The plays here in that OT clips video are just incredibly terrible play by the players. The first one, half the team couldnāt tackle. The final play was drawn up for a wide open pass.
These players are absolutely not competitive skill wise to compete at this level.
Do you think Albinās success at Ohio and lack thereof here at Charlotte could be explained by people he had on staff there that didnāt follow him here? I guess what Iām asking is is there a possibility other coaches at Ohio were a big part of his success and maybe heās just not the same coach without them? I do wonder if Faanes has the experience to be the DC by himself. Iām not sure who shared that role with him at Ohio and if they were any more experienceed than he is.
I donāt know, obviously. I guess evidence since he left suggests that is plausible. We also were pretty lucky with our last three quarterbacks level of play, and, in all likelihood, Ohio wonāt be able to sustain that without a lot of luck with the resources we have. Weāll see if the staff at Ohio can continue to be successful without one of the better G6 QBs at the helm.
As far as Nate Faanes goes, I think that he was Special Teams Coordinator and Co-DC in 2024 and that was the only season that he was co-DC.
I can elaborate on that a little bit. After the three win season in 2021 in Albinās first season as head coach at Ohio, everything I heard suggests that then AD Julie Cromer forced Albin to make a change at DC. In retrospect this might have been the beginning of the rift between them. I donāt know. Out was Ron Collins at DC. In were Spence Nowinsky and John Hauser who fell into our lap. They had been co-DCās at our rival Miami the prior season and their defense had been good by MAC standards. We would not have been able to get them except for another black hole sized rift apparently between them Miami head coach Chuck Martin. So Ohio lucked out there, but at first it looked like a problem They switched from Collins 4-3-4 to a more modern 4-2-5 with the more hybrid Jack and Nickel defenders. After 6 games in 2021, Ohio was giving up 41 points and 561 yards per game. The offense had to carry the team to a 3-3 record to start 2022 and the team was only saved from a loss to a FCS Fordham, who was a very good FCS team but still FCS, by Kurtis Rourke throwing for about 540 yards. This might have turned out the be a blessing in disguise as the staff realized that unlike Kurtisās older brother Nathan (who was on the practice squad of several NFL teams and was CFL MVP) and our QB last year, Parker Navarro, who had the perfect skill set to be pistol spread option QBs, Kurtis was instead a legitimate NFL prospect. But in game 7 the 4-2-5 must have just clicked and Ohio had possibly the best defense in the conference over the second half of the regular season. It was Nowinsky that was calling plays the first two years. The following season in 2023, Ohio only gave up, I think, 10 points per game, and Nowinsky was a finalist for the Broyles award for best assistant coach in the country. We couldnāt match the offer Memphis gave him to be their DC. Hauser took over calling plays in 2024 in the 11 win season but Faanes was promoted to co-DC. I donāt think he was ever āthe manā primarily in charge of the defense, so I donāt know if thatās an issue, but I do know that Albin loved him. In interviews and pre and post-game press conferences he liked to often mention what a great young coach he was.
I am at the " its an institutional issue" conclusion also. We have tried every flavor and style of Coach in our 2 revenue sports and look at the results over the last 2 decades. Fund raising has always been an issue for Charlotte along with the City never ever really embracing the University as itās growth and status took off over the last 50 years.
Itās a depressing conclusion for me because once you have the perception we have in the D1 athletic community itās hard to overcome with the stakes so high when coaches and administrators make career decisions in todays world. The only way out is itās going to take moneyā¦a whole lot of spending money to get us even respectable in the FB world. Problem is frustrations and fan interest in this new mercenary money environment that is D1 sports will keep taking its toll.
I know it has on me.
I was there.
The weather was the best part of the whole experience.
Dang I loved that IPA. Guess Iām really an idiot
Iām with you on this, TSD. Plus, Iām hoping thatās a George Harrison reference. 
Iāll miss the Gold Rush beer. I donāt think Ultras will provide enough pop to get me through this season.
Stop calling in gang we have a winner!!
But itās gonna take money
A whole lotta spending money
Itās gonne take plenty of money
To do it right, child
Itās gonna take time
A whole lot of precious time
Itās gonna take patience and time, mmm
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it right, child
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I knew that Faanes had only been co-dc for 1 season but didnāt know everything that led up to that.
What happened to āCarlā lol?
I said the same thing! I donāt think even he can have an excuse for Albin.
I stand by my statement that CarlGPT is GhostofCLT. Have you ever seen the 2 of them in the same room?
I greatly appreciate Carl and all the work he puts in for us and we are blessed to have his insight!!
Donāt run him off, he definitely makes the forums interesting and more informative!
Any reason why the American hasnāt uploaded highlights from this game? Theyāve uploaded the highlights for every other game across the conference.
There were highlights?
Dude I donāt know, they scored more than 40 points. I donāt live in the USA and could only watch the first quarter before going to sleep. I was hoping to see more of what the team was like through the highlights
Some very brief highlights: