Biff Poggi has an unconventional playbook
Plus: Critics pan new ‘Tammy Faye’ Broadway musical; Marathon sets records; Camp North End developer reveals towing scam; LaMelo Ball fined for 'derogatory comment'; Davidson's Rhodes Scholar
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UNC Charlotte’s football coach is working to build his players into good men. Can that approach also deliver wins?
Charlotte 49ers football coach Biff Poggi talks to his players before his team’s 38-20 loss to the UNC Tar Heels in Chapel Hill in September. (Tyler Northrup/The Assembly)
Editor’s note: Last week, the statewide digital magazine The Assembly published a comprehensive profile of UNC Charlotte’s football coach, Biff Poggi. Today, The Ledger is excerpting a portion of the article. You can read the full article — entitled “The college football coach who’s trying to love his team to victory” — on The Assembly’s website.
By Carroll Walton
The Assembly
Biff Poggi’s freshman quarterback was finding new ways to be bad.
On the night of Sept. 14, in a better-win-it kind of game against Gardner-Webb University, Deshawn Purdie’s performance would have tested the patience of any coach, much less one with just as much to prove.
Yet Poggi — the 64-year-old Charlotte 49ers coach known mostly for his high school coaching career, a propensity for wearing cutoff T-shirts, and the money he’s made as a hedge fund manager — never flinched.
When Purdie got sacked and fumbled, Poggi paced. Another sack, another fumble? Poggi walked some more.
Poggi’s gasket never blew.
The only obvious exchange between the two on a crowded 49ers sideline came after an injury put a merciful end to Purdie’s night late in the third quarter. Poggi sat down next to him on the bench.
Then Purdie put his arm around Poggi’s shoulders and leaned in to say something.
“I’m so sorry, Coach,” Purdie said, according to Poggi.
“For what?” Poggi recalled saying. “For being a complete warrior and a stud that we could start you as a freshman? And this game isn’t over.”
This is Poggi’s second season in Charlotte after a distinguished and sometimes controversial high school coaching career in Baltimore that attracted national attention. He was a leading character in the best-selling book “Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey to Manhood,” which is about one of his 19 seasons at the elite, all-boys Gilman School, where he won more football games than any coach in school history.
He also was featured in an HBO documentary after he moved to St. Frances Academy and built the predominantly Black Catholic high school in a rough area of Baltimore into a national power.
Following two stints as an assistant at the University of Michigan, Poggi landed in late 2022 at Charlotte, which had restarted its football program only a decade earlier.
The 49ers have won 45 games and lost 90. Poggi’s first Charlotte team went 3-9, and this year’s team is 3-7 with two games remaining.
“He’s one of the most interesting characters in college football, for sure, which has brought decent media attention to UNC Charlotte,” said Daniel Brackett, a 2022 alum who attended the game against Gardner-Webb. “But at the end of the day, it’s a winning game. And if you don’t win, then you’re done.”
To his players then and now, Poggi comes off as both hard-nosed and empathetic. He grew up the son of Italian immigrants in a part of Baltimore known as “Little Italy.”
His father was a pharmacist in a low-income area and had a reputation for extending lines of credit when customers fell on hard times. Poggi once said he was kicked out of school eight times by his junior year in high school for fighting, cutting class, and other bad behavior.
“Without God using the game [of football] in my life, I would be in prison or dead,” he said in the HBO documentary “The Cost of Winning.” …
As coach at St. Frances, Poggi funded dozens of scholarships for players, salaries for teachers, and room and board for as many as 40 players he recruited from out of town or in need of safer living arrangements. Within a year, he had turned its football program into a national powerhouse. But local teams, who had been trounced by St. Frances, refused to play them over “safety” concerns; some suspected race was a factor.
The controversy put Poggi in the national spotlight.
“Sounds like he’s got the best team money can buy to inflate his ego,” read one tweet, which was shared on the HBO documentary. Another tweet compared Poggi to a “slave owner of black athletes.”
One word that seems to follow Poggi is “polarizing.” It’s a description that perplexes Jeffrey Marx, author of the 2003 book that chronicled a season with Poggi and the Gilman Greyhounds.
“If you tell me there’s someone who doesn’t like Biff Poggi, then I’ll tell you that’s someone who doesn’t know Biff Poggi,” Marx said. “He enjoys winning, but he enjoys impacting lives a whole lot more than winning. There are some people who love that and celebrate him for that, and there are others who might have different opinions about Biff.” …
Poggi made his first big waves as coach at Charlotte at a preseason media event last year after he went viral for criticizing the assembled media for projecting his team to finish last in its first year in the conference. His mood turned sour after he was asked only three questions.
