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It's threads like this that make people want to stick a hot poker in their own eye. This wasn't intended as investigative journalism. It's a feel good story leading up to a 3rd straight bowl game.

If you think that Clark hasn't been contacted by P5 schools for vacancies, you can have that opinion. It's wrong but you can have any opinion about the subject. There is a protocol for making back channel inquiries that doesn't include us (who'd of thunk it).

As far as scheduling, Mark and Bill can make phone calls to every P5 program in the country and as soon as they see the 205 area code it gets ignored. Before the first game in 2017 I was talking to Mark about scheduling. Before the first game they had schools calling right and left trying to get a game. I told him "you know after the first game and they see us all those calls are going to stop, right?". He just said "yeah, we're trying to get as many as we can now because we know they won't schedule us once they see us". Unless we completely tank or someone wants to go and force a program to come here at gunpoint that's not going to change.

(12-20-2019 07:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 01:57 AM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:29 PM)mobileblazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:13 PM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  Nice piece of propaganda by Scarbo. Clark didn’t decline looks from other schools. Really more like no one wanted him. And if you think otherwise you are not really smart. No SEC or AAC schools wanted him. Logically look at all the new couching hires Bill Clark doesn’t fit into any of those positions. Scarbo needs to do a better job reporting. How about go investigate what is going on with a possible move to the AAC don’t just hint at it with no information. And why you are at it Scarbo, go ask what the AD is doing to schedule some P5 opponents to play in that new stadium?

Yeah, I’m sure Kevin was fibbing lol
I must not be smart lol

Okay let’s break down Scarbo comments he implied “a handful of SEC & & AAC schools were interested in Clark. The SEC jobs that were open were Old Miss, Mizzu & Arkansas. And the only AAC job that was open was Memphis. Old Miss hired Kiffin a big name offensive coach. The Old Miss fanbase & alumni wanted a splash hire & that is not Bill Clark. Now Arkansas made a terrible hire with Sam Pittman but if you look into that coaching search they wanted Kiffin but when that fell through They then interviewed Matt Campbell & Mike Leach. They never even looked at Clark. Mizzu went and got Drinkwitz an up and coming offensive mind.If you look into that hiring process the Ad at Mizzu brought a list of possible coaching hires to the Mizzu System Board and they were not thrilled with the coaches on that list. So if Clark was one of those coaches the Mizzu board didn’t want him. And Memphis hired from within. All I’m saying is don’t believe everything that is written go research it for yourself. Because of what I have seen he was not a real candidate for any of the SEC or ACC coaching positions. And one of the posters said it on this board Scarbo is friends with Clark so how can you trust him to do an unbiased story on his friend.

i trust scarbinski's integrity more than yours. he has a long history of it. Memphis offered Clark the job previously so there is no reason to think they did not contact his agent. just because something was not reported by ESPN did not mean it did not happen. schools hire search firms. those search firms contact the agents of coaches to see if there is interest. if not they look elsewhere and random internet fan is none the wiser.

When did Memphis offer Bill Clark the job? I believe Memphis contacted him this time but don't remember a time when they offered him a job.

(12-20-2019 09:37 AM)busch Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 07:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 01:57 AM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:29 PM)mobileblazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:13 PM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  Nice piece of propaganda by Scarbo. Clark didn’t decline looks from other schools. Really more like no one wanted him. And if you think otherwise you are not really smart. No SEC or AAC schools wanted him. Logically look at all the new couching hires Bill Clark doesn’t fit into any of those positions. Scarbo needs to do a better job reporting. How about go investigate what is going on with a possible move to the AAC don’t just hint at it with no information. And why you are at it Scarbo, go ask what the AD is doing to schedule some P5 opponents to play in that new stadium?

Yeah, I’m sure Kevin was fibbing lol
I must not be smart lol

Okay let’s break down Scarbo comments he implied “a handful of SEC & & AAC schools were interested in Clark. The SEC jobs that were open were Old Miss, Mizzu & Arkansas. And the only AAC job that was open was Memphis. Old Miss hired Kiffin a big name offensive coach. The Old Miss fanbase & alumni wanted a splash hire & that is not Bill Clark. Now Arkansas made a terrible hire with Sam Pittman but if you look into that coaching search they wanted Kiffin but when that fell through They then interviewed Matt Campbell & Mike Leach. They never even looked at Clark. Mizzu went and got Drinkwitz an up and coming offensive mind.If you look into that hiring process the Ad at Mizzu brought a list of possible coaching hires to the Mizzu System Board and they were not thrilled with the coaches on that list. So if Clark was one of those coaches the Mizzu board didn’t want him. And Memphis hired from within. All I’m saying is don’t believe everything that is written go research it for yourself. Because of what I have seen he was not a real candidate for any of the SEC or ACC coaching positions. And one of the posters said it on this board Scarbo is friends with Clark so how can you trust him to do an unbiased story on his friend.

