Charlotte FC announced the hiring of their new head coach last week, and while the name may sound very familiar to North Carolinians, this Dean Smith has more experience kicking a ball than shooting one.
“I’m honored to be appointed as the next head coach of Charlotte FC and cannot wait to start preparations for the 2024 season,” Smith said in a press release. “Throughout the interview process, it was clear that this is an ambitious club with the right ingredients for success and I’m delighted to begin a new chapter in Charlotte.”
Charlotte fired head coach Christian Lattanzio after just 18 months with the club despite having led it to the MLS playoffs for the first time in team history this season.
The Crown had a 10-11-13 record this year before losing 5-2 to the New York Red Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.
Smith will already be the third coach for Charlotte FC since it joined MLS in 2022, adding to the chaos that has become the hallmark of owner David Tepper’s management style. The NFL’s Carolina Panthers, the other pro sports team he owns in Charlotte, is also searching for its third coach since 2022.
“We’re excited to welcome Dean and his family to Charlotte to become the next head coach of Charlotte FC,” Tepper said in a press release. “We’re confident his leadership and experience will help elevate our Club beyond its first playoff appearance into a championship team.”
Smith has extensive managerial experience in both the English Football League Championship and the English Premier League, having coached Brentford, Aston Villa, Norwich City and Leicester City since 2015.
“I just feel like the standard of the league, the MLS, is getting better and better,” Smith said. “I think this is a new club that’s interesting, exciting and I think it’s going to be a great challenge for me. Yes, there were teams knocking on the door and looking to secure my services, but I thought this was going to be the greater challenge for myself and one that really excited myself and my family.
“I think I’ve got to learn fast, and that’s one of the things that excites me. I like to be pushed and prodded, so I’m going to have to learn fast myself, and I’m looking forward to that. The biggest thing is making sure that we’re set and ready for the first day that the players turn up and they have clarity on what we want from them and what we want them to do. I think when we do that, there’ll be some hard work and culture in the preseason, and we’ll go into the regular season full of optimism.”
When describing his philosophy, Smith stated that he wants to employ an aggressive style.
“I want to play attacking football,” Smith said. “I want to play in the opposition half. I want to, when we lose it, win the ball back quickly. That’s how I like my teams to play. Again, football hasn’t changed. You’ve either got the ball or you haven’t got the ball, and there’s ways you win the ball back and ways how you look to score, but my big thing is when we win the ball back, we’re looking to score straight away.”
Smith also stated that while he may not make any big changes to the club immediately, he will aim to transform it over his tenure.
“You have to look at what you have within a squad to mold your team into your style,” Smith said. “What’s really important for any club when you’re building is to profile the players that you want to fit your style of play. When you first go into a club, you have to look at what’s there and you have to adapt. I think that’s key to being a good coach. When you first go in, you have to survive and be adaptable because you got to have a look at what staff you’ve got and then you slowly mold your style to your philosophy.”
And while Smith is a UK native, he still has ties to the Carolinas.
“We’ve been coming to the Carolinas over the last six years,” Smith said. “My son moved over here to study six years ago. He went to a small college in South Carolina first called Limestone and then he went to NC State in Raleigh. We bought a vacation home in Myrtle Beach a couple of years ago, so we’re well versed in the Carolinas and really looking forward to being here.”