“That’s it? Three questions?” he said. “Maybe that’s because you have us ranked last. That’s all what you think of us. So we get that message. Thank you.” He pounded the dais a couple of times for emphasis.
The media forecast was not far off. Charlotte lost six of eight conference games last year and finished in next-to-last place. If nothing else, though, the man commands attention. The Charlotte 49ers need an identity. Poggi is brimming with it.
Carroll Walton is a freelance writer based in Charlotte. She was a longtime baseball writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and co-author of “Ballplayer,” a biography of former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.
➡️ Read the full article on Biff Poggi in The Assembly, a statewide digital magazine that publishes deep reporting on power and place in North Carolina.
Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
Critics pan new ‘Tammy Faye’ Broadway musical: ‘god awful,’ ‘as messy as Tammy’s mascara,’ ‘disaster of biblical proportions’
The Broadway musical “Tammy Faye,” based on the life of the late televangelist and Charlottean Tammy Faye Messner, opened Thursday night at the Palace Theater in Manhattan. The critics were not complimentary.
Music legend Elton John wrote the score for the show, which is a retrospective look at Tammy Faye and her husband Jim Bakker’s sex-and-money scandal that brought their PTL ministry (which was based in Fort Mill, S.C.) crashing down.
The show premiered in London in 2022 and had an award-winning run there. Last month, the New York Times included “Tammy Faye” in a list of “the 28 new Broadway and off-Broadway shows to see this fall.”
The Times review Friday was less positive. New York Times critic Elisabeth Vincentelli wrote that “narratively and emotionally, ‘Tammy Faye’ is always on shaky ground because it can’t decide if it’s a satire of televangelism and power-hungry faith salesmen, the tale of the rise of politicized religion, or the earnest feminist journey of an independent-minded woman. By trying to hit so many notes, none of them resonate.”
Its headline: “Review: Tammye Faye Was Over-the-Top. This Musical Makes Her Small.”
Other reviews also trashed the musical:
New York Post critic Johnny Oleksinski called the show a “god-awful musical” and “amateurish with lots of dead air and little focus” with a review headlined: “Tammy Faye review: Elton John’s Broadway show is a disaster of biblical proportions.”
Entertainment Weekly gave “Tammy Faye” a C, calling it “a shame, then, that the musical adaptation of [Messner’s] life sacrifices both the time and space to properly explore her many trials and tribulations in favor of over-the-top gags and bright, flashing lights.” The headline read: “Tammy Faye review: Elton John tunes can’t save this middling musical.”
Variety called the musical “as messy as Tammy’s mascara.” Its reviewer stated that “In yet another show this season that ends in the afterlife, Tammy finally comes to terms with her all-too-mortal sins and sees the light of a presumably forgiving God. Audiences may not be so charitably inclined.” Variety’s headline read: “Tammy Faye Review: With Forgettable Elton John Score, Televangelist Broadway Musical Doesn’t Find the Light.”
Deadline called the musical “only slightly more fun than church on a hot July day,” with “a plot as thin as the paper of a Bible page.” Its headline: “Tammye Faye review: Unanswered Prayers”
Broadway shows sometimes close sooner than planned if they get bad reviews and low ticket sales. Time will tell if audiences will have faith in “Tammy Faye.” —Cristina Bolling
Related Ledger article:
“The new PTL movie captures the Tammy Faye I knew” (Sept. 17, 2021)
A record-setting marathon
More than 9,000 runners laced up for the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon on Saturday, which was the first time all slots were full for the marathon, half marathon, relay, rucking division and 5K events. There were runners from all 50 states and 19 countries, and there were two marriage proposals at the finish line. (Word is that both said yes.) The men’s winner was Adam Jones of Winston-Salem, who finished at 2:26:50, and the women’s winner was Jessica Barkley from West End, N.C., who finished at 3:01:41. (Photo courtesy of Novant Health Charlotte Marathon)
Camp North End developer: A ‘random’ towing company forged an agreement and towed cars without permission — and CMPD won’t do anything
The developer of Camp North End says a towing company with which it had no business relationship installed eight signs without permission and towed vehicles from the site — and that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police declined to look into the matter.
In a post on LinkedIn on Friday, Damon Hemmerdinger, the co-president of ATCO Properties, wrote that the caper started when a “random person” walked into the company’s office and asked to be its towing vendor. The company already has a towing vendor, but an employee provided contact information by writing his name and phone number on a piece of scrap paper and handing it to the person.
Then, in the middle of the night, Hemmerdinger wrote, eight towing signs went up without permission around Camp North End.
