Charlotte FC is building bonds under its new coach
Dean Smith orchestrates off-field competition to galvanize new players and staff as Charlotte FC prepares for opener; Plus: Charlotte pursues Uruguayan star, Bronico to miss opener, and jersey reveal
Soccer season is back, and it’s time for Fútbol Friday, The Charlotte Ledger’s weekly newsletter getting you up to speed on Charlotte FC, the city’s new pro soccer team.
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With the season about to start, the team’s new coach has ramped up the team-building: breaststroke races, foot golf, hotel scavenger hunt
Charlotte FC players and staff have spent four weeks getting to know new coach Dean Smith, and vice versa. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
With a week and a day to go before the season starts Feb. 24, Charlotte FC is still working on building its roster — more on that momentarily. As for team-building? They’ve got that down.
During the second week of the preseason in Miami, new coach Dean Smith divided Charlotte’s entire traveling party — players, coaches and staff — into four teams and challenged them to a series of off-the-field competitions. More than 50 players, coaches, trainers, administrators and equipment staff competed in foot golf, a scavenger hunt, a blindfolded obstacle course, a swim race and trivia night.
Smith did all the planning and execution himself, right down to designing the replica St. Andrews’ Road Hole in foot golf, dropping the last-minute breaststroke requirement into the swimming competition and writing trivia questions like the one about the flattest state in the U.S. (Who had Florida?!) The Englishman also couldn’t resist slipping some Cockney rhyming slang into the “orienteering” competition by using “apples and pears” as a clue to direct contestants to the hotel “stairs.”
Rookie center back Joao Pedro laments a missed “putt” in foot golf. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
In the blindfolded obstacle course, participants had to rely on a teammate who could talk but couldn’t touch them, to accomplish tasks like crawling under a table, pouring a glass of water and carrying a grape on a spoon.
The winning team got dinner out with Smith and general manager Zoran Krneta when the team traveled to California for the second leg of the preseason. The losing team had to perform a skit in front of everyone.
The result? Players like Patrick Agyemang and Adilson Malanda were among those treated to steak and short ribs at the Cliffhouse restaurant in Indio, Calif. Goalkeeper George Marks and rookie Joao Pedro were among those decked out in white T-shirts and matching bandanas singing “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys in a hotel conference room. Team administrator Spencer Regier apparently stole the show when he busted out a Sir Minty-worthy soccer ball costume for the occasion.
The other result? Charlotte FC has been unscored upon in two preseason wins at the Coachella Valley Invitational so far. Charlotte beat the L.A. Galaxy 3-0 and the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0, despite having a roster depleted by the departures of star players Karol Swiderski and Kamil Jozwiak. Granted, they’re just preseason scrimmages, but the team’s new sense of closeness is almost palpable.
When Charlotte FC’s social media content team posted video of midfielder Scott Arfield pulling out an acoustic guitar after a team meal and singing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” his teammates didn’t look uncomfortable; they joined in.
“The cool thing about it for me, and I think this is the general vibe around the team as well, is that it’s a very relaxed atmosphere around the team,” said communications coordinator Will Martin, who was one of the “Backstreet Boys.” “It’s serious where it needs to be serious, and I think Dean has no problem having tough, hard conversations with people. But when you’re at a team dinner or just hanging around the hotel, there’s a culture where Dean and everyone else are are all very much on the same playing field. It doesn’t feel hierarchical … I think Dean has really fostered a culture where everyone that's here is treated the same.”
That is by design. Not only did Smith bring an English Premier League pedigree to Charlotte’s coaching staff but also a humility he honed growing up a fan of Aston Villa. Smith’s father, Ron, used to be a steward at Villa Park, while on breaks from his day job at a tool-making factory. While his dad was ushering fans to their seats, Dean, his brother and their buddies earned free tickets to the game by wiping off sections of seats before the stadium opened.
“I just felt it was really important while I was getting to know the players (to make a point of) also getting to know the staff as well,” Smith said. “I think they need to know that they feel valued as well as the players….
“As I said, right from the start, I've got to earn the respect from people and they need to know that I'm authentic, and I care about them as much as anybody,” Smith said. “So it was important for me to put that time and effort in. I’ve always said I wanted to be a coach who I would have wanted to be coached by. You're judged how you live every day. And I think the more people will see me, the more they'll get to know me.”
Smith’s new direction came at a good time for a team facing a return to the scene of last year’s preseason tragedy in Miami, where center back Anton Walkes was killed in a jet ski accident during an off day from training. While the team honored the anniversary of Walkes’ death on Jan. 19, they were also able to build fresh memories in Miami while fostering a new sense of togetherness.
Ultimately, Smith is banking that will follow them onto the field.
“It shows the importance of teamwork, and that's one of the biggest things that we need this season,” he said. “We need to be together. The aim was to bring togetherness to the group with different people who you don't normally work with. And yes, I believe you can then take that out onto the pitch together.”
Players and staff celebrating their “foot golf” win on their way to winning the entire team-building competition. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
Roster watch: Charlotte FC pursing Uruguayan winger
The Ledger has confirmed multiple reports that Charlotte FC is in advanced negotiations to sign Luciano Rodriguez, a 20-year-old winger who has starred for Uruguay in international play. Rodriguez scored the winning goal in Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy in the U-20 World Cup championship last June.
