Alabama-Birmingham Blazers football
| UAB Blazers football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| First season | 1991 (Hiatus 2015–2016) | ||
| Head coach |
Bill Clark 3rd season, 14–11 (.560) |
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| Stadium |
Legion Field (Capacity: 71,594) |
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| Year built | 1927 | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Birmingham, Alabama | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Conference USA | ||
| Division | West | ||
| All-time record | 125–157 (.443) | ||
| Bowl record | 0–2 (.000) | ||
| Rivalries |
Southern Miss (rivalry) Troy (rivalry) |
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| Colors | Forest Green and Old Gold |
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| Fight song | UAB Fight Song | ||
| Mascot | Blaze (Dragon) | ||
| Marching band | UAB Marching Blazers | ||
| Website | UABSports.com | ||
The UAB Blazers football program represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the sport of American football. In the 2017 season, the Blazers will compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the West Division of Conference USA (CUSA). The team will be coached by Bill Clark, who also coached the 2014 Blazers, the team's most recent season. The Blazers play their home games at Legion Field, which has a seating capacity of 71,594. The Blazers have made two postseason bowl appearances.
On November 30, 2014, a day after the Blazers had become bowl eligible for the first time since 2004, Sports Illustrated reported that UAB was planning to fire athletic director Brian Mackin and end the football program. On December 2, UAB president Ray Watts officially announced that the school would be shutting down the football program, as well as the bowling and rifle programs, at the end of the 2014–15 academic year. He stated that the main reason for the shutdown was the rapidly increasing cost to field a competitive football team. According to Watts, projected costs of a credible football program would cost the school $49 million over the next five years, over the $20 million a year already spent on the program, and that after five years this cost would likely continue to rise. On June 1, 2015, Watts announced the reversal of the decision to end UAB football due to the public opinion against the decision and the public fundraising of more than $27 million towards the program. The Blazers football program will resume play in 2017, with the bowling and rifle programs to be immediately reinstated. On June 4, 2015, Athletic Director Mark Ingram indicated that the 2017 season was a more reasonable timeline to field a football team for play, due to massive transfers from the program following the termination and the NCAA's recruiting rules. On June 4, Conference USA announced it would not take any action against UAB now that it has reinstated football, and the school would, in effect, remain in the conference. On July 21, 2015, the NCAA cleared UAB to resume playing football in 2017, and to continue competing in FBS. On January 16, 2016, the UAB football team announced its slate of non-conference opponents when it returns to play in the 2017 season.
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