Like most on here, I love the hire of Tim Albin - but he is not a guarantee.
I still have an issue with dismissing Poggi in less than 2 years. In conference, Charlotte had to play 5 of the top 6 teams in the AAC. Poggi is credited with a conference record this year of 2-4 (but was not allowed to coach the last 2 games). Poggi did beat ECU, probably the most important game on our schedule. The last 2 games he was not allowed to coach were a far easier matchup and Iām confident he would have won both of these - perhaps by a blowout. 4-4 looks much better than 2-4 & only one game away from a bowl.
Out of conference matchups were also tough. UNC, Indiana, James Madison, and GW. Indiana #8 was much better than expected, and nationally ranked. UNC is always a tough out but we played them well in Chapel Hill. JMU went 4-0 OOC (beating UNC 70-50) and their overall record was 8-4 (2 of their losses were by only 2 points).
Apparently, Biff was not fired for performance. Talent was improving each year and I can only imagine how it would have trended next year. Also, Biff had financial access and influence that is hard to find. I would argue he was trending upward. His release appears to be due to something else, but what? Unless there was a āfor cause issueā you have to give Poggi one more year to show results. Perhaps we are not paying out the next several years if fired for cause?
This is only our 2nd year in a more competitive conference (AAC). Supposedly, of our CUSA team members, we were the last one in. However, we outperformed all of them except for a tie with UTSA and we played a much tougher conference schedule (5 of the top 6 teams). Only Army#22, Tulane (#17 when we played), Navy (#25 when we played), Memphis #25 (@ Memphis & end-of-game loss), and ECU (we beat them) finished ahead of us in conference.
9 of the 12 teams we played are bowl eligible.
This coaching change leads to the following:
- paying a ādismissed coachā for several additional years
- paying more for a āreplacementā head coach
- paying more for assistants - Biff subsidized staff by forfeiting some of his compensation
- most likely regressing next year due to a restart (regardless of portal)
- at least ECU, App, and UNC (on our schedule next year) would be starting over with new coaches - we would have been in a much better position next year & maybe for many to come
- Loss of some players due to coaching change
I do not envy the position of being the AD and certainly do not have access to all the information needed to make decisions. Regardless, they will aways be 2nd guessed. I too had hoped for a better season but cannot understand (unless Biff did something terribly wrong) why we would dismiss him this prematurely.
I still have confidence in our leadership but someone please explain.