A son's leap of faith changed Charlotte FC
A decision by Jamie Smith, son of coach Dean Smith, to come to U.S. to play soccer at Limestone College in Gaffney changed the course of an MLS franchise; plus new defender acquired, Bender waived
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A decision that left Jamie Smith’s mother sobbing eventually helped Charlotte FC land his father, Dean Smith, who has catapulted the team to first place in Eastern Conference
Dean Smith (left) pictured with his wife, Nicola, and their son, Jamie Smith. (Photo by Brittany Hildreth of the Greenville Triumph, courtesy of Jamie Smith.)
Three years and three months into its existence, Charlotte FC sits atop the Eastern Conference standings. Ever stop to think about how this team got here? The simple answer is coach Dean Smith, he of the English Premier League pedigree, who has coached the likes of Brentford, Aston Villa, Norwich and Leicester City. As for how he ended up here? That’s another easy one: Jamie Smith.
To understand how the Englishman, who counts Sir Alex Ferguson as a mentor, could find his way to the heart of the Carolinas, you have to understand the crossroads faced first by his son, Jamie, in 2017.
Jamie had been released after playing for six years in Walsall’s Academy. Walsall is the English club that gave Dean his start in coaching. It was also the club he left to take a promotion to the English Championship with Brentford.
“I think they weren’t happy that I’d left, so Jamie caught the flak,” Dean said.
Jamie signed with Sutton United, a semi-pro team in the fifth level of English football, and played one game before being loaned to Hendon FC, two levels lower. By the end of that season, at 18 years old, he was “falling out of love with soccer,” Jamie said, while living under his father’s watchful eye.
“I’d come home and I’ve done a full day’s training since 7 o’clock, got home at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, he was still on his PlayStation,” Smith said. “I was like, ‘Whoa,’ as every parent does. ‘What are we doing here?’ That’s not going to get you a job.”
Dean Smith, known for his candor with officials, media and players alike, laid out three options for Jamie: 1) quit soccer, which he didn’t believe Jamie wanted, 2) catch on with a club in Europe or 3) go to America.
“[Going to America] would be my choice for you,” he recalls telling his son. “Because you’re going to get an education at the end of it. I think you’ll be in the top 5% of the college players when you go over there. And the third thing, don’t tell your mom this: The girls will love your accent.”
It was May. Big U.S. colleges had already offered their soccer scholarships for the upcoming season. Jamie reached out to Walsall’s academic advisor, also a family friend, for possibilities and got an e-mail back about a small liberal arts school in Gaffney, S.C., called Limestone. It was a Division II program with only partial scholarships to offer, but it had a British assistant coach on staff named Tom Morris.
Jamie and his dad met Morris for coffee at a highway convenience stop. He gave them a pamphlet.
“We decided that America was a better option,” Jamie said. “Even though my mom wasn’t too happy, we knew it was best for me.”
Dean Smith said they had a family barbecue at Brentford the day Jamie left home.
“Nicola never forgives me for it because her son was leaving to go to America, and she cried rivers of tears,” Smith said. “Bless her. He wouldn’t let my wife take him to the airport. I had to take him. He knew how she would be.”
Jamie Smith pictured after a Greenville Triumph game at the Charlotte Independence with his dad’s mother Hilary Smith, his sister Katie, his mother Nicola and father Dean. (Photo by Kevin Garcia of Greenville Triumph, courtesy of Jamie Smith.)
Smith had never set foot on the Limestone campus and knew nothing of playing in the humidity. His family had taken holiday visits to see cousins in New Jersey and Las Vegas, but not the South.
“I always say ‘Thank God for Facetime,’ especially in those first couple of years,” Smith said. “I’ve watched all these movies before about college, and I end up at a small college in Gaffney, South Carolina. I think the closest thing was a Food Lion down the road, so it was a really big culture shock.”
He took comfort in being around international teammates, including many from the U.K. and Europe, not to mention being out of his father’s shadow.
“Coming over here allowed me to be myself and not have anyone talk about my dad,” he said. “It helped me come out of my shell a little bit and build a career.”
After two seasons at Limestone, he got a scholarship offer from N.C. State. Smith started for three seasons with the Wolfpack. During the summers, he’d stay in shape playing for semi-pro Asheville City SC, where he met his soccer-playing girlfriend, Molly Dwyer, an American from Knoxville, Tenn.
