Dean Smith lifts the lid on his new life with Charlotte FC

Sheltered away from the brutal heat wave that has swept across America, Dean Smith’s office at the training ground of Charlotte FC is his home away from home.

Across the Atlantic, England are pulling off a memorable run chase against India in Leeds and here in North Carolina, we watch the Sky Sports coverage unfold on the big screen inside.

‘I love my cricket, I’m a big Warwickshire fan,’ Smith tells Mail Sport with his strong Brummie accent. 

‘I know Woakesy (Chris Woakes) and a few of the other lads like Belly (Ian Bell) well from my time at Aston Villa. They’re all big Villa fans.’ Smith is of course a Villa supporter too and the man who led them back to the Premier League in 2019.

Inevitably, there is an overwhelming sense of happiness, seeing his side play European football and the likes of Emi Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey amongst others thrive at Villa. All were signed and nurtured under Smith, during his stint as Villa boss between 2018 and 2021.

‘It gives me great pride. Seeing all those guys I worked with improve, get opportunities, earn more money and ultimately play better,’ he says. ‘I remember telling Ezri (Konsa) when I left that he’s got 18 months to get in the England squad or else I’m allowed a free punch and he texted me back when he got in the squad. But it’s great to see what Unai (Emery) has done. And it’s what I expected with the ownership because Nassef (Sawiris) and Wes (Edens) were really intent on their five year plan of getting to Europe.’

The journey of Thomas Frank is one of pride too for Smith, who interviewed him for the assistant manager role at Brentford in 2016 and was left in little doubt by the Dane.

When Smith left Brentford for Villa, Frank took over. ‘I’m so pleased too for Thomas. He’s earned the right (to be Tottenham manager) and I wish him the best,’ the 54-year-old says.

For Smith, who has managed Charlotte FC since December 2023, that idea of helping to build clubs like he did at both Brentford and Villa is very much why he came here in the first place.

The Atrium Health Performance Park in East Charlotte is where we meet and a place which played a major role in Smith taking the job in December 2023, when the club was barely three years old.

The opportunity came after a dinner with Zoran Krneta, the club’s sporting director, when Smith was in the US to visit his son, Jamie, who was at college in the States.

‘Once I saw the facilities, I was more than happy to go,’ says Smith. It is a spacious modern hub which houses the first-team, the academy and the entire business operations staff.

He describes it as ‘top grade’ for a club that is still only in its fourth MLS season. The clear ambition for Smith is to ‘win a trophy’ here. 

‘Last year was really good. We had our first home playoff game in front of 40 odd thousand,’ he says. They won at the Bank of America Stadium, which is also home of the Carolina Panthers, but eventually lost on penalties in a best-of-three format to Orlando SC in Florida.

‘I find it mad that there’s no away fans but that’s because there’s so much distance. So there’s no huge rivalries and you can’t really manufacture that. That’s a big difference for me,’ he admits. Every away game involves a flight.

‘It’s like flying once or twice a week to Switzerland, to Scandinavia and so on,’ says Smith. ‘But above all, it’s a good football city, with a fantastic stadium, great fans and there’s good people at the club and that’s the important thing,’ he insists.

Smith signed a new contract earlier this year to extend his stay till 2027, joking that they already named a highway after him. Search up his name on Google in these parts and the first thing that comes up is Dean Smith, a longtime North Carolina college basketball coach, who has a section of Interstate 40 named after him.

A tour through the HQ gives you a feel of the collaborative culture within the club, with all of the departments easily accessible. Inside his office, Smith operates from a standing desk.

The Learning Zone, named by Smith, is where press conferences take place and also where they deliver video analysis.

‘One of my big things is to help players learn. I believe our job as coaches is like a teacher and to get the best out of them,’ Smith says. ‘We did it at Brentford where we changed the video room into a learning zone. I constantly ask questions. If I don’t, then I don’t know what the players know. I need to know what they know before I can coach them any further,’ he insists.

So how does it feel, quality wise? Last year, he described it as ‘top-ten Championship’ but believes that for the MLS to improve, it must adapt.

‘It’s hard to assess because it would be tough for Premier League clubs to come and play in this heat. England have got to be ready for the heat next year, for sure. This is a summer league but it needs to change to become a winter league because the marketplace is not good for us,’ he says. 

‘A lot of clubs are very similar because of the salary cap but there’s also some that can sprinkle more stardust than others. The current system is difficult to grasp and needs simplifying. If we want to become one of the best leagues in the world, we need to keep adapting to become better,’ he adds.

Talking about stardust, there is a player in his side that fits the bill in Wilfried Zaha, currently on loan from Galatasaray. The 32-year-old joined in January after meeting with Smith in London and scored on his debut.

‘He wasn’t playing and we felt there was a player who could come and do really well in the MLS. We really liked what he was about. I could tell he was frustrated and felt like he was missing time, having had such a successful period at Crystal Palace and what was a good start at Galatasaray,’ says Smith. 

‘There’s a lot of talk externally here, expecting Wilf to come and score 15 goals in 20 games but that’s not the reality. I keep saying he’s not played for nine months and what would that make the league look like if he did. But he’s grown and I feel we’ll see the best of him towards the end of the season,’ he stresses.

It leads us to the topic of another winger in Jack Grealish, who calls Smith his ‘second dad’ and like Zaha, needs to be playing regularly again after falling out of favour under Pep Guardiola.

Smith gave Grealish the captaincy at Villa and helped lay the foundations for his £100M move to Manchester City in 2021. The pair spoke last week when Smith was back in the UK.

‘We keep in touch regularly. He’s a wonderful person but he’s an unbelievable player too. What I want to see is him playing football again because if he does, he’ll be a star for England at the World Cup,’ says Smith. 

‘Thomas (Tuchel) wants him playing and if he is, I’m sure he’ll get back in the England team. I just told him to keep calm, keep fit and be ready for whatever challenge is out there. Thomas said he’s one player that can take the ball in any situation. The bigger, the better for Jack and that’s what England need – players that can handle the football. Just look at when Man City won the Champions League and played Real Madrid away and he was the one demanding the ball. He needs to go to a club but it’s also who can afford him with PSR.’

Inevitably, there is intrigue about his own boyhood club too with players he knows well like Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins potentially heading out of Villa Park this summer.

‘Villa don’t want to lose either of them and I don’t think they can,’ says Smith. ‘My wife’s not happy because we had one game in June so we missed Ollie’s wedding and she was gutted we didn’t go. He’s another top lad that I keep in touch with and now Villa’s Premier League top scorer. I think he’s irreplaceable,’ he says.

As another Smith, Jamie, knocks off the winning runs at Headingley, our time comes to an end as Smith has a flight to catch for a game in Kansas, before a trip to Chicago this weekend – this week will see Charlotte clock up around 4,000 miles of travel.

Tough but all good preparation for his trip to Australia in December, when Smith is planning to go with his wife for the Boxing Day Ashes Test in Melbourne. By then, the MLS season will be over and he’ll be hoping he can head down under with some silverware.