02-15-2021, 03:28 PM
https://www.athleticdirectoru.com/articl...nvestment/
UAB’s football program was discontinued in 2014 and later reinstated prior to the 2017 season. Bill Clark has remained head coach throughout the process and it has paid massive dividends for the Blazers program. Following the reinstatement, Clark led UAB to a bowl game after an 8-win season and followed it up with an 11-win campaign and bowl victory in 2018.
UAB recorded at least eight wins in 2017, 2018 and 2019, a feat that wasn’t accomplished a single time in the program’s previous 19 seasons. With continued local support, fundraising and on-field success, the Blazers are now set to unveil Protective Stadium, a brand-new, 47,000-seat capacity football stadium later this year. Clark has also helped welcome two of the four highest-rated recruits in school history since the program’s revival, per 24/7Sports.
As such, UAB’s football budget has experienced the 14th-largest proportional increase since 2014 and the fourth-largest increase among G5 programs in the last five years.
Most universities won’t undergo the extremes of discontinuing FBS football to winning 11 games in a three-year window. UAB’s case supports the overarching theme of the study, though, which is to find the right leaders who can win on a budget, generate fan engagement and support through on-court/field success, and leverage that newfound interest into improvement, renovations and financial backing for other sports.
Since UAB brought back football, athletic director Mark Ingram has helped the university raise more than $100M in funding, designed and constructed a $22.5M football practice facility, hired former Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy as the new men’s basketball coach, and also saw its student-athletes record the highest grade-point average in school history, per UAB’s athletic website.
UAB’s football program was discontinued in 2014 and later reinstated prior to the 2017 season. Bill Clark has remained head coach throughout the process and it has paid massive dividends for the Blazers program. Following the reinstatement, Clark led UAB to a bowl game after an 8-win season and followed it up with an 11-win campaign and bowl victory in 2018.
UAB recorded at least eight wins in 2017, 2018 and 2019, a feat that wasn’t accomplished a single time in the program’s previous 19 seasons. With continued local support, fundraising and on-field success, the Blazers are now set to unveil Protective Stadium, a brand-new, 47,000-seat capacity football stadium later this year. Clark has also helped welcome two of the four highest-rated recruits in school history since the program’s revival, per 24/7Sports.
As such, UAB’s football budget has experienced the 14th-largest proportional increase since 2014 and the fourth-largest increase among G5 programs in the last five years.
Most universities won’t undergo the extremes of discontinuing FBS football to winning 11 games in a three-year window. UAB’s case supports the overarching theme of the study, though, which is to find the right leaders who can win on a budget, generate fan engagement and support through on-court/field success, and leverage that newfound interest into improvement, renovations and financial backing for other sports.
Since UAB brought back football, athletic director Mark Ingram has helped the university raise more than $100M in funding, designed and constructed a $22.5M football practice facility, hired former Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy as the new men’s basketball coach, and also saw its student-athletes record the highest grade-point average in school history, per UAB’s athletic website.