i trust scarbinski's integrity more than yours. he has a long history of it. Memphis offered Clark the job previously so there is no reason to think they did not contact his agent. just because something was not reported by ESPN did not mean it did not happen. schools hire search firms. those search firms contact the agents of coaches to see if there is interest. if not they look elsewhere and random internet fan is none the wiser.

When did Memphis offer Bill Clark the job? I believe Memphis contacted him this time but don't remember a time when they offered him a job.

He was offered the job behind the scenes after Justin Fuente left for VT.

(12-20-2019 01:57 AM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:29 PM)mobileblazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:13 PM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  Nice piece of propaganda by Scarbo. Clark didn’t decline looks from other schools. Really more like no one wanted him. And if you think otherwise you are not really smart. No SEC or AAC schools wanted him. Logically look at all the new couching hires Bill Clark doesn’t fit into any of those positions. Scarbo needs to do a better job reporting. How about go investigate what is going on with a possible move to the AAC don’t just hint at it with no information. And why you are at it Scarbo, go ask what the AD is doing to schedule some P5 opponents to play in that new stadium?

Yeah, I’m sure Kevin was fibbing lol
I must not be smart lol

Okay let’s break down Scarbo comments he implied “a handful of SEC & & AAC schools were interested in Clark. The SEC jobs that were open were Old Miss, Mizzu & Arkansas. And the only AAC job that was open was Memphis. Old Miss hired Kiffin a big name offensive coach. The Old Miss fanbase & alumni wanted a splash hire & that is not Bill Clark. Now Arkansas made a terrible hire with Sam Pittman but if you look into that coaching search they wanted Kiffin but when that fell through They then interviewed Matt Campbell & Mike Leach. They never even looked at Clark. Mizzu went and got Drinkwitz an up and coming offensive mind.If you look into that hiring process the Ad at Mizzu brought a list of possible coaching hires to the Mizzu System Board and they were not thrilled with the coaches on that list. So if Clark was one of those coaches the Mizzu board didn’t want him. And Memphis hired from within. All I’m saying is don’t believe everything that is written go research it for yourself. Because of what I have seen he was not a real candidate for any of the SEC or ACC coaching positions. And one of the posters said it on this board Scarbo is friends with Clark so how can you trust him to do an unbiased story on his friend.

You do realize there are really well paying coordinator positions in the SEC, right? He didn't say head coaching jobs specifically, you just read it how you wanted to.

The guy makes some good points, but to say BC wasn't contacted at all for any of these jobs is just stupid.

(12-19-2019 06:52 PM)blazerwkr Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 06:32 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  Raises for his assistants and an increase in support staff would be a big help.

+1 - now that Kiffen left, does that not make Clark highest paid in CUSA? Need especially in support staff/off field coach types.

(12-20-2019 10:37 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  The guy makes some good points, but to say BC wasn't contacted at all for any of these jobs is just stupid.

He is also a troll. Where has he been for the past 9 years?

I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

(12-20-2019 11:16 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

Again, those are all good points and certainly negatives against Clark. But to say that no teams contacted him at all is stupid. He's had too much success at a historical doormat to not attract some attention. And he obviously has attracted attention, it's just that the articles stop floating his name around when he says he wants to be at UAB at the end of each season so far.

(12-20-2019 12:09 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 11:16 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

Again, those are all good points and certainly negatives against Clark. But to say that no teams contacted him at all is stupid. He's had too much success at a historical doormat to not attract some attention. And he obviously has attracted attention, it's just that the articles stop floating his name around when he says he wants to be at UAB at the end of each season so far.

Clark has won 34 games in four years. That’s more than the previous nine years combined. Clark has won 28 games in the 3 years since bringing UAB back. SMU won four the first three years and it took ten years to match Clark’s post shutdown win total. That is why teams are interested.

