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I don’t think you people understand the true effects of the shutdown on recruiting

(11-17-2020 09:06 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  I don’t think you people understand the true effects of the shutdown on recruiting

Fair point, but it leads to a question- what is the shelf life of that? We're in the middle of our (kinda) 4th season back. For how long do we get to use the shutdown as a crutch?

(11-17-2020 10:22 AM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 09:06 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  I don’t think you people understand the true effects of the shutdown on recruiting

Fair point, but it leads to a question- what is the shelf life of that? We're in the middle of our (kinda) 4th season back. For how long do we get to use the shutdown as a crutch?

It’s a reason not a crutch. Do you really think other coaches were not telling recruits that UAB could be shutdown again. Do you really want to commit to a school that may not have football when you graduate? Do you really want to play for a school that did what it did to its players and recruits? After next year those arguments will have little impact on future recruits. I still think we are experiencing lingering effects from the shutdown. If we do not see improvement in the quality of recruiting after next season then it is a good indicator that our coaching staff have reached their ceiling

It goes beyond what you even stated here. When you are a hs recruit, are you looking to join a program at this level to sit behind the boatload of juco/transfer players we had on the two deep for at least two years? Same with the qb position. A couple years ago it looked like we had a guy who would be a starter for three more years. It’s hard to sell a guy that he is truly going to compete with somebody who just won a conference championship game.

I’m not sitting here and saying the staff has been flawless in any aspect, but there are severe limitations, especially with recruiting, at the non p5 level. Our history is below average at best. Our fan base and money is growing, but definitely not something that blows our peers away. I think Clark was brilliant in going after DB’s hard in recruiting as he saw the game changing and what would be needed in the modern game. I think he needs to adjust the offense to fit that as well now. We have been an above average G5 team since the return, and I think we all want to see us take the next step forward. Some of us are happy with what we’ve done to this point, and some of us feel like the sky is falling. As with most things in life, we are likely somewhere in the middle of that. The next few years are definitely huge for Clark and the UAB program moving forward. Can we pull away from the rest of the conference, or will we fall back towards the middle?

(11-17-2020 10:34 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 10:22 AM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 09:06 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  I don’t think you people understand the true effects of the shutdown on recruiting

Fair point, but it leads to a question- what is the shelf life of that? We're in the middle of our (kinda) 4th season back. For how long do we get to use the shutdown as a crutch?

It’s a reason not a crutch. Do you really think other coaches were not telling recruits that UAB could be shutdown again. Do you really want to commit to a school that may not have football when you graduate? Do you really want to play for a school that did what it did to its players and recruits? After next year those arguments will have little impact on future recruits. I still think we are experiencing lingering effects from the shutdown. If we do not see improvement in the quality of recruiting after next season then it is a good indicator that our coaching staff have reached their ceiling

I can accept that. Post 2021 will be 7 years since execution, and 5 years since resurrection. We already have the football facility and will have had a season in the new digs downtown, hopefully with the ability to hosts recruits at the games. The signing class of 2022 will be the barometer.

(11-17-2020 12:42 PM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 10:34 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 10:22 AM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 09:06 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  I don’t think you people understand the true effects of the shutdown on recruiting

Fair point, but it leads to a question- what is the shelf life of that? We're in the middle of our (kinda) 4th season back. For how long do we get to use the shutdown as a crutch?

It’s a reason not a crutch. Do you really think other coaches were not telling recruits that UAB could be shutdown again. Do you really want to commit to a school that may not have football when you graduate? Do you really want to play for a school that did what it did to its players and recruits? After next year those arguments will have little impact on future recruits. I still think we are experiencing lingering effects from the shutdown. If we do not see improvement in the quality of recruiting after next season then it is a good indicator that our coaching staff have reached their ceiling

I can accept that. Post 2021 will be 7 years since execution, and 5 years since resurrection. We already have the football facility and will have had a season in the new digs downtown, hopefully with the ability to hosts recruits at the games. The signing class of 2022 will be the barometer.

Me thinks the stadium is going to have a much larger impact than I first thought. Based on the construction photos we are going to be light years ahead of our peers in stadium quality. It’s not to look like it was built out a half complete erector set picked up at a rummage sale

(11-17-2020 10:53 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  It goes beyond what you even stated here. When you are a hs recruit, are you looking to join a program at this level to sit behind the boatload of juco/transfer players we had on the two deep for at least two years? Same with the qb position. A couple years ago it looked like we had a guy who would be a starter for three more years. It’s hard to sell a guy that he is truly going to compete with somebody who just won a conference championship game.

