The Charlotte FC head coach talks grit, goals and good humor.
by Natalie Dick | photographs by Richard Israel
Dean Smith never intended to coach Major League Soccer, yet here he is in his mid-50s, leading Charlotte FC on its second playoff run since his move across the pond in 2023. The team has been electric under his watch, breaking club records and tying the league’s longest winning streak.
Smith’s distinctive coaching style seems wildly popular with players and the club’s growing fan base. Nicknamed by some “Ted Lasso in reverse,” he’s funny, feisty and unassuming. But unlike the fictional TV coach, Smith is a seasoned pro who knows the game inside and out. What’s unfamiliar to him is all things Southern.
“I wasn’t looking to come to Charlotte. I thought I had unfinished business in the U.K.,” Smith says in a thick Brummie accent, a dead giveaway to his West Midlands English roots.
It’s late afternoon, midweek, when we meet for a bite at Little Mama’s — his favorite Charlotte restaurant, only a few blocks from his SouthPark home. No one seems to notice Dean Smith has entered the building as he approaches our table. I’m surprised; he’s not.
Right: Chicken Riggies (chicken, mushrooms, red bell and cherry peppers in a tomato sauce with house-made rigatoni)
“If you Google Dean Smith in the U.K., you come up with me,” he explains matter-of-factly. “If you Google Dean Smith in the U.S., well, you know.”
It’s one of many things the former Premier League manager is still adjusting to as he nears the end of his second year as head coach of Charlotte FC. The past 23 months have been a whirlwind, with his departure from a culture where football (i.e. soccer) is king to starting fresh in a new country, leading a club still in its infancy. Through it all, the 54-year-old Englishman remains unflappable.
Modest roots, massive dreams
Smith grew up northwest of Birmingham in the gritty suburb of Great Barr, where life was simple — and football was everything.
“I remember always playing football. In the house. Outside in the garden. Just kicking the ball against the wall with my two best mates or playing ‘kerby’ in the street, where you throw the ball off the opposite curb and catch it.” His eyes light up at the memory.
What he lacked in natural talent, he made up for with grit. His hardworking parents — his dad, a factory worker, and mom, a master of odd jobs — instilled in him an important lesson: Nothing comes without earning it.
“I was never the most talented player, and I knew that. I saw how hard [my parents] worked for me and my brother to have a summer holiday, new trainers or to go and watch Aston Villa. I always knew I had to earn that right as well. So, I worked extremely hard,” Smith says.
The journey wasn’t easy. At 15, Newcastle United’s youth team offered him a trial — only to cut him a year later in favor of local boys. Disappointed, Smith briefly shelved football for a factory job mixing paint. Then fate called. Third-division Walsall offered him a contract — less money than the factory job, but with bus passes and a chance to chase his dream.
“I went from £90 (about $121) a week to £27.50 (about $37) a week. I was thrilled! Football was all I’d ever wanted to do,” he says.
From footballer to gaffer
Over 16 years and nearly 700 matches, Smith captained clubs up and down the English football pyramid. The pinnacle came at first-division Sheffield Wednesday, where he found himself playing in front of 35,000 fans.
“That was the biggest move of my playing career. I was 31 years old and at my peak, but I knew the time (to retire) was coming,” he tells me. By 2005, Smith replaced his cleats with a whistle and a spot along the sideline.
Mozzarella with olive oil, white bean and salami salad, and Sicilian roasted peppers
“I learned a lot from other coaches I worked under of what not to do rather than what to do,” he says. His coaching career carried him from Walsall to Brentford to his boyhood dream team: Aston Villa.
It was storybook stuff. Under Smith, Aston Villa clawed back to the Premier League, winning the championship playoff final in front of 85,000 roaring fans. Even Prince William, a diehard supporter, took notice, visiting training and rallying players in a Cup final.
But Premier League football is ruthless. Three years after his rise, Aston Villa sold its best player for a record £100 million. Five losses later, Smith was out. He didn’t know it yet, but his next chapter would be written across the Atlantic.
Building a winning culture
“Most Englishmen get to the point where they’ve had too much beer over the years, so wine becomes your go-to drink,” Smith playfully explains when I ask about the clean-sheet promise he made to his players shortly after becoming Charlotte FC’s new coach.