(12-20-2019 02:39 AM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  I know it’s a little out of left field. I was just upset how he put in topic about the move to the AAC but didn’t expand on it. I have had that question and the one about scheduling P5 opponents at the new stadium for years now and no one reports about it. Especially about scheduling P5 schools to play new stadium that in my opinion is one of the most important questions for UAB athletics and every reporter that covers UAB either doesn’t ask or overlooks it.

There is nothing to report on. The only way that UAB moves to the AAC is if we are invited. We can, have, and are doing the things that make us attractive - our facilities are *far* better than they were when most of old C-USA went AAC and left us behind. Our FB program is the strongest it has ever been, contending for conference championships and going to bowls, with a state of the art FB complex and a new stadium under construction. Our FB attendance is at the top of the conference. Olympic sports are lightyears better. Basketball needs to improve, but the lead dog on conference movement is football. It also helps that UAB is a world class university, because ultimately the decision regarding who to invite is made by the AAC university presidents, and they value a strong academic profile. For instance, App St. is frequently mentioned as a candidate, and they field a fine football team - but they seriously lack by comparison everywhere else.

You can go ask the AAC commissioner for his comments and he's not going to say anything of substance.

As to future P5 opponents, we now play one body bag game a year.

2020 @ Miami
2021 @ Georgia
2022 none announced, although we do play Georgia Southern. That's a better than usual OOC non-P5.
2023 @ Georgia
2024 none announced.

Ask Ingram about 2022 and 2024 and he'll tell you those are being negotiated.

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/uab/

(12-20-2019 08:57 AM)DragonClaw Wrote:  Maybe FRW raises his cap on the Athletic Dept?

That would do a lot to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the Blazer faithful.

Don't hold your breath. Watts enjoys taking credit for UAB Football's renaissance, but he's still the man who wielded the knife.

We have forgotten nothing. We have forgiven nothing.

The cap raising should have already happened.

The fact that it hasn't even been thought about should tell us all we need to know.

Whether or not it was Clark or his agent, they literally had national writers putting out stuff in hopes that if folks thought nobody was talking to him, that they’d jump at the bit to talk to him first.

Nobody expects him to bail for a coordinator job or position coach job, unless it has an assistant head coach tag.

(12-20-2019 11:16 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

He's *been* offered as an SEC DC. He's a head coach, and won't leave for less. He's been approached about HC positions, and he's still at UAB. I've heard this from someone who talks to Clark pretty regularly. If you don't think that his agent has fielded approaches, well, you can believe what you wish. <shrug>

My take on it has been and remains that Clark is very unlikely to leave before Protective Stadium opens. He helped design it, and he has made promises to recruits and families that they'll play there, and I think he's a man of his word. You can claim "no signature wins" all you wish, he has won 28 games in three seasons and gone to three bowls after bringing the program back from the dead, at UAB, the former home of the four win season.

We all understand the career arc of successful football coaches. The thing is that Clark is not going to take a job at a lower tier SEC/P5 for the money, only to be fired after three or four years because that school is in the bottom half of their conference for good reason. He's making $1.5m in B'ham, where money goes further than most places. He's got a nice home in town and another on the lake. He is beloved by the UAB fans. He can afford to be picky. When he leaves, and I consider it all but inevitable that he will move up one of these days, he'll go to a southern school, probably in the SEC, with a legitimate chance at a national championship. In the meantime, he's building UAB into a G5 power, and I'm damn glad we have him.

Without Bill Clark, when Watts killed our program it would have stayed dead. Instead we are far better than we've ever been. I'm in no hurry to see him go.

(12-20-2019 01:34 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 08:57 AM)DragonClaw Wrote:  Maybe FRW raises his cap on the Athletic Dept?

That would do a lot to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the Blazer faithful.

Don't hold your breath. Watts enjoys taking credit for UAB Football's renaissance, but he's still the man who wielded the knife.

We have forgotten nothing. We have forgiven nothing.

I'm assuming this question is regarding the university subsidy cap. It will not be raised. It was set at the BOT level and applies to all 3 schools

(12-20-2019 09:37 AM)busch Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 07:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 01:57 AM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:29 PM)mobileblazer Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 11:13 PM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  Nice piece of propaganda by Scarbo. Clark didn’t decline looks from other schools. Really more like no one wanted him. And if you think otherwise you are not really smart. No SEC or AAC schools wanted him. Logically look at all the new couching hires Bill Clark doesn’t fit into any of those positions. Scarbo needs to do a better job reporting. How about go investigate what is going on with a possible move to the AAC don’t just hint at it with no information. And why you are at it Scarbo, go ask what the AD is doing to schedule some P5 opponents to play in that new stadium?