Ryan Tolmich of Goal.com was the first to report Charlotte’s pursuit and indicated the transfer fee would be north of $12 million, making it one of the largest transfer fees in MLS history. Tom Bogert of The Athletic is reporting that Charlotte FC is in competition with Feyenoord, a top-tier team in the Netherlands, for Rodriguez.
Charlotte is in search of an impact player to fill the void of departing designated players Swiderski and Jozwiak. Rodriguez would fill an immediate need at right wing.
By virtue of the fact that Rodrigurez is only 20, Charlotte FC could sign him as a “young” designated player, which would give the team the flexibility to sign two more star players before the season is out. Charlotte’s only designated player on the roster now (or player signed without regard to the salary cap) is striker Enzo Copetti.
If Charlotte signs a young DP, it can bring in another senior designated player as well as an additional U-22 initiative player. (The U-22 initiative gives MLS teams financial incentives to sign younger players.) If teams have three senior DPs, they’re allowed only one U-22 player. Charlotte FC has winger Kerwin Vargas as one of its U-22 players and just Thursday announced the promotion of Serbian Nickola Petkovic to Charlotte FC’s roster in its second U-22 spot. Petkovic is a midfielder who played for Charlotte’s Next Pro team Crown Legacy last season.
New French midfielder: In an offseason that’s seen more departures than additions, Charlotte FC added a midfielder this week in 6-foot-5 Djibril Diani. Diani had been with Caen, a club in Ligue 2, France’s second-tier league.
Diani, 26, is a defensive midfielder who can also play center back, giving him a similar profile to Derrick Jones, who wasn’t re-signed by Charlotte after last season. Jones signed with the Columbus Crew in December.
“Djibril is a versatile, left-footed midfielder who can also operate as a left-sided center back,” Krneta said in a statement. “He’s a tidy, technical player with a rare athletic profile which suits the characteristics we’re looking for in those roles.”
Bronico to miss opener with quadriceps strain
As much roster upheaval as Charlotte fans braced themselves for this winter, they had to have been caught off-guard by this one: workhorse Brandt Bronico, who has played in all but two games in Charlotte FC’s first two seasons, is out with a strained quadricep muscle and will miss the club’s opener Feb. 24.
Bronico, who played all 34 games on Charlotte’s MLS schedule in 2022 and 32 of 34 last season, injured his quadriceps during a preseason practice. Bronico said his leg bent awkwardly as he was tackled on a play and then shortly thereafter, he pulled his quadriceps muscle while making a pass. He is expected to be out of action for at least several weeks.
Bronico is one of only five remaining members of Charlotte FC’s original roster, along with goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, Jaylin Lindsey, Marks and Ben Bender, who is also out of action as he works back from late-season knee surgery. Bronico led the team in minutes played in 2022 and was second to Nathan Byrne in 2023.
An MRI showed no significant structural damage.
“I was definitely bummed when I found out and figured (out) I’d have to miss the opener,” Bronico said via text message while rehabbing with the team in California. “I’ve never really dealt with an injury before. … (But) I know if I approach this type of adversity in the right way, I’ll come back twice as strong, mentally and physically.”
Carolina topography vibes in new Charlotte FC jersey
Bronico tries the new jersey (and some cool smoke) on for size. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
This time last year, we were talking about Wild Berry Pop-Tarts. When Charlotte FC unveiled a new purple and pink alternative jersey — or “kit” as soccer types call them — some Charlotte FC faithful joked that the color palette reminded them of the Kellogg’s fruit pastry. (Though eventually fans grew to like the look of the “Crown Jewel” kit.) This time around? Fans are raving about Charlotte FC’s new jersey. While last year’s new kit was all about color choice and style, this year’s is all about substance.
The new “Carolina kit: Explore” unveiled online this week pays homage to the Carolinas. Its multi-blue-hued landscape conjures up images of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the waves of the Carolina coast, which hits home with fans from the area. Players, too.
“I love the new kit, especially as a N.C. boy,” said Bronico, who is from High Point and played his college soccer at UNC Charlotte. “I love how they tied in the ‘mountain to the sea’ theme because it shows how awesome the Carolinas really are and includes everyone in each of the regions. Plus the design is sweet too.”
Then Bronico, who was texting his thoughts, typed the flame emoji: 🔥
Unlike the Crown Jewel Kit, which is still being used as the secondary jersey this season, the Carolina Kit Explore is Charlotte FC’s new primary jersey. The team will wear it a majority of the time for the next two seasons in place of its original solar blue jersey with white sleeves.
Charlotte FC has invited season ticket holders to a kit unveiling party on Saturday at Station West in Charlotte, the day these jersey officially go on sale.
Up Next
Charlotte FC plays one more “friendly” Saturday, against Minnesota United, at the Coachella Valley Invitational at 1 p.m. in a game that will be streamed live on the club’s website. Then Charlotte returns home to prepare for the home opener against New York City on Saturday Feb. 24 at Bank of America Stadium. The upper deck will be open. The team has sold nearly 50,000 tickets in hopes of eclipsing 60,000 for the third straight home-opener.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who has been cutting her teeth on soccer just as fans in Charlotte do. This is her third 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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