http://www.si.com/college-football/2014/...-matt-mauk
Assistant huddle
• Who has put up the most complete game against Mississippi State this season? It wasn’t LSU or Texas A&M, which struggled for long stretches before scrambling to make the score close in the final few minutes. It was Alabama-Birmingham, which has quietly put together an impressive turnaround under first-year coach Bill Clark.
The UAB offense has shined, thanks to 38-year-old Bryant Vincent, a former high school coach quickly making a name for himself in his first season as a collegiate play-caller. “There’s not a whole lot of difference to be honest with you,” Vincent said of high school and college.
After piling up 591 yards of offense in Saturday’s 42-39 win at Western Kentucky, Vincent’s unit ranks 21st nationally in total offense (498.4 yards per game). His goal is a minimum of least 90 offensive snaps per game.
Not surprisingly, Vincent’s offensive influences are all former high school coaches -- Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, Baylor’s Art Briles and Clemson OC Chad Morris. He got to know Malzahn while both were high school coaches, Morris through Clemson graduate assistant Joe Craddock, and Briles during a visit to Waco in March arranged by a mutual friend. It was during the Baylor trip that Vincent honed in on the up-tempo pace that he previously hadn’t employed as a high school play-caller.
“Now as soon as the ball is put down,” Vincent said, “we try to snap it.”
Prior to his arrival at UAB, Vincent was the quarterbacks coach for three seasons at South Alabama. He’s got 12 years of high school experience, which includes a Class 5A state championship he won in his fourth and final season as coach at Spanish Fort (Ala.) in 2010.
Malzahn, Morris and Briles also won state high school championships. “Those guys have really broken the mold,” Vincent said. “Maybe seven or eight years ago, it was kind of frowned upon. You look at those guys, and now I think it’s kind of almost trendy.”
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SI's Thayer Evans Talks to/about UAB's OC Bryant Vincent