I’m not sitting here and saying the staff has been flawless in any aspect, but there are severe limitations, especially with recruiting, at the non p5 level. Our history is below average at best. Our fan base and money is growing, but definitely not something that blows our peers away. I think Clark was brilliant in going after DB’s hard in recruiting as he saw the game changing and what would be needed in the modern game. I think he needs to adjust the offense to fit that as well now. We have been an above average G5 team since the return, and I think we all want to see us take the next step forward. Some of us are happy with what we’ve done to this point, and some of us feel like the sky is falling. As with most things in life, we are likely somewhere in the middle of that. The next few years are definitely huge for Clark and the UAB program moving forward. Can we pull away from the rest of the conference, or will we fall back towards the middle?

I definitely don’t think the sky is falling. I just don’t like the trend of the past two years. There are crystal clear areas we have to fix or we will be stuck in a rut soon. I want to see us take a step forward, and we’ve at best been in neutral the past two years. Fix the offense and fix the penalties and we will be MUCH better from just fixing those things.

The recruits since the completion of the football facility, and now the stadium, also don’t understand what we had and how much $$, political maneuvering, and commitment it took to get what we have now. We see a grand Phoenix rising from wet ashes...they see a football facility like the one Memphis (I just grabbed a local name) showed them the week before.

We’ve been playing football like normal as far as THIS current class (c/o 2021) is concerned. Selling the program from here on out is going to be on the merits, so there is a transition of tactics taking place. I’m not even sure our peers can bring up the shutdown because these kids were in 8th grade and that’s 100 years ago to a HS Senior.


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If another team's coaches bring up the shutdown, our coaches should just laugh and invite the recruits to compare facilities and look at the attendance numbers. It's ancient history at this point, and the new stadium puts an exclamation point on that.

I like Clark and think the world of him. As far as football goes, I hope he stays at UAB as long as he sees fit. There are a few boxes on the checklist to tick off before we get worried about him leaving UAB:

He needs to upset a top 25 level team and do this twice within a 5 year period.

He also needs to build his football team into the southern version of Boise State - a team that is able to crush most teams at our level almost every time we are on the field.

When he gets it to that point, that is when we need to start worrying about it. This is just my opinion on the topic.

(11-17-2020 05:01 PM)Doktyr X Wrote:  When he gets it to that point, that is when we need to start worrying about it. This is just my opinion on the topic.

If he does that, I won’t be worrying about anything at all.


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Betting odds were released Tuesday night on who the next South Carolina coach will be.

3-1 • Billy Napier, head coach Louisiana (former asst. at Clemson and Alabama)
4-1 • Hugh Freeze, head coach Liberty (former HC at Mississippi)
5-1 • Shane Beamer, assistant head coach Oklahoma (former asst at South Carolina)
6-1 • Jamey Chadwell, head coach Coastal Carolina (former HC Charleston Southern)
7-1 • Luke Fickell, head coach Cincinnati (former asst Ohio State)
7½ -1 • Tony Elliott, offensive coordinator Clemson
8-1 • Scott Satterfield, head coach Louisville (former HC Appalachian State)
9-1 • Bill O'Brien, former head coach Houston Texans and Penn State
10-1 • Steve Sarkisian, offensive coordinator Alabama (former head coach Washington and USC)
10-1 • Brent Venables, defensive coordinator Clemson
10-1 • Will Healy, head coach Charlotte
12-1 • Jeff Monken, head coach U.S. Military Academy (former HC Georgia Southern)
12-1 • Joe Brady, offensive coordinator Carolina Panthers (former OC LSU)
14-1 • Bill Clark, head coach UAB (former head coach Jacksonville State)

https://www.live5news.com/2020/11/17/nap...-carolina/

(11-18-2020 02:36 PM)blazerjay Wrote:  Betting odds were released Tuesday night on who the next South Carolina coach will be.

