Technically, UAB has been on the clock to find its next head football coach longer than any other program in this cycle.
It’s been more than five months since Bill Clark’s abrupt resignation/retirement from the Blazers’ position shocked both school officials and the college football world.
After a 6-6 season under interim coach Bryant Vincent, which is landing the Blazers in the Bahamas Bowl Dec. 16, current UAB players are asking that the school promote Vincent to the job in a full-time capacity.
An unspecified number of players sent an undated letter to UAB President Dr. Ray L. Watts, in which players asserted that they had been denied an opportunity to meet with Watts via his secretary and also said that, “We, as a team, want our voices to be heard. We have fought and brought championships and bowl wins to this University. Championships and bowl wins that have never been done in the history of this program. We have accomplished things that nobody thought would ever happen here.”
The players in their letter said that “On June 27, (UAB Athletics Director) Mark Ingram, told us that he will conduct a national search for our coach. That was all he said. He didn’t talk to any of us players or ask us any questions. …
“We went through an entire season of uncertainty and stuck together to reach bowl eligibility for the 7th, I repeat, 7th straight year.”
Per sources, UAB has conducted an exhaustive national search and worked to finalize a hire for its next head coach by the end of this week.
The Blazers beat Conference-USA foe North Texas, 41-21, on Nov. 12 to wrap up the home portion of their schedule and got their sixth win that secured bowl eligibility last Saturday at Louisiana Tech.
UAB (6-6) faces Miami (OH) next month in its bowl game.
A former state championship-winning high school coach in Alabama, Vincent spent the previous four seasons as UAB’s offensive coordinator and helped the program to a pair of C-USA championships and a pair of bowl victories.