UAB shutting down football program

#26
#26
South Alabama being bowl eligible has put a lot of heat on UAB as well. There just aren't enough players and bowls to support all these division 1 teams in Alabama.
 
#27
#27
Oh yeah, all this is going on right in the middle of the largest capital campaign in the school's and the state's history.
 
#28
#28
vols-1 said:
South Alabama being bowl eligible has put a lot of heat on UAB as well. There just aren't enough players and bowls to support all these division 1 teams in Alabama.
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UAB wasn't going to get a bowl but maybe they will now if it's the "last game ever" since it might drive attendance.

Hell, if I had a crap bowl I'd do it for the PR.
 
#30
#30
volinbham said:
I didn't believe the BOT vs UAB stuff until the Jimbo situation. It was completely unwarranted. To make matters worse, the board foisted Neil Calloway on the Blazers in Jimbo's place (Calloway had ties to someone on the board but was not one of the original options under serious consideration in addition to Fisher). Calloway nearly killed the program via sheer incompetence.

The stadium fiasco was another last minute move by the BOT.

I spoke with Coach Clark this Summer and he indicated that he was having trouble getting permission to spend on facilities even though the money for the specific improvements he sought was available in the budget. Looking back, it sounds like they were already moving towards the axe.

At an absolute minimum the BOT has not been transparent when dealing with UAB Football. At worst, members on the BOT are actively working to shut down the program.

There are lots of coincidences here - too many to not at least merit investigation.

Likewise, UAB Administration has not been transparent.

Sad state of affairs.
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Wow.
 
#31
#31
VB, thanks for providing a closer look at the situation. Nice to have an eye on the ground for lack of a better term.
 
#32
#32
bamawriter said:
Someone needs to take 5 minutes to learn how public university systems are organized and governed.
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Are they governed by a board where 95% of the members hold degrees from the the main campus in Tuscaloosa?

Seems to me that the folks in charge have the best interests of one university in mind and one university only.

Strikes me as just one step in a larger game to put an end to UAB and transform the campus, and the renowned Medical Center, into a satellite of UA-T.

End football and you hurt the athletic department as a whole. Kill the athletic programs and you damage enrollment at the university. Weaken the university and guess who is left to pick up the best parts of it when it is no longer feasible to operate?

Small wonder you folks celebrate and honor the likes of Updyke: you intend to do to UAB what he did to Toomer's Corner.
 
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#34
#34
volinbham said:
A nice, thorough article about the situation (written a couple weeks ago).

Is the Alabama board of trustees finally ready to kill UAB football? - CBSSports.com
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Almost like a college football version of The Natural. Board consistently blocks any major attempt to improve facilities and hire quality coaches. They put in place stooges (Watts) who will do their bidding. They allow Clark's hiring in the belief that he would not be able to do enough to alter their plans. Problem is that he has taken UAB to a 6-6 record and an increase in attendance of 120-130%.

Don't know if he's done enough to save them against the odds. But he has managed to generate enough interest in the program for the community, students, and alumni to fight for its survival. This in turn has put a regional and increasingly national spotlight on the Bammer rats on their BOT. They don't like the exposure.

It'll be interesting to see if those trying to weaken UAB decide to call it off and try again in some other way.
 
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#35
#35
#FreeUAB is one of the top 10 trends on Twitter right now

UAB Athletics Fan ‏@UABBlazerNation · 2m2 minutes ago
@Oprah Please show your support for @UAB_Football by tweeting #FreeUAB. They're trying to shut our program down! #SaveUABFootball
 
#37
#37
508mikey said:
So Hart has to find a replacement for the opener ? Will it still be at Nashville, with a replacement team ?
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Likely one of the out of conference FBS teams that UAB was going to play...so UT will probably announce it's playing either South Alabama or Troy.
 
