Unpacking Biff Poggi's coaching rise: From St. Frances to Michigan to Charlotte-Maryland game

Charlotte coach Biff Poggi is the kind of college football coach fans love to root for. With his sleeveless shirts and ever-humble attitude, the longtime staffer made his coaching bones within the state of Maryland, making Saturday's game against the Terrapins a homecoming of sorts for the Baltimore native.

It's easy to see why people love him. His avatar on X, formerly known as Twitter, is just a photo of his hand holding an egg. His bio trumpets his gratefulness to be coaching. And on top of all of it all, he's established as a good coach.

Poggi was an analyst for the University of Michigan after 19 years as the head coach of Gilman School in Maryland, which led into a head coaching job at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, a predominately Black Catholic high school. Poggi brought recruiting to the Maryland high school scene, and in doing so he made St. Frances a juggernaut within the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA).

Now, after a two-year stint as a Michigan assistant under Jim Harbaugh, Poggi takes Charlotte into College Park as a substantial underdog, with BetMGM giving Maryland a 24.5 point spread against the 49ers. Even so, expect a warm welcome for Poggi, who not only was a key player in the St. Frances dynasty, but also crafted Gilman School into one of the best schools in the state.

REQUIRED READING: Charlotte hires Michigan's Poggi as head football coach

Biff Poggi coaching timeline, including Michigan

Poggi got his start as an assistant at Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, and he served for eight years in that role. He then took over as a head coach in 1996, and he led Gilman until 2015, when he stepped down to take an analyst role at Michigan.

Poggi spent the 2016 season in that role before joining St. Frances, where he coached from 2017 to 2020. He then took an associate head coach role with Michigan in 2021, which he held through 2022, before joining the Charlotte 49ers for the 2023 season.

Poggi has been seen as a key part of Michigan's turnaround the past two years, with the Wolverines making College Football Playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. He also has been instrumental in building football dynasties at both Gilman School and St. Frances Academy.

Biff Poggi St. Frances Academy stint

Poggi may not have had 19 seasons at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, but his stint there was arguably more impactful than his time at Gilman.

The coach took over a team that he spurred into the right direction with his money and coaching staff in 2016 and created a powerhouse. The 2017 St. Frances Academy went 13-0, thanks in large part to Poggi's aggressive recruitment tactics. The Panthers finished first in the state and third in the country. In 2018, they won the state again and finished fifth in the country. Then they won states again in 2019, finishing third in the country. If anyone looks at these seasons on MaxPreps, co-head coach Henry Russell is listed as the coach. But St. Frances Academy is in Poggi's vision.

What stood out during Poggi's tenure in St. Frances isn't the success alone, however. It was the why behind it.

“St. Frances Academy seemed to be a place that was making a big impact in the lives of a good number of kids who didn’t have much,” said Poggi, identified as a hedge fund manager at the time, per Archbalt. “It educates children, some of whom are virtually homeless, aren’t eating properly, or living in areas where there is great danger.

“Let’s take the game they love, and the game we love, and be really good at it. … If we can get kids into a private, Catholic school that’s safe, has teachers and administrators who care and give them the proper tutoring, what is that going to do for that kid’s future?”

Poggi funded 65 scholarships for St. Frances out of pocket, helping to cultivate an environment of dominance.

So dominant was St. Frances, schools refused to play Poggi's Panthers, citing safety concerns as more players went to Division I schools — though there has been speculation of a racial component to that side of things.

“People think it’s the school with all the black kids, the school with the thugs,” a player said on the reasons teams unscheduled the Panthers, per The Washington Post. “It’s not like that.”

Poggi's coming out party on the national stage came in 2019, when his sleeveless visage appeared on ESPN.

The look became a trademark of sorts, with "football guy" getting ascribed to Poggi for his remarkably grounded look.

Why did Biff Poggi leave St. Frances Academy?

In short, family drew Poggi away from Baltimore, along with the allure of Ann Arbor.

“It’s a younger man’s game,” Poggi said, per The Baltimore Sun. “This was a chance to go one last time on a really big stage, to a legendary program (University of Michigan).”

Poggi's daughter Mary also started school at Michigan in 2021, contributing to the decision.

Why did Biff Poggi go to Charlotte?

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While Poggi going to Michigan made sense, it also placed a glass ceiling upon him. As long as Jim Harbaugh was strolling the sidelines for the maize and blue, Poggi wasn't going to get a head coaching job.

The AAC's Charlotte 49ers took note of Poggi, and announced him as their head coach in Nov. 2022.

“Joining the Charlotte 49ers is an incredible opportunity,” Poggi said in an announcement at the time, per the North State Journal. “The great momentum created by the leadership of this University and its athletics program gives us every opportunity to build a successful pathway for so many young men in our region. For me, this is a full circle moment, a chance to pay forward the wonderful opportunities that were given to me as a young man. We can build a championship program at Charlotte, and I can’t wait to get started.”

The 49ers defeated South Carolina State in Week 1 24-3 with a team that was aggressive in the transfer portal. Though Colorado made headlines for its aggression in adding new talent under Deion Sanders, Charlotte was similarly ambitious, adding over 50 new players, per The Charlotte Observer. Similar to the exodus in Boulder, however, over 40 players also left the program.

Poggi is hoping to continue his incredible coaching career with Charlotte, as the 49ers looks to shock Maryland. Regardless of the realism of that prospect, it is clear one of college's larger-than-life personalities has no intention to roll over for anyone. He has two dynasties under his belt. He's gunning for a third at the next level coming out of the AAC.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Remembering Biff Poggi's St. Frances stint ahead of Maryland return