lay the foundation here for Niner Football
Brad Lambert is one of the nicest coaches Iāve met Even during tough games he was blunt but respectful He took a big risk becoming the first head coach of a new team
Thanks Brad! You came and made something from nothing. You gave some of your best years. Weāll never forget that. Iām sad that I never got my trading card signed by you.
Brad was a class act from the word go. He was hired to do a job that was much less competitive than the one he ended up doing. I still think had we remained FCS, we would have won a bunch of games, but that was not the case.
He is a good man, and I appreciate all he has done.
Iām sure he had a lot to do with the stadium and facility design, which in my mind are top notch. Our stadium, while small is beautiful with impressive weight room, field house, study halls, etc. Now if we can start winning and draw enough fans so that we can expand the stadium, that would be great to see.
Many thanks to Brad for taking a chance and coming to Charlotte. He couldāve very well stayed at Wake or moved on elsewhere and done well. He took a big chance and started up this program from scratch.
Many props to him for also trying his best during the move to FBS, as stated earlier he became the scape goat once we moved to FBS.
While I did want him gone, Iām thankful for his time here and I hope truly that he lands on his feet.
And letās not forget that if he doesnāt go 1-11 and kept as football coach Judy Rose is still here. Her keeping him on resulted in the Fire Judy Rose campaign and ultimately the change. So thank you Brad!
Hereās a bright future
Thanks to brad for doing the job to the best of his ability (I assume) and cashing the checks and the checks that will keep on coming. His best wasnāt good enough however. I wish him success in the future.
Class act. Thanks Coach Lambert for coaching all the way up to the end. The players obviously like him. Glad a guy like that was our first coach and was able to lead our program with integrity. Also glad he got to end the era on a high note.