Head Coach Biff Poggi’s tenure with the Charlotte 49ers got off on the right foot last week after his team started the season 1-0 with a 24-3 victory over South Carolina State. The Baltimore native will look to keep the good times rolling in a homecoming of sorts when Charlotte travels to College Park to take on Maryland this Saturday.
Poggi, 63, is new to the head coaching ranks of college football, but his familiarity with the Terps, and the DMV in general, runs deep.
Poggi has previously and briefly held assistant coaching positions at the collegiate level at Brown, Temple, and The Citadel. He was most recently on the coaching staff at Michigan — analyst in 2016 and associate head coach in 2021-2022. But Poggi’s greatest coaching success to date came as a renowned high school head coach for Baltimore powerhouses Gilman School (1996-2015) and Saint Frances Academy (2017-2020).
Prior to a departure from Gilman in 2016 when he and the school couldn’t see eye to eye on the direction things were going, Poggi led the Greyhounds to 13 conference titles and an overall record of 135-43.
After establishing a track record of dominance at Gillman, Poggi took the same blueprint to nearby St. Frances Academy, where he lifted the Panthers to national prominence. But Poggi’s aggressive recruiting style and success at getting his recruits to St. Frances by any means necessary led to him being alienated by other local coaches — even to the extent that the Panthers’ biggest conference rivals refused to play them, accusing St. Frances of recruiting violations that led to an influx of out-of-state, blue-chip talent.
Poggi fought back and was eventually granted special consideration by the MIAA Conference, which allowed St. Frances to play football as an independent, free of conference regulations while other St. Frances sports remained in the conference. An arrangement that’s still in place today.
While at St. Frances, Poggi led the Panthers to a 26-game winning streak and reached as high as No. 2 in the national ranking. His record at St. Frances was 34-1.
Poggi’s time coaching high school was successful but controversial. A longstanding relationship with Jim Harbaugh led to numerous roles over two stints on the Michigan staff. Poggi is largely credited for having a key role in a talent shift in Ann Arbor during his time there.
“Biff is responsible for a large amount of the Michigan Culture turnaround as of late,” former Michigan punter Brad Robbins said in an interview with Outkick.com. “More than anyone knows. Impacted everyone around him and worked behind the scenes.”
Poggi was hired last November to be the next head coach at Charlotte after a 2-9 season by the 49ers. Well-respected in coaching circles, Poggi not only has the backing of Harbaugh, but he also received a ringing endorsement from Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban after being hired by Charlotte.
“Congratulations to Mike Hill and the Charlotte 49ers for a great hire,” Saban said in a statement. “Biff Poggi will generate excitement and success for the program. The players will love playing for him and the coaches will love working with him. Get ready to win!”
Maryland fans will hope Charlotte isn’t “ready to win” in Week 2. But the Terps will likely get a 49ers team that is fired up and ready to make a statement for their Conference USA program and their new head coach.
The Terps need to be ready for a gritty game, at least early, and handle their business on Saturday. Poggi’s M.O. is to run the ball on offense and that’s exactly what he’ll look to do with his most explosive offensive weapon, Durrell Robinson. The freshman running back had 71 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown in Charlotte’s Week 1 win. He and dual-threat quarterback Jalon Jones will look to gash Maryland on the ground.
If the Terps can stop the run, Charlotte will be hard-pressed to find answers in College Park. But if you let a motivated team start running on you, their confidence can skyrocket, so Mike Locksley will surely have his team prepared as well.
Whoever will prevail on Saturday remains to be seen — although the Terps are a pretty safe bet. But one thing is for certain: Poggi will be donning his signature sleeveless shirt on the sidelines.
Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi 👑 pic.twitter.com/V5mG5qqBQZ
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) September 3, 2023
Terps Analyst
Pat has been covering sports in the DMV area since 2012. He is a former Washington Redskins beat reporter for PressBoxDC.com and has been covering University of Maryland football and basketball recruiting and daily beats for Rivals.com’s Terrapin Sports Report since 2013. Pat graduated from College Park with his master’s degree in journalism and has received bylines in publications such as USA TODAY Sports, The Philadelphia Inquirer, SB Nation, and Yahoo! Sports. A Philadelphia native, Pat enjoys fishing, golfing, and playing fantasy sports when he’s not covering or watching a game.