Agreed. And respect to those guys for not opting out
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Or polluting creeks.
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Are these Ohio coaches? Or just people he knows?
Hopefully the former.
Give me all the parts of a well oiled machine we can get.
Kirkendall has not coached with Albin, he was most recently at ECU, He did graduate from Ohio.
Finney was with Albin at Ohio.
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Thanks forever.
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What is happening in Ohio at the moment is that they are deciding who their new coach will be. One option is Smith, the Assistant Head Coach and also the interim Head Coach for the bowl game. A second option is Deland McCullough, a Notre Dame coach. If they choose Smith, the Ohio staff will likely stay mostly intact, and the players will mostly stay. If they choose McCullough, the Ohio assistants will all be looking for work, and many will apply to Charlotte, and the players will be very unhappy and hit the portal in large numbers.
Charlotte fans should be rooting for McCullough, but either way, Albin is a good head coach, and will end up with a fine staff.
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BTW, in general, this would be a very bad year for players to go into the portal. P4 teams have to cut their roster size from ~120-130 down to 105, and that will add 2-3000 extra players to the portal, even as those same P4s are not looking to add from the portal. The Charlotte players that jumped so quickly into the portal may end up without homes.
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IMHO, no matter who OH chooses as coach, a large amount of the team will test the portal. It’s in the players best interest to. Nothing against the OH team or the school, it’s just what the CFB has become. Look at the P5’s that are entering and even the guys opting out of the CFB playoffs entering.
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It really depends and how their current team is handling things with many coaches stating that if you enter the portal they won’t take you back. It’s a risk especially given the numbers.
is that what they are saying? just asking, because it’s smart to say that if everyone/all programs start doing that. I wish they would. That brings it closer back to high school recruiting. Can you imagine a parent yelling at their son after he tells them he is entering the portal and his free ride is gone and no guarantees he will get it back? “boy you are not giving away a free college education on this dream of playing for a P4 school”
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I know for a fact that is is what JMU is telling their kids and I’m pretty sure I’ve read stories of other programs saying it. It should be that way. If the coaching is leaving that’s one thing, but if the staff isn’t seeing huge turn over then the school should tell players you enter the portal then you won’t be welcomed back and you lose access to football benefits like weight room field access food etc
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Looks like Ohio will hire Smith. I’d imagine a few will stay, mostly taking promotions to coordinators, and a few will head to Charlotte.
That’s good. Besides, the Charlotte Bobcats is already taken. 
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Can’t always believe rumors… some coaches test the waters to see their value and end up staying. With Ohio’s success it would seem likely that the AD would want to not rebuild if he could retain the core of the current staff. That being said I’d anticipate several of the current Ohio coaches will come to Charlotte regardless. We have a larger pool for assistant coaches and some guaranteed positions (up to 2) that would provide stability and a significant salary increase. It’s all about the $$ and the opportunity to showcase in a more prominent league.
Yes, it is now looking like the AD has some sense, and will hire Smith, though she did interview a number of other candidates. It would have been insane for her to throw away a winning tradition to replace it with an unknown, but it wouldn’t have been the first time an AD had done such a stupid thing. With Smith, the Bobcats will have stability, and while some players will no doubt opt for the portal after the game, I think most will stay, and while an assistant coach or two might follow Albin, I think most will stay. The result will be that Albin will have to build a new coaching team from scratch, and will have to fill the team from the portal. The good news is that Albin has a history of astute coaching hires, and has a history of picking great players from the portal. The Ohio offensive coordinator, Smith, was a new hire in 2022. His defensive coordinator, Hauser, was new to the job this year, a replacement for Nowinsky, now at Memphis. In terms of his ability to pick players from the portal, last year Ohio had huge departures to the portal, yet won the MAC after improving steadily all year. On offense, the losses to the portal included a guy that got Heisman votes (Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke), the top two running backs, the top two TEs, the top seven receivers, as well as two starting offensive linemen. On defense they lost two all-MAC linebackers, the bulk of the defensive line, and their best CB. Lose all that, and win the MAC? It happened. Also, take a look at Ohio’s season. After all those losses, not surprisingly, they were not a good team early in the year, and got pasted early on by both Syracuse and Kentucky. As the season progressed, they got better and better. By mid-year, they were better, but still got trounced badly by Miami. Down the stretch, they were winning games handily, and totally destroyed Miami in the rematch.
So, expect Albin to make some astute hires in building a staff. Don’t be surprised if he makes a mistake or two. In hiring people, that always happens, so expect him to replace a few people after his first season. Expect him to pick up some players who will surprise you from the portal. Some will be hand-me-downs from P4 programs, some will be stars from FCS, and a few will probably some from Division II. Expect a rough start at the beginning of the year in 2025. Expect him to build a team with strong morale, and one that plays hard, but he won’t have that at first. Most of all, expect a team that is playing much better at the end of the year than at the start. In terms of philosophy, Offense will most likely be a run-first, ball control offense, and defense will be a stop-the-run first defense.
I think you have made a great hire. I think he will do well in Charlotte, and being in a major market, along with a step up in conference, will make recruiting easier. It make take a year or two, but I think you will be very happy with your choice.
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Sidenote:
Albin was 3-9 before Brian Smith came to town, 30-11 after. A lot of recent assistant hires (Mattix, A Smith) had West Coast ties to Smith not Albin. If DC Hauser leaves, I’d expect Mattix to take over at DC.
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Just heard Albin on WFNZ and he said his offensive coordinator would be the last coaching hire he would announce. He also said “we wish him well” when asked about Purdy and that he had several QB prospects coming too campus this week.
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Really good hire by Ohio. Unfortunate for us.
We can sell those assistants on about double the salary pool, as well as contracts, instead of being at will for coordinators. Even so, this made our path forward a little more difficult. Though I am happy for the Ohio faithful. These situations are always challenging.
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While true, Smith was not the only reason for the change after Albin’s rough first year. First, Albin only became head coach shortly before the season began due to the unexpected retirement of Solich. Second, along with Smith, Albin also brought in Nowinsky as DC, and the defense improved dramatically.
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