Marshall is playing for an unbeaten season. UAB is playing for its life.

Tulane's also a private school, as is SMU. So they're totally different animals than UAB.

 

After listening to the head coach of UAB today on a radio show, I have changed my opinion.
I think the program can be relevant with a core group of people in that city.
The coach said he was not looking to upstage or even compete for the same athletes with Alabama and Auburn. He spoke of being able to provide an outlet for many high schoolers to continue their dream of playing college football.
I'm all for that idea and if the Blazers could find a niche in their own conference and move into a smaller stadium, perhaps they can indeed be relevant to a good number of people.
There was interesting talk of a longtime feud between past coaches 'Bear' Bryant and Gene Bartow which might have lessened how much funding was steered away from the Tide programs and toward UAB's.
The Alabama system owes that program a certain amount of support that perhaps they have not been giving them up to this point.

 

Let's assume that the State of Alabama reforms their governance process so that the boards are not dominated by individuals such as Paul Bryant, Jr. or Bobby Lowder. And I think they should.

The Board should have allowed UAB to hire Jimbo Fisher. Though a problem that schools at the level of UAB have is keeping successful coaches. Look at how long Hugh Freeze and Gus Mahzlan lasted at Arkansas State. So I don't know how much long term impact hiring Fisher would have had.

But if I am a taxpayer in the State of Alabama who likes football why should I support investing a lot of money in UAB football?

UAB is never going to make a lot of television dollars. In 2013 only four non Big five schools drew more than 40,000, BYU, USF, UCF and East Carolina. And even if UAB draws more than 40,000 would the program be profitable?

I also think in Alabama UAB will always be perceived as the AAA school. There will always be more interest in the SEC and the NFL. I just don't see enough value to the state to invest money into the program.

 

UAB plays at Legion Field because there is no where else. The city has been kicking around a domed stadium for a decade but the will and the money are not there. The high school playoffs formerly held there now rotate between AU and UA. Birmingham is in crying need of a facility that could handle football, concerts, perhaps soccer. The Birmingham Barons recently build a very nice park downtown, but it is a purpose built baseball facility, not suitable for football. That's part of the rationale for an on campus stadium.

Birmingham is still the Football Capital of the South. TV ratings say so every year. If UAB puts a decent team out there, a fun team that wins, there will be butts in seats. Nobody wants to go watch bad football. The BoT's coaching hires have gone a long way to be certain there was bad football no one wanted to see. Other side of the coin is that the tickets are cheap, that you can park easily and get in and out of the stadium fast. Compared to a trip to Tuscaloosa, the expense and the traffic, it's a good deal.

When they're not painfully bad.

As to your wife, Blitz, most people tend to have loyalty to their undergrad institution, much less so the grad school. That's part of the idea, to provide to the undergrads part of the experience that bonds students so that they become donating alums later in life. Build a 30k seat stadium and fill it, expand it if the demand is there. UAB generates billions for the system, and it isn't asking for waterfalls in the training room.

 

DP

 

Then there's this:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24839675

 

No dog in this fight but for accuracy's sake, UNC Charlotte will be FBS in 2015 and in fact will be league-mates with UAB in Conference USA.

 

http://www.fireraywatts.com/

It's possible that some of you know Steven Chappell as he has both been a journalist and taught journalism.

He's pissed.


and http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/11/uab_football_foundation_pledge.html

 

Maybe they should do abetter job of sticking to a budget.

 

There are going to be a lot of college programs shut down in the next 10 years.

We're already seeing a divide between the "power 5" conferences and the rest of the world. Eventually, the power 5 will leave the NCAA and form their own organization, attempt to draw the big dollars from television, etc. The smaller schools, be they FBS or FCS or Division II will have to band together and create a product they can market to the public. A lot of schools won't have the finances to make it and given that football costs more than any other sport, football will be ditched at a lot of small and mid-sized schools. Sad day all across the board.

 

Our university is in the midst of a billion dollar capital campaign whose message is "Give Something, Change Everything." Our student-athletes and coaches continue to give UAB their everything, every day.

What we ask of you now is to have the vision to give them something. A chance.

We have been asked to be quiet. We have been told there is nothing to say. We have challenged our administration to stand up for our athletic department. We have not been asked for our opinion, or given us a voice to offer one. But now you have it: We, the coaches of the women's sports programs at UAB, speak for our assistant coaches, our student-athletes and the fans of our programs, and we stand together to give our unwavering support to UAB football and Coach Bill Clark.


Bailey Coleman | UAB Sand Volleyball
Michelle Crews | UAB Bowling
Kerry Messersmith | UAB Volleyball
Randy Norton | UAB Women's Basketball
Kurt Thomas | UAB Women's Track
Mark Tija | UAB Women's Tennis
Marla Townsend | UAB Softball
Harold Warren | Women's Soccer
Kim Wilcox | UAB Women's Golf


http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/11/uab_womens_sport_coaches_voice.html#incart_river

 

There are far too many schools that have started football programs and jumped to the FBS level in the past decade that have absolutely no business being there. My alma mater is one. So are places like South Alabama, UNC Charlotte, Texas-San Antonio and others. In time, I expect most of those programs will crash because their just isn't the economic infrastructure to sustain the number of scholarships, coaches and support staff necessary to operate a D-I football program.