Football is back! Most, if not all of the 128 FBS teams that will play in 2015 have started practicing. But, one team, UAB is not amongst that group of 128 teams. The Blazers will sit out the 2015 and 2016 seasons, finally returning in 2017. The two year hiatus is the result of a self inflicted wound. UAB killed its football program, along with the bowling and rifle teams also. The UAB story has been highly publicized, and the enormous public out cry is what ultimately forced UAB President Ray Watts to bring back the Blazer football program. While it’s great for the university, great for the city of Birmingham and great for college football, one major question remains. What exactly is the program returning to?
Fundraising
A lack of financial stability and ability to maintain sufficient funds were the primary reasons cited by Watts and the Alabama Board of Trustees when they decided to shut down the football program. While evidence has proven there were alternate motives, a lack of financial stability was a real concern. But when the Blazers return to the gridiron in 2017, the university will have at least $27 million in funds. In reality there should be plenty more than that. The $27 million was raised, in just six short months. Included in that $27 million is a $2.5 million pledge, over the course of five years from the city of Birmingham itself. AL.com reported that in May the Birmingham City Council voted to give the university $500,000 of that pledge this year.
Facilities
It’s no secret that top college programs don’t stay on top without top notch facilities. UAB has struggled to keep up in the facilities arms race. But UAB’s Athletics Campaign Committee, which is the group responsible for Blazer fundraising is undertaking, plans to change that. The Blazer football team has called Birmingham’s Legion Field home since the programs inception in 1991. But Legion Field, which opened in 1927, has struggled to keep up the times. It is the goal of the UAB Athletics Campaign Committee to raise at least $13 million over the next 12 months, with that money earmarked for a new stadium and practice facility. The committee kicked off a capital campaign earlier this month.
Players and Coaches
Throughout this entire fiasco, one man stayed true to the Blazer nation. Despite having his program shut down, coach Bill Clark’s patience and faith never wavered. Clark, who in his one and only season led the program to its first six win season in over a decade. But now Clark is faced with a different sort of rebuild. Clark will basically be building the program from the ground up. When the original decision to drop football was made in December, one of the first questions many asked is what happens to the current players? The NCAA stepped in and allowed players, if they wished the opportunity to transfer out and not lose any eligibility. Many players took that offer, but a few others did not and instead opted to stay enrolled at UAB. Since the decision was made to bring football back the program has seen players such as former kicker Nick Vogel and former Memphis Tiger Tyler Jones transfer back. But Coach Clark still has a long way to go as he tries to rebuild his program and its roster. Players weren’t the only members of the football team affected by the decision to cut football. Coach Clark will also have to replace multiple members of his coaching staff.
Support
When the team returns in 2017, it is certain that the program will have the most support from the community and UAB administration that it has had in a long time. Perhaps the most support the program has ever had. As UAB Athletics Campaign Committee Chairman Hatton Smith told AL.com, “I wasn’t a big fan of UAB, but I’m a big fan of our city, that’s what’s motivating all of us”. It is clear that a love for the city that shares its name with the university is the driving force behind renewing UAB football. They say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Although UAB football died for a few months, there is no doubt coach Bill Clark and the Blazer faithful will put everything they have into making that saying a reality.
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