3-1 • Billy Napier, head coach Louisiana (former asst. at Clemson and Alabama)
4-1 • Hugh Freeze, head coach Liberty (former HC at Mississippi)
5-1 • Shane Beamer, assistant head coach Oklahoma (former asst at South Carolina)
6-1 • Jamey Chadwell, head coach Coastal Carolina (former HC Charleston Southern)
7-1 • Luke Fickell, head coach Cincinnati (former asst Ohio State)
7½ -1 • Tony Elliott, offensive coordinator Clemson
8-1 • Scott Satterfield, head coach Louisville (former HC Appalachian State)
9-1 • Bill O'Brien, former head coach Houston Texans and Penn State
10-1 • Steve Sarkisian, offensive coordinator Alabama (former head coach Washington and USC)
10-1 • Brent Venables, defensive coordinator Clemson
10-1 • Will Healy, head coach Charlotte
12-1 • Jeff Monken, head coach U.S. Military Academy (former HC Georgia Southern)
12-1 • Joe Brady, offensive coordinator Carolina Panthers (former OC LSU)
14-1 • Bill Clark, head coach UAB (former head coach Jacksonville State)

https://www.live5news.com/2020/11/17/nap...-carolina/

With all due respect, how is even in the top 14 candidates--in a list that includes P-5 and NFL assistants and former head coaches? We're probably not even one of the best 14 G-5 programs right now, have never beaten a ranked team under Clark, are barely in the top half of our woeful conference in recruiting--plus all the points made above about offense, penalties, lack of discipline. If they hired him into the SEC right now, there would be a revolt in Columbia, and I couldn't blame them.

I love Clark, and I'm grateful for all he has done at UAB--and especially his loyalty in sticking it out, or we probably wouldn't have a program right now. But there is no way he is a top 14 candidate for an SEC program.

Maybe some of you guys need a reality check on the job Clark has done here. He didn't continue the tradition at Boise, he took over a program that was terrible, led them to 6-6, sat through a self imposed shutdown, and has had the team in the running for the conference championship yearly. No coach is without flaws, but for whatever reason, that is all some of our fanbase will look at. The program is in better shape than it has ever been, and by a long shot at that, and we act like Clark can't run one because we had a couple of tough losses.

(11-18-2020 03:06 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Maybe some of you guys need a reality check on the job Clark has done here. He didn't continue the tradition at Boise, he took over a program that was terrible, led them to 6-6, sat through a self imposed shutdown, and has had the team in the running for the conference championship yearly. No coach is without flaws, but for whatever reason, that is all some of our fanbase will look at. The program is in better shape than it has ever been, and by a long shot at that, and we act like Clark can't run one because we had a couple of tough losses.

I understand all of that, and I think he's done a great job at UAB, and hope he stays till he retires and we name half the university after him. But if you want to move up to that level, you have to be elite at your level, and beat people (like UCF did, after being winless just a few years ago). We play in a terrible league, with a couple of the perennial bottom feeders in all of D-I in our division, and our overall schedule has been laughable--the easiest in the country since the return.

All I am saying is, if you were an AD in the SEC, where your own job status is often determined by the football coach you hire, you would be taking quite a risk hiring someone like Clark with his resume, his limited recruiting experience, and his lack of ANY wins on your level.

(11-18-2020 03:18 PM)bftb Wrote:  [quote='blazers9911' pid='17102490' dateline='1605730006']

I understand all of that, and I think he's done a great job at UAB, and hope he stays till he retires and we name half the university after him. But if you want to move up to that level, you have to be elite at your level, and beat people (like UCF did, after being winless just a few years ago). We play in a terrible league, with a couple of the perennial bottom feeders in all of D-I in our division, and our overall schedule has been laughable--the easiest in the country since the return.

All I am saying is, if you were an AD in the SEC, where your own job status is often determined by the football coach you hire, you would be taking quite a risk hiring someone like Clark with his resume, his limited recruiting experience, and his lack of ANY wins on your level.

I agree Clark would not be currently considered for upper/traditionally winning P5 program. IMHO not sure Clark would want a risking job at a lower tier program say a bad big 12 or even a half step up AAC

The downside of The Return: every season we sound more and more like Bammers


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I don't think so. People are making very valid points. The sky isn't falling. There are clear areas that need to be addressed.

Complacency brings a lack of accountability

UAB faithful has absolutely nothing to worry about Clark leaving UAB anytime soon........unless he is looking for another job.