Back from the Dead - The UAB story

- Nicholas Eck 

In December, in the midst of their first winning season since the 2004 season, UAB announced they would cut the football program. The Blazers also ended cutting their rifle and bowling programs in what President Ray Watts called "cost cutting measures." But six months later, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Blazers will live to play again. 

June 1st, the University of Alabama at Birmingham announced that the school would revive the football, rifle, and bowling programs. We could, like a lot of people in 'Bama, spend time talking about how Watts and the UA board of trustees screwed the pooch on the whole situation. Instead we are going to talk about the monumental task of getting the program ready for the 2016 season.

Creating a Roster

First things first: UAB doesn't have one.

Following the announcement last December, 56 players made the decisions to continue their careers elsewhere by transferring out of the program. According to Norm Reilly, UAB's football sports information director, he states that the number of transfers changes almost every other week.

"Number of players remaining with the program is to be determined," he said, "Not sure where you saw the number 56 for players having transferred. I have a few more than that, though the list has remained fluid since the announcement in December."

Pair that mass exodus with 19 seniors that just graduated, and 7 non-transferring juniors set to graduate by 2016, it seems almost impossible for UAB to comply with NCAA guidelines and field a team by 2016.

By spring 2016, the Blazers will have lost 82 players to graduation and transfers, leaving the program with 23 student-athletes to suit up for the 2016 season. That 23 athletes is only if they are will to chill one season and hit the gym in the meantime. 

But the issue of returning players is just a small part of the massive hill climb ahead of the Blazers. NCAA bylaws state that no program can sign more than 25 new scholarship players each year. If the NCAA doesn't bend the rules, based on the stupid nature of the school board, the squad will be forced to play with a very thin roster.

If the NCAA finds it in their black hearts to allow UAB to bend the rule to fix Watts' mistake, they still are recruiting in a state shared with Auburn, Alabama, and Troy. Hands down, they will not be getting cream of the crop talent, and prospects are going to be weary to sign with UAB.

However, if the NCAA does make UAB play by the rules, it could take the program at least three years just to bring in enough players to have a chance at competing in the FBS. And even then, they have to count on bringing in at least two classes that will play lame duck seasons in the process.

Home, Sweet Home

On top of players, UAB needs a new home.

Legion Field - the home of the Blazers, is a god awful place to play. Built in 1926, the field has turned into a sad excuse for a venue, and was one of the major factors when Watts brought down the hammer in December. 

Since Legion Field is off the table for a long-term solution, the University would ideally like to construct a new field on campus, but it has stated that they can not, and will not foot the bill. Private donors have pledged $7.5 million for an on-campus stadium, but that is not even close enough. Another option is for the Blazers to pair with the city government of Birmingham to build one off-campus, but the mayor has declared that "we do not have the resources to do that."

Securing a Conference

Conference USA rules stipulate that a university must maintain a football program in order to retain a spot within the conference. When UAB decided to chop their program, it raised the question of whether or not C-USA would allow UAB to stay.

Reilly admits that it is still "to be determined" whether or not UAB will be able to field a team in 2016, but Conference USA appears content to wait and won't penalize the Blazers:

"We are very pleased with the decision to bring back the football program at UAB. As a conference we are committed to football, and we welcome the good news that the UAB football program has been given another chance. From all indications, this program will now be able to count on a very strong foundation of community support upon which it will begin the re-building that will position it well for success into the future. Although the lengthy evaluation process was challenging, this final outcome makes it worth the wait. We look forward to working with our colleagues in Birmingham as they plan this exciting new chapter in UAB football.”

Getting back

Under first year head coach Bill Clark, UAB posted their first winning record in 10 years. Clark was named C-USA's coach of the year, and would've coached them to their second-ever bowl appearance had the announcement not been made when it was.

Nicely putting it, all the hard work that Clark put into bring this team back to some-what respectability was quickly flushed down the shitter because Watts and Co. didn't realize that most of the money brought into a school is from the football program. Clark now has no momentum, no players, no recruiting leverage, nothing but the warm fuzzies of his first season.

This will be a rebuild unlike anything since SMU survived the death penalty (if you call that surviving). You can and should celebrate UAB for saving it's team. But the next few years in Birmingham will require hard and painful work. The Board of Trustees may have failed in killing the Blazers, but they crippled it badly.