Tim Albin: ‘Really good talent’ on Charlotte football roster

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte football coach Tim Albin aims to balance recruiting for his first 49ers team between experienced players in the transfer portal and high school athletes.

Tim Albin is just under two weeks into his time as Charlotte football coach and already leaving his footprint on the program.

Albin joined the Sports Charlotte podcast to discuss the past few weeks as well as a variety of other topics. Albin said he has enjoyed his time in Charlotte so far and has already been at work in the transfer portal as well as recruiting 49ers out of it.

“I think there is really good talent on [the current roster],” Albin said. “They are very passionate about Charlotte and this university. Really, it’s been refreshing for me. Going through this process before the portal era, you took over a team and you locked in on the incoming class and how all of that played out. Now, I’m having the same conversations I have with recruits, I am having with the team. I am expressing what my vision is and that vision will eventually become the standard here.”

Albin said he wants to build off good things that have happened at Charlotte but also what needs to be fixed and where he can help. He recognizes that with the current landscape of college football, teams will lose players every year, but that isn’t a deterrent to success.

Charlotte football, which is heading into its 13th year next season, has not had sustained success to leave its own imprint on the sport. Albin sees it as a positive.

“Our team won’t have expectations,” he said. “Let’s play fast and free. So, I think it can be spun as a positive. I haven’t really addressed some of these things with the team, but I’m sure when we get to spring ball, we’ll probably get to some of those things. Right now, the focus is the first 30 days and finishing up the staff. But I know one thing for sure is that our fan base is very passionate. That adds excitement and we can build off that.”
Albin acknowledged recruiting both high school talent and the portal will be crucial to turning Charlotte into a consistent winner. He said recruiting high school players to replace experienced college depth is problematic, especially on the offensive or defensive lines. So, his plan is to recruit high school talent but to make sure they’re recruiting the portal, too.

“We are in the trees and forest right now,” Albin said. “All I see are trees cause I’m in the middle of the forest with the portal. But once the dust settles and we get through that first week of January and we get the staff out in high schools I may have a better answer. We do want to recruit locally – [within] a tank of gas. That is huge to us. I am a firm believer in [being] developmental… We don’t want all high school and we don’t want all portal. There has to be a mixture. The most important thing is that the guys you bring into the locker room, they buy in and love Charlotte.”

Charlotte’s 2025 schedule opens with games against Appalachian State and North Carolina. Albin said he has even targeted a coach from App State’s staff to him at Charlotte. He also didn’t envision coaching against new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls in with the New England Patriots, but at the end of the day, he and Belichick don’t play the game.

“It is what it is,” Albin said. “We are going to respect them all and fear none. Neither I nor coach Belichick play the game. We get [the players] prepared and they go out and have a good time.”

Albin said by Monday there should be a clear picture of who will join Charlotte’s coaching staff.

“Certainly, by Monday afternoon,” he said. “I’ll get with (executive associate athletics director) Raegan Hill and we’ll get some things finalized. I’ve had some really good conversations and I’m excited. We’re going to have, I’m just going to say it, a dream team put together. That is what we are going to have. They are going to be leaders of men. We are all going to be on the same page. We want to build good men. We put enough good men in that locker room, wins will come. I’m not going to put a timetable on it. I’m going to stress patience, but we are going to have a group that are going to lead men.”

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