“I pinched the idea from my assistant coach at Aston Villa. If we kept a clean sheet (the other team scoreless) he would give the defenders a nice bottle of red wine. I liked the idea. So, when we kept a clean sheet against New York in our first home game, I said red wine for clean sheets! Little did I know that it would cost me a lot of money,” jokes Smith.
Smith has a knack for disarming the seriousness of football without losing his edge. Take, for example, an inside shtick he’s been secretly working into this season’s post-match analysis.
“Our content team asked if I could slip in a different song title and a few lyrics every press conference,” Smith says. “I said yeah, right, let’s go with British bands. I started with The Beatles … When we signed [forward] Wilfried Zaha, they asked me how he was doing, and I said he’s got great feet like he’s dancing through ‘Strawberry Fields.’” He’s also referenced Adele, The Stone Roses, Rod Stewart and Elton John. “I got one for the Spice Girls, too. I said he doesn’t want to be a ‘Wannabe,’ he wants to be a ‘winna-be.’”
Smith’s wit isn’t just for jest. He uses it as a tool to create an atmosphere where players feel seen and heard.
“I’ve been left out of teams; I’ve seen mates told they’re done. Those conversations aren’t easy — but there’s always a right way to tell people.”
Still, his expectations are clear.
“Every day is a school day,” Smith says. “I have a saying: ‘Excuses are well-planned lies.’ So don’t make excuses. You can have reasons, but don’t make excuses.”
Smith chats with writer Natalie Dick at Little Mama’s in SouthPark
That candor bleeds into his bond with fans. Suspended for September’s Inter Miami game after his third yellow card of the season, Smith set the tone for the massive matchup by joining fans in the pre-game “Pepas” tradition — linking arms with club owner David Tepper and bouncing up and down to the pounding music on the jumbotron.
“I felt a connection with the sporters (fans) straight away,” he says. “I love the diversity, how they all mix and get on together, but are supportive of the team. They want success for Charlotte, as do I.”
Family, football and the future
Ask Smith about tactics for the club’s future, and he talks about structure and discipline. Ask about his family, and his face softens instantly. He and Nicola, his wife of 28 years, have two adult children. Their son Jamie, newly married to an American, came to the U.S. first, playing college soccer at Limestone University in Gaffney, South Carolina, and N.C. State University, before joining Crown Legacy FC (Charotte FC’s reserve team) in January. Their daughter Katie remains in the UK, where Nicola splits her time.
“It helps that there are three direct flights every day to London Heathrow,” Smith cracks.
Ironically, it was during a trip to see Jamie play in June 2023 that Smith first connected with Charlotte FC.
“We were on summer holiday flying out of Charlotte, and I knew [Charlotte FC General Manager Zoran Krneta] from before. I phoned him for tickets, and we watched the match from his suite.”
No one was more surprised than Smith to find himself back on North Carolina soil at the end of the season as the club’s head coach. Is he here to stay? He’s optimistic the team is just hitting its stride and determined to leave a lasting legacy by building a culture based on unity.
“We want to win,” Smith says adamantly. “We want to do it smartly and with togetherness through the whole club — the players, the staff, the support staff and the supporters. Everybody is important in making the wheels turn. If you can make people feel valued in their job, you have a good chance of being successful in any business.” SP
Video Extra: Hear more about the gaffer’s coaching style and how he sneaks in British song titles and lyrics post-game.
TAKE FIVE
If he weren’t a football coach: As a teenager, I considered becoming a PE teacher or joining the army. My mum’s father died in World War II, so she never met him. I’ve visited his grave in France — a powerful experience. But once football came along, that was it.
Other sports: Golf, absolutely. I’ve been playing for years. And basketball. Before Charlotte, I followed the Bucks because Aston Villa’s owners were also involved there. I even went to see them play the Hornets last year — no comment on who I rooted for.
On Prince William: He’s Villa mad. When I was manager, he came for the opening of our new center and even mentioned my dad, which floored me. Later, before the Cup final, I asked if he’d say a few words to the players. He came into the dressing room and was brilliant.
Off the pitch: I’m part-owner of a racehorse in the UK called Secret Trix. It keeps things interesting.
Favorite quote: Golfer Tommy Fleetwood once said, “My dad taught me to be a good person first, a golfer second.” That line stuck with me. I feel the same — good person first, football second.
