2014
The shutdown
UAB's administration cancels the football program after a winning season
Wound
Program outlook
Program outlook
UAB's own university system shut the football program down in 2014. Two years later, the fans and donors forced it back. By 2018, the resurrected Blazers were conference champions. No other program in the sport has that sentence.
Since Jun 14: W 33-14 vs Samford; L 13-38 at Memphis; W 30-17 vs East Carolina; L 10-30 at South Florida. 4-4 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
The shutdown is not background color for UAB — it is the whole identity. Bill Clark coached the Blazers into the 2014 cancellation and then returned to coach them back out of it, winning the Conference USA championship in 2018 just two seasons after the program played zero football. Protective Stadium, the downtown Birmingham venue the program got in 2021, exists because a city fought hard enough to keep the team alive. The resurrection isn't a chapter in the UAB story. It is the story.
The post-Clark years asked a harder question: whether the comeback was a one-time act or a permanent change in what the program is. Three straight losing seasons — capped by a 2-4 start in 2025 that got Trent Dilfer fired — have made that question uncomfortable in Birmingham. Offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen went interim, beat Memphis in his first game, and was hired as the full-time head coach in December 2025. A first-time head coach at a program still measuring itself against the resurrection title is a specific kind of pressure.
The 2026 season is the referendum on whether UAB's story has a second act. The internal fracture is real and familiar: the faction grateful the program merely exists squares off against the faction that says surviving and competing are two different things. Mortensen's version of UAB will need to look more like the Clark years than the Dilfer years to settle that argument.
On the field
UAB football carries the chip of a program that was told it shouldn't exist — and that chip is the closest thing to a schematic identity the Blazers have built since Clark's departure. Physical, motivated-by-memory football from a Birmingham program whose very presence on the field is the point. Mortensen runs an offense-first system; how it fits the resurrection DNA is the first real question of his tenure.
UAB has won 44% of its games since 1994 — 61% at home, 27% on the road.
152-192 all-time · 31 seasons · 1994–2026
Home
92-59
Away
49-130
Neutral
11-3
43%
1990s
42%
2000s
46%
2010s
47%
2020s
The CFP era
11 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
UAB’s 2014–2026 record is 71-61.
Alex Mortensen
Alex Mortensen is in year 2. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Alex Mortensen · 2025–presentPrev: Trent Dilfer (2023–2025)DC: Todd GranthamPrev DC: Steve Russ (2025)
2
years · era
Moments in UAB history
- UAB 31, Memphis 24Oct 18, 2025
- UAB 31, BYU 28Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl · Dec 18, 2021
- Rice 30, UAB 24Oct 23, 2021
On this date, Nov 4, 2023: UAB 45, Florida Atlantic 42
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2018
The resurrection title
Two years after extinction, UAB wins the Conference USA championship
2021
Protective Stadium opens
The Blazers finally get a dedicated downtown home
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 33-14 vs Samford
Week 5 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc.
2022–2024
UAB has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.
Developing. Pipeline emerging.
3
picks · 0 in round 1
#78
Alex Wright
Defensive End · 2022 · 
Cleveland Browns · #36/578 final season
Cleveland Browns · #36/578 final season
#191
Tejhaun Palmer
Wide Receiver · 2024 · 
Arizona Cardinals · #70/497 final season
Arizona Cardinals · #70/497 final season
#222
DeWayne McBride
Running Back · 2023 · 
Minnesota Vikings · #4/317 final season
Minnesota Vikings · #4/317 final season
#112 all-time · 2 first-round picksthe talent factory →
More in this tab
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4UAB is 4-4 — competitive, unranked, not yet bowl-eligible.
Competitive in FBS but not bowl-eligible — the close-loss tier.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
American Athletic standing · 2026
9th in the American Athletic
UAB is 9th of 14 in the American Athletic at 2-2. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Texas | 4-0 |
| 2 | UTSA | 4-0 |
| 3 | Memphis | 4-1 |
| 4 | Army | 4-2 |
| 5 | East Carolina | 2-2 |
| 6 | Florida Atlantic | 2-2 |
| 7 | South Florida | 2-2 |
| 8 | Tulane | 2-2 |
| 9 | UAB | 2-2 |
| 10 | Charlotte | 1-3 |
| 11 | Temple | 1-3 |
| 12 | Tulsa | 1-3 |
| 13 | Navy | 1-4 |
| 14 | Rice | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Alex Mortensen
- Trent Dilfer departs
- Hired Trent Dilfer
- Bryant Vincent departs (interim)
- Hired Bryant Vincent (interim)
- Bill Clark departs
- Hired Bill Clark
- Bill Clark departs
Coordinator lineage
UAB’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014 · Bryant Vincent2017 · Les Koenning2018–2021 · Bryant Vincent2022 · Darin Hinshaw2023–2025 · Alex Mortensen
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Duwan Walker2017–2022 · David Reeves2023–2024 · Sione Ta'ufo'ou2025 · Steve Russ2026 · Todd Grantham
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
2014 Shutdown / 2017 Resurrection
since 2014
more
UAB's football program was SHUT DOWN by the university in December 2014 — citing financial reasons. The decision sparked massive student + alumni + community protests. The program was RESURRECTED in 2017 under Bill Clark — the only modern FBS-program shutdown-then-revival arc. The 2014 funeral + 2017 rebirth + 2018 Conference USA championship are permanent institutional canon.
Bill Clark Era (2014-2021)
since 2014
more
Bill Clark — head coach during the 2014 final season, the 2017 resurrection rebuild, and through 2021 — produced the modern peak (2018 11-3 + C-USA championship + Boca Raton Bowl). Clark's role as 'resurrection coach' + his 2022 medical retirement give the era permanent narrative weight.
Protective Stadium 2021
since 2021
more
Protective Stadium (built 2021) — UAB's first dedicated football venue + Birmingham's modern multi-purpose stadium — replaced decades at Legion Field (which UAB previously shared). The 47,000 capacity + downtown Birmingham setting + corporate naming-rights modernity + the post-2017 resurrection era make Protective Stadium permanent program identity.
Cultural identity
2022 W
2021 W
2019 L
2018 W
2017 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
4.8k
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats BYU 31-28
817
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Memphis 31-24
521
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Central Arkansas 45-35
206
[Game Thread] Independence Bowl - BYU vs. UAB (3:30PM ET)
206
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Alabama A&M 59-0
All-time top community posts
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