The following night, two vehicles belonging to vendors of Camp North End tenants were towed, and the towing company “presents the vehicle owners with a bill for $5,000 to get their cars back.”
Hemmerdinger continues:
Our tenant calls us to complain. We call the number on the bill to complain. Perp shows us a one page “agreement” giving him permission to tow cars. He has scanned the scrap paper and placed my teammate’s name and number at the bottom of the “agreement.”
After Camp North End’s lawyer called the towing company, it released the cars without receiving payment — though the car owners didn’t have their vehicles for two days, he wrote.
“And here’s the kicker: The Charlotte police dept says this is a civil matter and will not even accept a police report,” Hemmerdinger wrote. He listed grand larceny, forgery and trespassing as potential crimes. “Certainly seems like the kind of thing the City and police should try to stop from happening.”
Reached by The Ledger this weekend, Hemmerdinger declined to discuss the incident and said in an email that he prefers to “just leave this to what I’ve already shared.” His post did not identify the towing company.
Camp North End is a 76-acre redevelopment of industrial space on North Graham Street, with a mix of offices, restaurants, retailers and soon-to-be-available apartments.
Police are generally reluctant to get involved in what they consider to be contractual disputes or financial disagreements. —Tony Mecia
You might be interested in these Charlotte events: Panel on economic development, Artist talk
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
WEDNESDAY: South Charlotte Partners Breakfast Club October Program: Driving Growth – Economic Development in South Charlotte, 8-9:30 a.m., Hestia Rooftop, 14819 Ballantyne Village Way, 16th floor. Speakers including Tracy Dodson, Assistant City Manager and Director of Economic Development, City of Charlotte; John Barton, President of Northwood Office; Ron Pappas, Owner of New Leaf Development and Former Mayor of Waxhaw and Chris Thomas, Partner, Retail Childress Klein will discuss current economic development efforts, recent successful projects and the future economic landscape of South Charlotte. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door. Tickets here.
THURSDAY: “Women of Land and Smoke” Artist Talk, 7:15-8:15 p.m., Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road. Artist Maya Goded joins Jen Sudul Edwards, Ph.D., chief curator and curator of contemporary art at The Mint Museum, to discuss works in the exhibition. Free.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
First tenant for 110 East: The new office tower 110 East near the corner of East and South boulevards in South End has signed its first tenant: Patterson Pope, a Charlotte firm that supplies shelving, cabinets and lockers to companies, will take nearly 6,600 s.f. in the 24-story, 370,000 s.f. building. The tower was completed in March. (Biz Journal, subscriber-only)
N.C. House to elect new speaker: The N.C. House is expected to elect the youngest house speaker in the modern era on Tuesday: Republican Destin Hall, 37, a lawyer from Lenoir. He’ll replace Republican Tim Moore of Kings Mountain, who was elected to Congress this month. (Axios Raleigh)
Weddington home explosion: An explosion at a house near Weddington sent two people to the hospital on Sunday morning, including one who was in critical condition at a burn center. (WSOC)
Housing for teachers: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hopes to build a $30M “educator community” with about 100 lower-cost rental housing units for teachers. (WFAE)
Spirit files for Chapter 11: Spirit Airlines, which flies nonstop to 11 cities from Charlotte, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Its operations will continue as normal as it restructures its finances. (Spirit Airlines)
Myers Park dogknapping: A Myers Park family is hoping for the safe return of their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named “Pee Dee” after they say they spotted a silver SUV driving off with the pet on Thursday. The dog had escaped to the front yard, and a home surveillance camera captured the apparent theft. (WBTV)
LaMelo fined for ‘derogatory comment’: The NBA fined Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball $100,000 on Sunday for what it called “an offensive and derogatory comment” he made in a post-game interview on Saturday. The New York Post reported that Ball was asked about how the Hornets defended a play at the end of the game: “‘We loaded up,’ Ball said, before adding ‘no homo’ while lowering his voice,” the publication reported. Wikipedia says the term “is a slang phrase used at the end of a sentence to assert the statement or action by the speaker had no intentional homosexual implications.” Ball said Sunday: “I really didn’t mean anything (by it) and don’t want to offend anybody. I’ve got love for everybody.”
Rhodes Scholar for Davidson: A Davidson College senior from Brevard who is a professional bluegrass fiddler won one of 32 prestigious Rhodes Scholarships on Saturday. Madeline Dierauf plans to pursue master’s degrees at Oxford and to explore the question: “How can we bridge divides and cultivate connections with each other despite our differences?” the college said. She has also played at Merlefest and hiked the entire 2,200 miles of the Appalachian trail. (Davidson College news release)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman
Hey y’all, great stuff but Tammy Faye was not a Charlottean.