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The concern (and this certainly applies to me) is that, if Clark is run off, it's back to suckage for the foreseeable future. Just what the bastards want. By fighting for Clark, we are fighting to prevent that.

It's not either/or. It's both.

I agree with everything you say, but is Clark a make or break issue? Are UAB willing to lose football again over the coach? That seems to be the crossroads we are coming to.

In my mind yes it is a make or break. Losing Clark after he has stuck with it and they've made him the face of the program (sending him to conference meetings, Watts declaring "he's our coach") would make the job toxic for anyone of any competence.

(09-13-2015 08:16 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(09-13-2015 07:56 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Why we want to keep Clark is obvious to anyone who understands football. He took Garrick McGee's roster, plugged in a few jucos and won more games than we have in 11 years. He is clearly a talented coach who had the program on the rise. He's won everywhere he's been. He showed a level of loyalty unheard of in his profession to an administration that, frankly, doesn't deserve it.

We have our football Gene Bartow. Finally.

If he's run off, who will replace him? Ellis Johnson is as good a guess as any.

Running off Clark would be hamstringing the program, which is what they've consistently done in the past, and would be completely in character for this gang of idiots.

Running Clark off will continue to do what they've been doing all along. If we suck hard enough, long enough, support will dwindle until it's December 2 again.

Their fuckup was not cancelling football after '13. Instead they waited until the program was showing a pulse for the first time in years.

Because of Clark.

I agree with everything you say, but is Clark a make or break issue? Are UAB fans willing to lose football again over the coach? That seems to be the crossroads we are coming to.

If we lose Clark, no decent coach will take the job. They will saddle us with another Callaway who will run it into the ground and it will die.

You can like that or not, but you can bet that is the preferred plan.

Either UAB controls it's own destiny or it doesn't. If it doesn't then we can look forward to competing in basketball with West Pensacola Community College for that coveted Western Panhandle division title. That is if we are allowed to have a team.

(09-13-2015 03:03 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(09-13-2015 02:54 PM)Hopeful Wrote:  If football was killed again, the resulting consequences would be massive. We've already spent any emotional capital we had at conference headquarters plus and the decision makers there have changed. There wouldn't be any probationary periods. We'd be out and independent. That's when the real bleeding starts. Coaches leave in the midst of the transition for greener pastures, recruiting starts to trend towards rock bottom, transfers on top of transfers, the pending scheduling disasters, etc. Our credibility as an institution would pretty much be worthless, too.

A conference like the Atlantic Sun would probably reach out eventually, but, by the time anything would be accepted, UAB would be such a shell of its former self that it wouldn't even be recognizable. In a future like that, people around here would be kind of interested in our game against Jacksonville until they realized it wasn't Jacksonville State and then go back to lumping us in with North Florida, FGCU, SC-Upstate, and the rest of our new peers.

None of that is happening. This thread is just an attempt at fearmongering because Clark may not be retained.

No Clark, no football. We won't find another like him who we can afford and who is willing to take the job.

Let's put it this way...

If they had been smart enough to pull this stunt after McGee had left...there wouldn't have been as much protesting, fundraising, etc.

Clark is the reason we are even as far into this as we are.

(09-13-2015 11:26 PM)thebernreuter Wrote:  We won't find another like him who we can afford and who is willing to take the job.

It's not a matter of who would take the job. It'd be who we were allowed to hire.

Clark first of all deserves the chance to continue coaching UAB. Second of all, he has shown the ability to do more with less than most coaches I have seen which makes him an ideal selection to continue as our coach. And thirdly, what has he done based on his first year of work that wouldn't warrant an extension? So we would support a decision to fix something that isn't broken? That's foolish. It's plain as day why the BOT wouldn't want Clark to continue coaching. So why should we allow that decision to be made by those who have such a history of malicious intent?

What he fails to realize is how much private money is tied to Clark. It is a BIG chunk. We lose Clark and we lose that money.

That said we will win. Make no mistake this is a bloody fight and bloodier than most realize. If you don't think we are not still fighting for the survival of football you have no damn clue what you are talking about.

There is definitely a lack of reading comprehension on this board. I am not advocating moving on without Clark. Every post seems to point out why we need Clark, and I am in agreement with all the points, even the ones who call me a troll and deny my existence.

My question is what happens when it becomes apparrent that they will not allow us to keep Clark.

(09-14-2015 09:01 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  There is definitely a lack of reading comprehension on this board. I am not advocating moving on without Clark. Every post seems to point out why we need Clark, and I am in agreement with all the points, even the ones who call me a troll and deny my existence.

My question is what happens when it becomes apparrent that they will not allow us to keep Clark.

That's a fair question, because it will be a clear indicator that they're still trying to kill the program and not willing to grant UAB the autonomy to control its own athletics department.

Is it a bridge too far? Hell, I don't know. I thought we were several bridges too far already.

If Clark is run off then I frankly don't know what I'll do, because it will mean not a damn thing has changed.

(09-14-2015 09:01 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  There is definitely a lack of reading comprehension on this board. I am not advocating moving on without Clark. Every post seems to point out why we need Clark, and I am in agreement with all the points, even the ones who call me a troll and deny my existence.

My question is what happens when it becomes apparrent that they will not allow us to keep Clark.

I think we will eventually win this and keep Clark. That said to answer your question I don't know. What I do know is we will lose millions in pledged money that is tied directly to Clark and will jeopardize fundraising in a major way.

& the snowball effect will mean that every other UAB associated department or program would lose tons in funds as well.

Right. It will be a trickle down. They know this.

(09-14-2015 09:01 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  There is definitely a lack of reading comprehension on this board.

There's also a lack of literary prowess.

How much longer can they really drag this on post student vote? Approach the NCAA to double check the stipulations of the reinstatement? Meet with city officials to gauge if community is truly ready for football? If this gets stretched out to an even more ridiculous degree and he finally decides he can't deal with this anymore, then I'll do the same thing I was ready to do when the programs were put down to begin with: I'll wish him luck at whatever power school snatches him up.

No way it goes down like that in reality, though.

We're way passed the point where they just **** on us and we can't do anything about it. Those days are over. This stalling and those rumored contract terms aren't an attack. It's pure and irrational desperation. They are on the defensive. We've established ourselves to the point that they have to do things in response to our efforts. I don't believe it's any ultimatum of Clark or no Clark. What are they willing to sacrifice to have him gone? That's the question to ask. They're not in the position to just casually get him out of here without losing out on something.

It is true that our UAB FBHC Clark is not the only good coach we can hire. It is also true that he is showing signs of being the best we have ever had and if run off by the administration, may not be immediately replaced by a peer. As even the wealthiest programs are finding, good coaches who can build successful programs are not plentiful. Coach Clark is "the bird in our hand" so he is worth fighting to keep so UAB does not have to look for another "in the bushes".

What many of us want is a sign of actual facility building to start with shovel meeting soil and brick meeting mortar. Those two things and a contract acceptable to Clark are starting points for 2016.