Dean Smith appointed as head coach of Charlotte FC

Dean Smith has officially been appointed as head coach of Charlotte FC, signing a multi-year contract with the expansion club.

As 90min reported, the manager impressed the board to edge out the other candidates that included Frank Lampard. 

“Dean is a well-respected manager with over a decade of professional coaching, including at the highest level of the game in the Premier League, and we’re delighted to welcome him to Charlotte FC,” sporting director Zoran Krneta said in a release. 

“He has a proven track record of sporting success across multiple levels of professional football and his man-management style will be welcomed by our locker room. Dean’s excited to hit the ground running in Charlotte and we look forward to welcoming him and his family soon.”

He replaces Christian Lattanzio, who departed the club in November. Lattanzio originally joined the club as an assistant under former head coach Miguel Angel Ramirez, before taking over as the interim manager when the Spaniard left the team 14 games into The Crown's inaugural 2022 season.

Lattanzio guided the Eastern Conference side to an overall 22W-24L-17D record in his year-and-a-half in charge, qualifying to a playoff Wild Card spot in 2023 for the first time in club history before falling 5-2 to the New York Red Bulls. 

Now, Smith will officially take over the expansion team. He joins after managing Leicester, unsuccessful at keeping the team in the Premier League when taking over in April with only eight games left to play. He also saw a three-year stint with Aston Villa, coaching the club back up from the Championship.

Smith will guide the team in their third ever Major League Soccer season. Though the team reached the playoffs as a wild card team in 2023, Charlotte has yet to win any silverware since their inaugural season in 2022.