Yeah, I’m sure Kevin was fibbing lol
I must not be smart lol

Okay let’s break down Scarbo comments he implied “a handful of SEC & & AAC schools were interested in Clark. The SEC jobs that were open were Old Miss, Mizzu & Arkansas. And the only AAC job that was open was Memphis. Old Miss hired Kiffin a big name offensive coach. The Old Miss fanbase & alumni wanted a splash hire & that is not Bill Clark. Now Arkansas made a terrible hire with Sam Pittman but if you look into that coaching search they wanted Kiffin but when that fell through They then interviewed Matt Campbell & Mike Leach. They never even looked at Clark. Mizzu went and got Drinkwitz an up and coming offensive mind.If you look into that hiring process the Ad at Mizzu brought a list of possible coaching hires to the Mizzu System Board and they were not thrilled with the coaches on that list. So if Clark was one of those coaches the Mizzu board didn’t want him. And Memphis hired from within. All I’m saying is don’t believe everything that is written go research it for yourself. Because of what I have seen he was not a real candidate for any of the SEC or ACC coaching positions. And one of the posters said it on this board Scarbo is friends with Clark so how can you trust him to do an unbiased story on his friend.

i trust scarbinski's integrity more than yours. he has a long history of it. Memphis offered Clark the job previously so there is no reason to think they did not contact his agent. just because something was not reported by ESPN did not mean it did not happen. schools hire search firms. those search firms contact the agents of coaches to see if there is interest. if not they look elsewhere and random internet fan is none the wiser.

When did Memphis offer Bill Clark the job? I believe Memphis contacted him this time but don't remember a time when they offered him a job.

Memphis never did offer him the job. Just people not thinking logically and making stuff up. Memphis hired Norvell for the job in 2016. Why would Memphis offer their head coaching job to a football coach with one year of D1a experience with a 6-6 record?

(12-20-2019 02:25 PM)biglizard Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 01:34 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 08:57 AM)DragonClaw Wrote:  Maybe FRW raises his cap on the Athletic Dept?

That would do a lot to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the Blazer faithful.

Don't hold your breath. Watts enjoys taking credit for UAB Football's renaissance, but he's still the man who wielded the knife.

We have forgotten nothing. We have forgiven nothing.

I'm assuming this question is regarding the university subsidy cap. It will not be raised. It was set at the BOT level and applies to all 3 schools

My one issue with the subsidy is the portion allocated to athletics via student fees. There's three buckets of the subsidy:

-General university subsidy
-Original Student Fees
-Special student fee towards the FBR fund (separately voted on by students in 2015)

Only the special student fee grows with enrollment whereas I think the original student fee should be indexed to enrollment. Other than the separate FBR assessment, all other student fees go in one big pot for the University to decide what to do with. As enrollment has grown (and thus more student fees paid into this pot) the amount allocated to athletics has remained the same. So on a percentage basis, less student fee money is being spent on athletics. I'd rather see something like X% of each student's activity fee goes to athletics so with every additional student added to enrollment the athletic budget grows.

(12-20-2019 02:01 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 11:16 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

He's *been* offered as an SEC DC. He's a head coach, and won't leave for less. He's been approached about HC positions, and he's still at UAB. I've heard this from someone who talks to Clark pretty regularly. If you don't think that his agent has fielded approaches, well, you can believe what you wish. <shrug>

My take on it has been and remains that Clark is very unlikely to leave before Protective Stadium opens. He helped design it, and he has made promises to recruits and families that they'll play there, and I think he's a man of his word. You can claim "no signature wins" all you wish, he has won 28 games after bringing the program back from the dead, at UAB, home of the four win season.

We all understand the career arc of successful football coaches. The thing is that Clark is not going to take a job at a lower tier SEC/P5 for the money, only to be fired after three or four years because that school is in the bottom half of their conference for good reason. He's making $1.5m in B'ham, where money goes further than most places. He's got a nice home in town and another on the lake. He is beloved by the UAB fans. He can afford to be picky. When he leaves, and I consider it all but inevitable that he will move up one of these days, he'll go to a southern school, probably in the SEC, with a legitimate chance at a national championship. In the meantime, he's building UAB into a G5 power, and I'm damn glad we have him.

