Does UAB football have the resources to win? ‘The short answer is yes’

Bill Clark built UAB into a winner, leading the Blazers to 49 wins and five straight bowl appearances following the revival of the football program in 2017. That’s the level of success UAB is trying to return to after failing to win more than four games in each of the past three seasons.

Following a forgettable three-year stint under Trent Dilfer, UAB is now turning to Alex Mortensen to lead the program back to its previous winning ways. But is that possible in college football’s new NIL landscape?

While Clark rose UAB from the ashes, he did so before the days of players earning money through shared revenue and name, image and likeness deals. It’s no secret that UAB’s funding is a fraction of what college football’s elite programs receive. But can the Blazers still build their program back into a winner with their current resources?

“The short answer is yes, we can,” Mortensen said when asked if he can win at UAB during a Thursday appearance on WBRC’s Good Day Alabama.

Mortensen listed recruiting as UAB’s biggest advantage, pointing out the strong five-hour radius of talent the Blazers have at their disposal. Before coming to UAB, Mortensen spent nine seasons working as an assistant on Nick Saban’s talent-laden Alabama teams. On the opposite side of the spectrum, he began his coaching career overseeing quarterbacks at New Mexico Highlands, where he was faced with a dearth of local prospects.

“No offense to the state of New Mexico. I coached New Mexico for a year, not a densely populated area,” Mortensen said. “Here we got a lot of people. We got really good football in this area. So I think we can recruit to the school in the area. That helps tremendously. So that’s an advantage that we really wanted to tap into. That’s something we did at Alabama, too.”

Alabama’s football program has a backing that dwarfs the one Mortensen will receive at UAB. However, UAB’s administration has expressed a willingness to extend more resources to the Blazers moving forward.

“I can just tell you that the institution, the administration, the university, they want to make a commitment to help as much as they can, to adapt in this era,” Mortensen said. “And then also you have people in the community that want to donate to our Excellence Fund and help that grow so we can, we can go compete.”

During a private interview with local reporters last week, UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram called the administration’s increased monetary commitment “significant” without providing exact figures.

“Well, first of all, having more is always appreciated, and the increase that [UAB president] Dr. [Ray] Watts and I have talked about is really important in a couple of ways,” Ingram said during the interview. “One, the amount of money is significant. And two, it’s him clearly understanding this new unusual challenge that everybody has to deal with. I appreciate his acknowledgement of that challenge. We’ve talked about it probably every year that I’ve been here. How do we compare to everybody else and how does that look and what can we do? Community guys want to participate and so you’re trying to do that. He certainly recognizes the value and what the institution can do as it’s able.”

Mortensen’s first step in rebuilding UAB’s program will be to retain as many of his top players as possible. The Blazers have already seen several key players announce their intention to enter the transfer portal.

UAB players are currently in the midst of a 15-day transfer window that opened up Wednesday, five days after the Blazers officially promoted Mortensen. The NCAA portal will open up for all players from Jan. 2-16.

“I think it’s really important to have really good relationships with your own players,” Mortensen said during his television interview. “You know, it’s always been important, but it’s maybe more important than ever, because you have to recruit them to retain them. And then you also have to be mindful of they have someone else in their ear now. There are agents out there that are going to be talking to them, and they’re going to try to convince them that your coach doesn’t have your best interests at heart and tehy only want you here for our own purposes.

“So there it’s it’s different. It is really different. And so there are some challenges there, and and we do have to recognize that you’re gonna probably get your heart broken some, but what we obviously want to retain as many of our players as we can.”

Despite facing a challenging next few weeks, Mortensen isn’t making any excuses as he looks to resurrect the Blazers in his first season.

“There’s an old saying, ‘Adapt or die,’” Mortensen said. “So we can complain about it and be frustrated, or we can say, let’s figure out how to compete in this new era. And you know, UAB, I have a lot of respect for the stretches of success we’ve had here. But at the same time, we got to recognize that to compete, it can’t just be copy and paste. We have to find how to compete in this new era, and I’m confident we will.”