UAB DIEHARD

The man who draws plays in his notebook

From a kid drawing plays in his school notebooks through a doctorate-level football education, Alex Mortensen opens his own era with UAB tonight.

The Really Big Preview: UAB at Illinois

Everything you need to know about Thursday night’s season opener at Gies Memorial Stadium

To whom it may concern

An open letter to UAB’s next athletic director

Andy Kennedy has it right

The interim AD laid out exactly what UAB needs in the next athletic director. He is dead on.

The education of Ryder Burton

After three programs in three years, the UAB quarterback is in the same offense for the first time in his college career. What Mortensen and Grantham have taught him has rewired how he thinks on the field.

27 strangers, one defense: How UAB’s rebuilt unit found its identity before the opener

Back When: UAB led Urban Meyer’s Ohio State at the Horseshoe

The Blazers open this week at Illinois — only the third Big Ten road trip in program history. The second, in 2012, silenced 105,000 in Columbus.

Judge grants TRO allowing UAB's KyeRon Lindsay-Martin to return after eligibility lawsuit against NCAA

Birmingham Circuit Judge Monica Agee granted a temporary restraining order Friday, allowing the UAB forward to return to the roster for the 2026-27 season. The NCAA could appeal.

Blazers 2026 Schedule Confidence Rankings

We rank every game on UAB's 2026 schedule from most confident in a UAB win to least.

Kennedy on interim AD role, what he wants in UAB's next athletic director

UAB's men's basketball coach and interim AD made his first public comments Friday since taking the dual role on Aug. 18.

What Illinois coaches said about UAB in Friday's press conference

Bielema, Lunney and Hauck all discussed the Blazers ahead of Thursday's opener in Champaign.

The Search, epilogue: the dream list

Seven parts. Dozens of names. Now: who would we put on the short list?

The Search, Part 7: The outside-the-box hire

What happens when you stop looking inside the AD pipeline and start matching the job to the skill set it actually requires.

The Search, Part 6: The builders

Nine athletic directors outside the Power 4 with track records of building — fundraising, facilities and conference championships.

Something is happening at UAB

Fan day and a dominant scrimmage revealed what box scores cannot capture — a program finding its identity under Alex Mortensen.

The Search, Part 5: The basketball background

These ADs have done everything — conference championships, record fundraising, national recognition. The one thing they haven’t done is football.

Bill Clark on UAB AD job: 'I would definitely entertain it'

The former UAB football coach made his first public comments about the athletic director vacancy on The Coach Bill Clark Show.

The Search, Part 4: The Birmingham connections

Real people, real resumes and real connections to Birmingham — the talent pool a search committee would be looking at.

The Search, Part 3: The obvious names

The candidates UAB fans are already discussing — who they are, what’s realistic and what isn’t.

The Search, Part 2: The profile

How AD searches actually work, what the Ingram hire tells us about UAB's candidate pool and why the names fans want aren't always the names that make sense.

The Search, Part 1: The job

What UAB's next athletic director is inheriting, why this job is better than fans think and what qualities the right candidate needs to unlock it.

Back When: Rodregis Brooks left on a stretcher. He came back wearing his mom’s jersey.

One of the legendary performances in UAB football history would have set the internet on fire. In 1999, it was only worth a phone interview on ESPN radio.

Ty Mims wears No. 0 and has 96 career catches. UAB needs both.

UAB’s top two receivers from 2025 are gone. The Bay Minette native is the most experienced option in a room that is competing through injuries in fall camp.

Nigel Tate didn’t play football until he was 16. A stranger in a hospital changed that.

The UAB defensive tackle spent four years at Boston College, tore his Achilles before playing a snap for the Blazers and is making the most of his final year of eligibility under Todd Grantham.

UAB’s pass rush produced 18 sacks last season. It had 8.5 in one scrimmage.

In Saturday’s first scrimmage, five defenders combined for 8.5 sacks and the defensive line showed something UAB hasn’t had in years — a pass rush that wins with four.

Blazer Nation is ready to rally. Andy Kennedy seems to know it.

We tracked the social media response to the UAB leadership change across X, Reddit and Facebook. What the data shows about Ingram’s departure — and Kennedy’s arrival — tells you a lot about where Blazer Nation wants to go.

Mark Ingram is out at UAB. What happens next matters more.

After 11 years and a 99% fan disapproval rating, the Blazers’ athletic director is gone. Andy Kennedy steps in as interim. The real test is the hire that follows.

UAB Blazers: 2026 defense preview — position by position

UAB’s defense was the program’s identity under Bill Clark — two conference titles in four seasons, a unit that hit hard and made offenses earn every yard. Then Clark stepped down, the decline set in and the bottom fell out under Trent Dilfer. Todd Grantham is here to rebuild it from scratch.

UAB Blazers: 2026 offense preview — position by position

Alex Mortensen has the headset, a rebuilt roster and an offensive identity rooted in nine years at Alabama. Whether this team can run the ball, protect the quarterback and stay out of its own way will determine if Year 1 is the start of a turnaround in Birmingham.

Back When: The Night UAB Walked Into Jordan-Hare

Ranked dead last in the country, the Blazers walked into Auburn's stadium for their Division I-A debut on Aug. 31, 1996. They were supposed to be a punchline. They left with something no preseason ranking could give them.

What Alex Mortensen had to say at American Media Days

The first-year UAB head coach covered his vision for the program, the quarterback room, new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and what it means to be demanding in the portal era.

Back When: UAB earns its first win in I-A

Ranked dead last in Division I-A, the Blazers went to Legion Field, ran for 317 yards without their starting tailback and gave Gene Bartow a reason to smile.

From UAB to Cooperstown: Tyler Tolbert ties MLB record with 12 consecutive hits

The former Blazers shortstop from Hewitt-Trussville tied the all-time record with hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances for the Kansas City Royals. The Baseball Hall of Fame requested his bat.

George 'Snoozy' Jones, UAB fixture and beloved campus bookstore owner, passes away

Jones coached and helped fund UAB's original football program, ran the campus bookstore for 34 years and fought to save Blazer football when it was shut down in 2014

THE BOARD: UAB Football

Alex Mortensen's first full recruiting class is taking shape. A Georgia State flip, a safety with 25 offers and three offensive linemen.

The Long Game: Jegil Dugger goes from UAB backfields to entrepreneur boardrooms

Former UAB star and tech-company founder is a featured speaker at Birmingham’s Sloss Tech convention.

Lord Lendeborg: Claim Him, Blazer Nation. He Earned It.

Yaxel Lendeborg went No. 11 to the Warriors on Tuesday night. Every graphic said Michigan. He's still a Blazer.

John Paul Head is coming back. So is almost everyone else.

UAB announced 19 returning players from a record-setting 2026 season. The Blazers lost one player to the portal. In this era, that qualifies as a statement.

UAB Signed 41 Transfers in January. The High School Pipeline Is What Comes Next.

Alex Mortensen’s portal class was a bridge. Camp season and a recruiting board stretching to 2030 show what he’s building.