Without Bill Clark, when Watts killed our program it would have stayed dead. Instead we are far better than we've ever been. I'm in no hurry to see him go.

You brought up some good points. Clark can be very picky if he chooses to leave. The article is trying to paint a picture that he was a viable candidate for those jobs when he wasn’t. Most colleges hire offensive minded coaches because it’s a sexy hire for the alumni and fan base and that is not Clark. Clark wasn’t going to Arkansas because why would he? It’s a death sentence to go coach there you have to go compete against Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M. And Clark’s ties are to the south east the Mizzu job requires the coach and staff to recruit the Midwest which is a tough ask for a defensive coach.

Every year you see coaches who took a job at a lower half P5 school, guys who were the hot G5 coach or P5 coordinator or assistant, who get run after three or four years, maybe two if they stink. They had good records that got them hired, which look much more pedestrian after they get fired. They then become retread HC's back in the G5 or assistants in the P5.

They do get that two to five years of P5 money, and that's typically double what they were making. They get to pocket that and take it with them when they leave. Perhaps as many as 20 or 25% of those guys succeed enough to stick for a while, but that isn't the norm.

Head coaches tend to have an ego which tells them that they can do what the coaches who came before them could not. Reality gives that ego a swift kick in the nuts, because the teams in the bottom half of the P5 are generally there because there are four or five schools in the conference who have been in the upper third of the conference for many years. They have money, boosters, facilities and recruiting that the bottom of the conference can only wish they had. They win, and they continue to win. At those schools, HC's that only win eight games a year get run off.

Clark can go that route if he wishes, or he can stay at UAB where his seat is ice cold, the fans already want a statue of him outside the stadium, and a record well above .500 seems fairly well assured. Every year he stays and succeeds he builds UAB's rep, which makes recruiting, a team's life blood, that much easier. Every year he stays and succeeds, particularly at eight or better wins a year, he makes himself a more viable candidate for the big schools in the area to consider. He's smart to sit tight, build, and let them come to him when the time comes.

It is his choice, his career, and when the time comes that an offer is made that meets his standards, he'll move on. That's what successful coaches do, it's their career arc. In the meantime he has no need to chase it. $1.5m isn't Saban money, but once your two houses are paid for you can live quite comfortably on it, you know?

(12-20-2019 03:08 PM)PaUABlazer Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 02:01 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-20-2019 11:16 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  I tend to agree with PaUABlazer, no P-5 team is going to offer him as HC with an offense like this, a staff with little to no P-5 experience, and not 1 signature win over a P-5 team in his entire D-1 HC career.......something even Troy and South Alabama have managed to do. I can see a really good team offering Clark as a DC, but not as a HC.

He's *been* offered as an SEC DC. He's a head coach, and won't leave for less. He's been approached about HC positions, and he's still at UAB. I've heard this from someone who talks to Clark pretty regularly. If you don't think that his agent has fielded approaches, well, you can believe what you wish. <shrug>

My take on it has been and remains that Clark is very unlikely to leave before Protective Stadium opens. He helped design it, and he has made promises to recruits and families that they'll play there, and I think he's a man of his word. You can claim "no signature wins" all you wish, he has won 28 games after bringing the program back from the dead, at UAB, home of the four win season.

We all understand the career arc of successful football coaches. The thing is that Clark is not going to take a job at a lower tier SEC/P5 for the money, only to be fired after three or four years because that school is in the bottom half of their conference for good reason. He's making $1.5m in B'ham, where money goes further than most places. He's got a nice home in town and another on the lake. He is beloved by the UAB fans. He can afford to be picky. When he leaves, and I consider it all but inevitable that he will move up one of these days, he'll go to a southern school, probably in the SEC, with a legitimate chance at a national championship. In the meantime, he's building UAB into a G5 power, and I'm damn glad we have him.

Without Bill Clark, when Watts killed our program it would have stayed dead. Instead we are far better than we've ever been. I'm in no hurry to see him go.

You brought up some good points. Clark can be very picky if he chooses to leave. The article is trying to paint a picture that he was a viable candidate for those jobs when he wasn’t. Most colleges hire offensive minded coaches because it’s a sexy hire for the alumni and fan base and that is not Clark. Clark wasn’t going to Arkansas because why would he? It’s a death sentence to go coach there you have to go compete against Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M. And Clark’s ties are to the south east the Mizzu job requires the coach and staff to recruit the Midwest which is a tough ask for a defensive coach.

and just how do you know how viable he was?