#38
#38
T.N. Buckingham said:
Almost like a college football version of The Natural. Board consistently blocks any major attempt to improve facilities and hire quality coaches. They put in place stooges (Watts) who will do their bidding. They allow Clark's hiring in the belief that he would not be able to do enough to alter their plans. Problem is that he has taken UAB to a 6-6 record and an increase in attendance of 120-130%.

Don't know if he's done enough to save them against the odds. But he has managed to generate enough interest in the program for the community, students, and alumni to fight for its survival. This in turn has put a regional and increasingly national spotlight on the Bammer rats on their BOT. They don't like the exposure.

It'll be interesting to see if those trying to weaken UAB decide to call it off and try again in some other way.
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Clark pulled a fast one too by telling ESPN the decision was made then backing off that - it was enough to get national stories going.

UAB Admin and the BOT are getting a lesson in new media.

The longer they stay in the bunker the more this will go.

Hope the show out for the protests tomorrow is good
 
#39
#39
Saw this on the #FreeUAB Twitter feed - Ray Watts is the UAB President and "Knowledge that will change your world" is the current tagline for the University
 

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#40
#40
T.N. Buckingham said:
End football and you hurt the athletic department as a whole. Kill the athletic programs and you damage enrollment at the university. Weaken the university and guess who is left to pick up the best parts of it when it is no longer feasible to operate?
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I have no real opinion on UAB playing football or shutting it down. I really don't care.

But your hyperventilating is absurd. UAB was doing just fine as a university before they started playing football all of 23 years ago, and they'll do just fine without it.
 
#42
#42
bamawriter said:
I have no real opinion on UAB playing football or shutting it down. I really don't care.

But your hyperventilating is absurd. UAB was doing just fine as a university before they started playing football all of 23 years ago, and they'll do just fine without it.
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Who's hyperventilating?
 
#44
#44
bamawriter said:
Suggesting that shutting down a 23 year old football program will "weaken the university" is hyperventilating.
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I disagree.

First, this will be more than shutting down a football team - it will be shutting down many sports to comply with Title IX.

Second, the strategic plan for UAB for at least the last 10 years was to become more of a traditional campus and enhance student life. Towards that end, massive investments in physical space and programs has been undertaken. Removing a significant chunk of athletics is directly counter to that longer term strategy - a strategy that has yielded considerable success in enrollment growth AND enrollment selectivity.

Third, UAB is in the middle of a historic (for school and state) capital campaign. This move can only hurt that campaign and will sour relationships with many alumni and locals.

Fourth, UAB is a young university with the real significant growth occurring within the last 40 years - the alumni base is small but growing and finally maturing into a critical mass of successful and influential alumni. This type move will definitely hurt alumni relations just when we are overcoming the challenges any young university faces in building critical mass in alumni.

If UAB had never started football then this would different. However UAB today is totally different than UAB of 23 years ago. I've been there 15 years and the change is drastic.

The university will be weakened at least for some period of time.
 
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#45
#45
Nothing like some good old fashioned marketing exploitation

From the #FreeUAB twitter feed
 

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#48
#48
volinbham said:
I disagree.

First, this will be more than shutting down a football team - it will be shutting down many sports to comply with Title IX.
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You know more about UAB's bottom line that I do, so I won't argue those points. But I will disagree on the Title IX issue.

There are cheaper male sports that UAB could simply add to make up the difference. Shoot, they don't currently sponsor track and cross-country. It's a heck of a lot cheaper to maintain those sports than football.
 
#49
#49
bamawriter said:
You know more about UAB's bottom line that I do, so I won't argue those points. But I will disagree on the Title IX issue.

There are cheaper male sports that UAB could simply add to make up the difference. Shoot, they don't currently sponsor track and cross-country. It's a heck of a lot cheaper to maintain those sports than football.
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No way they add 85 new male scholarships.

Also, football may be closest to break even of all the sports considering the conference affiliation it brings for the other sports.

I guarantee they are not looking to swap football for more men's sports.
 
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