While his dad couldn’t often see his college games in person — Dean managed at Aston Villa and Norwich City during those years — he would go to Asheville games in the summer.
Just before the Covid season in 2021, when Jamie was trying to decide whether to return to N.C. State as a graduate student or sign professionally, his father reached out to Steve Walsh, an English coach and scout living in America whom he knew through his longtime assistant coach Craig Shakespeare. It just so happened Walsh was working as a consultant for Zoran Krneta as he built the foundation for Charlotte FC. Jamie met up with Krneta and then director of player personnel Bobby Belair.
They would meet up again the following summer, in 2022, when Jamie was playing his first season with the Greenville Triumph of USL League One, the third division of U.S. pro soccer behind MLS and USL Championship.
Jamie’s parents were visiting him in Greenville during their summer vacation. They were then heading through Charlotte to catch a flight to see friends in Bermuda when Dean realized the new expansion Charlotte FC club had a game that day, June 11. He phoned Krneta. The Smiths were invited to watch the game from Krneta’s suite. Little did anybody know, as Charlotte beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 in Christian Lattanzio’s first game after replacing Miguel Angel Ramirez as interim coach, Krneta would hire Smith to replace Lattanzio at the end of the 2023 season.
“When he first told me Charlotte had approached him, I said, ‘Yeah, why not?’” Jamie said. “You’re not far from me. Come on.”
Dean said he wasn’t fully convinced until he saw Charlotte FC’s new practice facility, which was a good indicator of how invested owner David Tepper was in this new MLS franchise. Unlike his son, Dean actually set foot on the property before making his jump to the U.S.
As for who between the two of them made the bigger leap of faith?
“Definitely Jamie,” Dean said. “And I can’t see him going back now as well. I think he’s here for life. He’s got a lovely fiancée, and they’ve got the dog, and they’re planning a bright future. He’s adapted to the culture and the American lifestyle, and he really enjoys it here.”
Jamie Smith, who signed with Crown Legacy, has spent some time training with Charlotte FC’s first team. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
After three years in Greenville, Jamie signed this season with Charlotte’s MLS Next Pro Crown Legacy FC to serve as a player-coach. He plays center back, like his father did, with an eye toward following his father into coaching.
It’s a lot easier for father and son to see each other’s games these days, though they still keep their pre-game tradition of Facetiming during warmups. They give a virtual fist bump at the end and exchange “good luck”s.
Jamie has been living under his dad’s roof again, this time in Smith’s SouthPark apartment. While Nicola has been back and forth to England, helping care for aging parents and Jamie’s sister Katie with a job search, Jamie and his dad have shared rounds of golf, dog-walking duties, salmon dinners and jumping up and down on the couch cheering for their hometown Aston Villa.
Jamie is moving into a new place with Molly later this month while they plan their September wedding.
“He’ll probably miss the dog more than me,” Jamie said of the Labrador Retriever and Staffordshire Bull Terrier he named “Ronnie” for Dean’s late father.
Dean agreed to walk the dog Thursday so Jamie could go to the airport to pick up Nicola.
“She’s just left Katie,” Dean said. “There will be rivers of tears [as she leaves] Birmingham.”
Smith, who was just named MLS Coach of the Week, has signed a contract extension to remain in Charlotte through 2027. If you ask Jamie, he doesn’t see his dad going back to the Premier League, at least not anytime soon.
“You can never say never,” Dean Smith said. “[But] we’ve got something that I really enjoy here, to be honest.”
The Smith family, from L to R: Jamie, Dean, Nicola and Katie. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
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Charlotte acquires defender, parts with fan favorite Bender
Charlotte FC was already thin at outside back before injuries to right back Nathan Byrne and a recent addition at left back, Souleyman Doubmia, made it downright dire. While Charlotte got a yeoman’s effort from Nick Scardina in his MLS starting debut against San Diego, the club brought in a needed reinforcement in Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty on loan from Montreal.
The 20-year-old Canadian youth international player was acquired on loan for the remainder of the season in exchange for $100,000 in general allocation money. He can play either left or right back and despite being just 20 brings the experience of playing 88 MLS games. He joined the team for training Thursday but is not yet eligible to play, pending his visa.
Bender departs: The acquisition came at a cost. Midfielder Ben Bender Charlotte’s first ever top pick in the MLS SuperDraft was waived to make room for Marshall-Rutty on the roster in what Krneta called a “difficult decision.”
