Charlotte FC has a new head coach

Dean Smith is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. He is the manager, head coach, Charlotte FC, newly appointed. And before we get into the football side of it, I'm sure you were aware at some level that there might not be a more legendary name in North Carolina than that of Dean Smith. Did you consider changing your name at any point? Because those are massive shoes to fill.

They are massive shoes to fill. But yes, it's funny. I was only in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago visiting my son and his girlfriend and I was driving down the highway and I was on the phone to my wife and actually said, you know, I must have had a good week. I must have named a highway after me already. But yeah, I was aware of Dean Smith and I've said many times, big shoes to fill, but if I'm half as successful as he has been, then I've done a good job.

They're going to name a highway for you if you're half as successful as Dean Smith. Now you've been a manager. I know you finished the season last year at Leicester in what was probably a lost cause. You were the manager at Norwich, Aston Villa, who you brought up from the championship to the Premier League a few years ago.

You've been a manager at several stops in the English Football League system. What drew you to Charlotte FC? The ambition. I really liked what I heard when I spoke to the front office, to Zoran, to Bobby Blair and the owner. There's a real ambition at the football club. There's an opportunity to do something to make our own history. It's a new club and it's building its identity. I thought it's a great opportunity and a challenge for me as well. I've only ever coached in the UK. I had a fairly successful coaching career there and wanted to challenge myself, but also try and fulfil the ambition of the ownership here as well.

Dean Smith is joining us here on the Adam Gold show, newly appointed manager of Charlotte FC. Here's what strikes me as odd. It's an expansion franchise. This is something that we don't know of, you don't know of in England, in the United Kingdom or anywhere in Europe.

The clubs are all 100 years old and have grown up with the towns and the towns around them. How big of a culture difference is that? The league's different because obviously the league looks for parity in terms of if you're successful, then they try and cut your knees off and make the league more parity afterwards. Whereas in the UK there's obviously promotion and relegation. It is different in certain ways. I've had to learn a lot about roster building and the different rules within that roster of DPs and GAM and TAM and U22.

It's been a real steep learning curve for me. I like being on the grass with the players and that's where we can actually go and create our style of play and what we want to look like and add identity. It's got to be similar to the identity of the Carolina people because it is a club for the Carolinas.

Our job is to give them something that excites them when they come and watch us. Dean Smith is joining us here, manager of Charlotte FC. I'm going to call it manager because as a fan of the game, I spend my Saturdays and Sunday mornings watching the Premier League. That's what they're all called, so I apologize if I'm doing that.

I'm sure for you, I'm almost apologizing to listeners. They're more familiar with head coach and that's fine. Does Major League Soccer have a style of play and if so, how does it differentiate from the Premier League or the Championship or one of the other leagues in Europe? How does it vary from team to team? It certainly has its own style in terms of what I've watched over the last few years.

Probably the last 20 minutes of games gets very basketball-ish and end-to-end. It's probably a little bit more tactical, certainly in the Premier League, but I believe that teams are getting more savvy now, more tactical. You've got the Red Bull model, you've got the City Group model, so there's many different models now that teams are following. What has become common in the soccer world now is the multi-club ownership. There's going to be certain styles of play that you'll see, but we have to be unique in ours. We're the only team in the Carolinas, so we want to make our own style of play unique for us. Is there a Jurgen Klopp model?

I suppose the Red Bull would be probably the closest to it in terms of high pressure and winning the ball back quickly and counter-pressing. I've brought in Miles Joseph with me as an assistant who's got a lot of experience in the MLS because that's probably the weak area of myself. I believe I'm a really good man manager. I'll get the best out of players, I'll make them better, I'll get style of play.

But what I haven't sampled so far is the MLS, so I'll be leaning on the likes of Miles Joseph on the support of what other teams are going to be like in this league. Real quick, just about because I mentioned him. What are your recollections of managing against him? What did he mean to Liverpool in the Premier League?

He meant everything. I think the biggest thing you can say is his personality enlightened the game in the Premier League. He lived every minute of every game and I think that's what has encompassed him to the Liverpool fans in general. But not just Liverpool fans, the whole Premier League supporters as well have really respected him. They've come up against an exceptional team in Manchester City, so it's unfortunate he's only won one title since he's been there. He's got a chance for the second one this time, but his personality and the way his team plays, his team fits his personality is the best thing I could say about it. Dean Smith, before we let you go, now that you're here in the United States and we have to call it soccer, do you have a pick for the Super Bowl of American football?

Yeah, I've been watching obviously the last few weeks and I think the Chiefs are going to win it. The quarterback, which I don't even know what the equivalent would be, may be a great number 10. Maybe an attacking midfielder. A Jude Bellingham type is Patrick Mahomes, right? I guess that would be the best thing I could come up with.

I think he'd probably be a Trent Alexander-Arnold when he plays in midfield as well. Oh, you're speaking right to my heart. Dean Smith, manager, Charlotte FC, newly appointed. Thank you very much. I'd love to do this as often as you're willing. I appreciate your time.

Yeah, no problem. Lovely to speak to you, Adam. I mean, he's aware of Dean Smith. They named a highway after him. I know.

Maybe they'll name a highway after Dean Smith. I love hearing him talk. I just wanted to hear him talk more. Then you should watch more golf. Every golf telecast has to have either a British voice, an Australian voice, or a South African voice. Well, we've got one in UFC, so I'm good there. I'll fall asleep in golf. Okay, there you go. I'll just fall asleep. What's wrong with an afternoon nap? Nothing at all.