CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Will Healy was fired Sunday as football coach of the Charlotte 49ers after they fell to 1-7 in their final season as a member of Conference USA.
Charlotte is set to make a jump up in competition next season when it joins the American Athletic Conference, along with five other C-USA schools.
"We are grateful to Will Healy for the incredible energy and enthusiasm he brought to our program," Charlotte athletic director Mike Hill said in a release announcing the move. "He made an impact here that will never be forgotten. Sadly, however, our on-field results have not met expectations. Will and his family are special people and we wish them the best."
The 37-year-old Healy, a Chattanooga native who was one of the youngest head coaches in major college football, fell to 15-24 in four seasons at Charlotte after losing 34-15 to Florida International on Saturday. That dropped the 49ers into last place in C-USA.
Offensive line coach Pete Rossomando was elevated to interim head coach. Rossomando, who has previous head coaching experience, is in his second season with the 49ers. He was named the NCAA Division II national coach of the year after the 2012 season at New Haven, and he was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in the Football Championship Subdivision in 2017 while at Central Connecticut State.
Healy, an all-state quarterback as a Tennessee prep star at Boyd Buchanan, was the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision when he was hired by Charlotte in 2019 after three years at Austin Peay that included an appearance in the 2017 FCS playoffs. The former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant was 0-11 in his first season with the Governors, 8-4 in his second and 5-6 in his third.
He led Charlotte to a bowl game in his first season, finishing 7-6. The 49ers are 8-18 since.
Healy is the sixth major college coach fired this season, but the first outside the Power Five conferences.