Bender, 24, appeared in 51 games, with seven goals and eight assists, primarily during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He suffered a knee injury late in September of 2023 and underwent surgery for a meniscus root tear that October. He has struggled to get minutes since his return and hadn’t appeared in a game since last July 27 in Leagues Cup play against Philadelphia.
“Consistent minutes are crucial to development as a young player, so we believe this move is in the best interest of both parties,” Krneta said in a release. “…We are thankful for all his contributions to the club over the past four years.”
Byrne decision: Bryne missed the San Diego game due to pain from a bulging disc in his neck. The 32-year-old is facing the prospect of undergoing disc replacement surgery and missing at least six weeks. He’s seeking a second opinion.
“The biggest thing [we will miss] is his experience,” Smith said. “He’s a very good 1-v-1 defender. Defensively, he’s made us stronger over the last year, so we’ll miss that. But it also gives somebody else an opportunity now to fill his boots, and now Nick Scardina has got that opportunity.”
Doumbia suffered what Smith called a significant hamstring strain Saturday and will be out for a “number of weeks.” Charlotte just signed him six weeks ago to give Smith flexibility at left back, where he’d been playing Tim Ream, a natural center back, alongside the center back duo of Adilson Malanda and Andrew Privett. Ream took a blow two weeks ago in Montreal that sent him to the hospital briefly over concerns of a lung injury, but he returned off the bench Saturday when Douleyman went down. Ream is available to start again at left back.
Quotable: Privett’s first MLS goal
Defender Andrew Privett on scoring his first MLS goal last Saturday on a free kick from Ashley Westwood with a glancing blow off the side of his head:
I didn’t see it go in the back of the net. I just heard the crowd and I’m like “Oh, I think I scored” because my ear was on fire, ringing from the smack on the side of the head.
Notable: ‘23 draft class shines, changes to tailgate lot
◼️ 2023 SuperDraft: All four of Charlotte FC’s picks from the 2023 MLS SuperDraft were on the field Saturday for Charlotte’s win over San Diego: Patrick Agyemang (1st round) and Andrew Privett (3rd round), both of whom scored; Nick Scardina (2nd round), who played 68 minutes at right back before cramping; and Hamady Diop (1st round), the defender San Diego claimed from Charlotte FC in the December expansion draft.
“We talked about it pre-game, saying ‘This is crazy, how this draft class from ’23 is doing,’” Agyemang said. “It’s great to see. I think it’s a testament to how committed we are to the game and our development. Now we just hope we continue flying.”
◼️ Changes to tailgate lot: The Charlotte Business Journal reported this week Tepper Sports & Entertainment is selling a 4.6-acre area tract near Bank of America Stadium — bound by West Morehead Street, McNinch Street, Wesley Heights Greenway and Irwin Creek — to Duke Energy to accommodate a new power substation.
CBJ reported that the site is currently used for media, employee and vendor parking and will not affect the tailgate lot used by Charlotte FC supporters’ groups. The tailgating area had already been reduced in size heading into this season and was also paved, both of which have been met with positive feedback from fans.
“I was skeptical at first, but it’s proven to work really well,” said Matt Chantry, board member of supporters’ group Mint City Collective. “The last lot was too large and not as communal as it should have been. The new layout is much better.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (6-2-1) vs New England Revolution (3-4-1)
When/Where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.
Notable:
Charlotte FC has the best home record in MLS and enters the game in first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in club history.
Charlotte FC is riding an eight-game winning streak at Bank of America Stadium, including a perfect 5-0-0 start at home this season. Charlotte has not lost (or tied) a regular season game at home since a 1-0 loss to Atlanta United on Aug. 31. Charlotte won its only home playoff game last year on penalty kicks in Game 2 of a three-game series loss to Orlando.
With a win Saturday, Charlotte would become ninth MLS team in the post-shootout era [1996-99] to win at least nine consecutive home matches and the first since 2023 Cincinnati, which went on to win the regular season after winning its first 10 home matches. The record is 12 straight held by the 2001 San Jose Earthquakes.
This is Charlotte’s last home game before hitting a stretch of three straight on the road (four if you include a May 6 game in Cary vs. North Carolina FC in U.S. Open Cup play).
Pep Biel added to his Major League assist total with his sixth Saturday vs. San Diego, all of which have come to different teammates. He now has nine goal contributions (3 goals + 6 assists) in nine games for Charlotte FC.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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Such a good article!