Biff Poggi clears the air prior to facing East Carolina

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte quarterback Max Brown, who has been sidelined since the second week of the season, is a gametime decision ahead of Saturday's game against East Carolina.

Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi wanted to clear the air before talking about East Carolina.

Defensive coordinator Ryan Osborn took offense to a fan’s reaction about a defensive play against Rice in last week's American Athletic Conference game. He made comments that were inappropriate, and Poggi wasn’t having it.

“Sunday morning it came to my attention after [the game] that coach Osborn had been in an inappropriate back and forth with a fan on Twitter,” Poggi said. “I met with coach Osborn. We had a very stern talk. That is completely unacceptable. He knows it. He issued an apology, and it will not happen again.”

Poggi went on to thank fans for their support, adding it’s what he told Osborn as well.

“What I said to him was this, ‘Go home tonight and thank God that we coach at a place where our fans care,’ because I’m not going to name any names, but we have been places, and I have been places where you play, and nobody cares. Our fans care. They show up. This program is 12 years old, and it hasn't had the wins our fans wanted, but they keep showing up, and it's three straight sellouts. I think Saturday’s supposed to be like standing room only tickets. There are schools who win a lot of games that would die for that. And I love the fact that when we win, they’re joyous, and when we lose, they take it as hard as we do.”

On the injury front, a key player is close to returning.  

“I got great news about [quarterback] Max Brown,” Poggi said. “I don’t want to get out over my skis and don’t want you to get out over your skis, but Max Brown is practicing this week, and he will be a gametime decision. He’s going to dress this week. He is going to warm up and if he is ready to go, he is playing. He has been throwing the football and working out. Today he did all of the warmups. He’s taking snaps, giving handoffs and he’s throwing the football now. We are always going to do what’s right for him and what’s right for the players.”

East Carolina (3-2, 1-0 AAC), which is coming off a 30-20 win against Texas-San Antonio in their conference opener, will present challenges for Charlotte (2-3, 1-0).

“ECU is really one of the outstanding programs in the state of North Carolina,” he said. “They’ve had some great players, and they have a great tradition, and last year, we were fortunate to beat them. And, I will say this about Mike Houston; He's a really good football coach. He has won 106 games and had a little bit of a down year last year, but he's a football man.”

ECU has two new coordinators this year which Poggi said is unusual. But Pirates quarterback Jake Garcia can do a lot to keep defenses guessing. The Pirates love to go up-tempo on offense and on defense show different looks in unexpected situations.

The Charlotte-ECU football rivalry is quickly becoming more recognizable statewide. The conflict has been evident in other sports for some time but residing in the same conference adds momentum to football as well.

“Both schools want to make it a rivalry in football,” Poggi said. “Which, it makes a lot of sense because we are in the same state and the same conference. But, I didn’t know the feelings were as strong as they are on both sides. When [the team] went there last year, a friend of mine asked me to go to his restaurant and grade his hot dog, which I did. And when I was walking out, a guy leaned over the top of the railing and said, ‘Hey Biff, blank blank blankety blank.’ I was like, ‘Geez.’ We had just got to town, so, yeah, it’s pretty intense.”

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