UNC NEWS RELEASE - Charlie Coiner has been hired as a defensive assistant coach at the University of North Carolina, head football coach Butch Davis announced Wednesday. Coiner, who has ties with several members of Carolina’s coaching staff, joins the Tar Heels after spending the previous four seasons with the Buffalo Bills. “We’re excited to add someone with Charlie’s experience and knowledge of the game to our staff,” said head coach Butch Davis. “He will work with our defensive line and assist in our special teams preparations.
"It’s unrealistic to expect in a short two-or-three day period of time that we’ll see the effects of what he’ll be able to do,” Davis said on the ACC teleconference, “but he’s been an assistant special teams coordinator in the National Football League. He’s a good football coach. He’s smart, he’s bright, he’s got good communication skills, he’s a good teacher [and] he’s got a unique perspective in that he has seen an awful lot of very good football players and how they play. I think it’s a good addition. He’s got a close personal relationship with several of the coaches on our staff and I think that from a chemistry standpoint, that was critically important – if you’re going to add someone at this stage into the mix, it needs to be somebody that’s got really good chemistry and enthusiasm. I think that certainly Charlie will bring that.”
Joiner coached the tight ends in Buffalo and assisted on special teams. In 2008, he led a young Buffalo group that produced career receiving numbers across the board. Robert Royal posted career highs in receptions (33) and receiving yards (351) and added one touchdown. Second-year TE Derek Schouman added 15 receptions and 153 yards and rookie TE Derek Fine added 10 receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown. Tight ends also contributed to the team’s rushing game that ranked fifth in the AFC in games 9-16 with 1,092 yards. Under Coiner in 2007, Michael Gaines set career highs in starts (14), receptions (25) and yards (215) and tied a career-best with two touchdowns in his first season with Buffalo.
Coiner joined the Bills as the team’s tight ends coach after spending 2001-05 as a member of the Chicago Bears coaching staff. He held the assistant special teams coach position for the Bears in 2004-05. He originally joined Chicago on February 12, 2001 as the offensive quality control coach under then-offensive coordinator John Shoop.
A native of Waynesboro, Va., Coiner earned his bachelor’s degree from Catawba College and master’s from Appalachian St. where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant from 1983-86. Withers and Douglas both played at Appalachian State while Coiner was coaching in Boone.
From there he moved to Minnesota where he assisted the defensive line and kicking game in 1987. He later coached with Withers at Austin Peay from 1998-90. He then coached at Vanderbilt (1991-93), Texas Southern (1994 & 2000), Louisville (1995-97), Tennessee-Chattanooga (1998) and LSU (1999).
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Coiner is obviously a solid addition to the coaching staff, plus he has connections to the region and the state.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he has coached in the NFL for the better part of a decade. Will he feel as if he is in the minor leagues now? Is he taking a college job because he couldn't find a pro job?
In my opinion, there are guys who are college coaches and there are guys who are pro coaches. Rarely do college coaches succeed at the pro level and vice versa.
Butch Davis mentions the NFL in every other breath it seems. Certainly it's good for recruiting athletes who want to go on to the pros but it's kind of demeaning to fans of college teams who don't particularly care about what happens after a player's college career.
If a guy could help bring an ACC title or national title to the school, most fans wouldn't care if he becomes a banker after graduation (if he graduates).
While the pro game and the college game are different animals (as Davis is finding out if he didn't already really know through the academic scandal), Coiner did spend a lot of years as a college coach. Hopefully he will feel like he's returning to what he's meant to do and won't feel like he's being demoted.