What’s Next in UAB Football’s Extraordinary Comeback
UAB Football fans have lots to celebrate. They won a Conference USA Championship this past weekend. They ranked in the Coaches Poll. And the Blazers will play the Boca Raton Bowl, their second bowl game in a row. It’s a lot for a program that was shut down by the school system’s board of trustees late in 2014 and resurrected only two years ago. WBHM’s Gigi Douban talks about the Blazers’ season with Tom Arenberg, who teaches journalism at the University of Alabama and is former sports editor for the Birmingham News.
Given the team’s quick rise to success, it’s uncertain how long UAB can keep Blazers Coach Bill Clark. The school extended his contract and gave him a big raise, starting at $1.45 million.
“I have no doubt that larger schools are thinking about Bill Clark, maybe talking to Bill Clark, because what he’s done is remarkable not just on the football field, but off the football field,” Arenberg says. Clark rallied fans and donors alike to support the program. He says Clark could have left when the program was shut down, but he didn’t. “It might not be a given that he will leave, but it’s also clear that despite the much higher investment than in the past that UAB has made in Bill, it’s fairly clear that other schools can outbid UAB if they want to,” Arenberg says.
But can UAB get out from under the shadow of the state’s bigger and better-funded programs, Alabama and Auburn? Arenberg says it was a breakout season within the Birmingham community. “I think there were parts of the Birmingham community that needed to show more support, or at least UAB needed to earn their support, and I think that’s happened,” Arenberg says. And that’s happened, he says. People are going to games, they’re contributing money, and they feel a sense of community pride around Blazers football, he says. No need to try to outdo their bigger rivals. “They just need to have enough of a base and support in the Birmingham community to continue their progress and continue their success,” he says.
Some commentators have argued the national media hasn’t been paying enough attention to UAB football, but Arenberg says they’re catching on now. “This is the turnaround story of the year on a national scale, as far as I’m concerned,” he says. “The conference championship has drawn some more attention, the bowl game will draw some more attention,” he says. Who knows? Maybe Coach Clark’s name is mentioned in reference to some bigger job openings, Arenberg says, which generates more buzz around UAB.
And if the Blazers have a downturn, fans have seen worse — no program at all, which Arenberg says puts a few losses in perspective.
Preparations begin to ramp up aid in Gaza as ceasefire brings hope for end to 2-year war
Preparations were also underway Sunday for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Hollywood’s quirky leading lady, Diane Keaton, dies aged 79
Diane Keaton, who remained one of Hollywood's quirkiest and most beloved actors decades after her Academy Award-winning performance in the movie Annie Hall, has died aged 79.
16 people died in a blast at a Tennessee explosives factory early Friday, sheriff says
A blast in rural Tennessee that leveled an explosives plant and was felt for miles around killed 16 people and left no survivors, authorities said.
Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘The Godfather,’ dies at 79
The actor, known for her quirky, vibrant manner and depth was 79. Across her decades-long career, she worked with prominent filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen and Nancy Meyers.
Trump slashes mental health agency as shutdown drags on
Sources tell NPR that more than 100 employees have been laid off at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had some cuts reversed late Saturday.
Nobel Prize winner Machado says Venezuela is in ‘chaos’ under current regime
The far-right leader of Venezuela's opposition party said that the current president is illegitimate and called for his removal.
