NCAAbbs

To help pass the time this summer and to help get our new history forum off to a good start, here's an idea. In this thread, post your questions about UAB football and I'll do my best to answer them in detail with separate posts we can build upon.

A couple of things. This isn't trivia, so let's not necessarily make this a trivia thread. the purpose isn't to stump the panel but to get an answer you DON'T necessarily know or to get more detail about a particular game, player or event.

I'll look forward to shaking the cobwebs off some of the memories tucked away in my brain and having some fun discussion.

FM

What number did Anthony Spano wear in club football, and why hasn't it been retired?

Seems we'd have no football program at all without his stubbornness.

Now, we also would have been spared Watson Brown so maybe it all evens out.

I was not there for the club years so I don't remember Spano. I do remember Rick Segers and I'm thinking he was No. 71.

Vince Elliott also played on the club team -- and then also on the first DIII team. I think he was No. 35.

Pat Green, No. 22, played on the club team and then was the program's leading rusher in Division III and I-AA. But shhhhh on that.

LB Sandy Jackson, IIRC, also played for both the club team and the DIII team.

Who was the headhunter on the kickoff coverage team 2 to 4 years ago that the crowd just loved? Seems he was #11 or #22? He blew people up and nobody knew who he was? Wonder what happened to him?

The past couple of years, I believe it has been Will Dunbar. Obviously, we could be thinking of different people.

Ok, here we go!

The fall of 1995 marked the first year of Watson. Who was the first football against and who played (banned) at the game?

Were did they play?
on the field?
in the stands?
outside the stadium?

Since that 1995 day (and I was there but have no recall of opponent or entertainment), it seems there's been a conscious effort during the Brown Days to erase the club football and D-3 memories, to write in Watson as the "Gene Bartow of Football" at UAB.

Is this a fair assessment, Brother Mouse? I hold a grudge of course from the (academic, not felonious) incident we shall not discuss in public.

With a new regime, I would hope we can celebrate our *entire* football history - and look back to see that there were actually pre-Brown days when UAB football Did Not Suck.

The date: Sept. 2, 1995
The opponent: Alabama State
The location: Legion Field
The band: The Commodores (minus Lionel Ritchie)
The outcome: UAB ushered in the Watson Brown Era with a dismal offensive performance in a 13-3 loss to Alabama State in front of a disappointing crowd of only about 15,000. This was still one of the larger home crowds for UAB to that date, but it was deemed disappointing because the series with Alabama State had been arranged -- with some brokering by John Rogers -- amid expectations that it would draw more. Perhaps that is one reason why UAB has not played ASU since.

UAB had played ASU the year before in Montgomery at the Cramton Bowl. It was a thrilling game in front of a much larger crowd (including a very good UAB contingent, much better than ASU brought to Bham in 1995). A good Alabama State team held off UAB 27-24 despite some heroics by John Whitcomb and Derrick Ingram. After that one, the 1995 game was a real snoozer.

Postgame concert was set up in the South End Zone. But by the time the Dores took the stage, the stadium was dark and virtually empty. This was no Ruben Studdard, that's for sure. The stadium was SO empty that the sounds of the band literally bounced off the metal bleachers and probably off the side of Red Mountain and back. It was terrible, like an echo. I'm not kidding in saying that by the time "Brick House" was played, rats in the trash cans outnumbered people watching the show.

I was at the game in Montgomery and we filled up the visitor's side. ASU did not bring many at all to LF.



Can you compare home attendance with in state opponents to see how well each draws? I started on this a while back and it's buried somewhere in the main board.


Another question is why did our special teams go from one of the nation's best to one of the worst in such a short time.


Another one is do you have Kevin Thomason's stats, he was a great kicker IMHO and I believe he holds the UAB record for longest FG doesn't he?

How many favors did Gene Bartow burn up in our early scheduling days; that is, how many of our early opponents played us because Bartow asked and/or begged them to?

Yes, Kevin Thomason still holds the record for the longest FG. Believe it was 52 yds. Do you know where and when? Also a young man by the name of Powers costs us the ASU game in Montgomery. He drop the ball he was suppose to be punting and stood there and looked at it while a defender from ASU picked it up and ran it back for a TD. This happened with just over a minute to play.

Was it against MVSU in Itta Bena (sp?) Mississippi?

Kevin Thomason had the 52-yard FG in a big 30-13 win over Mississippi Valley State in 1993. At the time, that was probably UAB's best win in school history (all of 1 1/2 seasons!). MVSU was by no means a great team but they were a solid I-AA team from the SWAC with many more players in scholarship than the Blazers, who were really still a DIII team for the most part even though this was their first season in I-AA. Before the game, Coach Hilyer said the Blazers were going to be "out of their league" against MVSU, but that Blazer team defied the odds all year. There were, I think, seven players on scholarship. Yet they went 9-2 and closed with an eight-game win streak that remains by far the longest in school history. The schedule no doubt was not exactly tough by I-AA standards but there were some very good wins there for where UAB's program was at, including a thrilling 31-27 win over a pretty good Butler club in the snow in Indy and a win over Dayton that snapped their 58-game regular-season winning streak.

If UAB had remained in DIII that year, very likely they could have been serious contenders for the national championship. (but they would not have been invited to the playoffs because DIII is pretty much the domain of the snooty colleges).

Kevin is still the No. 2 all-time leading scorer for UAB. IMO,he's also still the the best kicker UAB has ever had even though others have passed him in some categories.

Can anyone name the first kicker in UAB history?

Also, the punter who dropped the ball was Jason Powers.
He was a transfer from FSU.

He goofed that play but Jason was a good guy.

Powers still works at UAB. Looking at him I would not put football player and him in the same sentence. Way to short.

Your right Attalla, man that was some trip to Itta (whatever) out in the middle of nowhere.

John Waldorsdolf(sp) was the first kicker.

Powers a good guy, but he had 22+ guys ready to kill him that night. Believe Hilyer put him on the bench after that and he quit. Then Brown let him come back when he came in.

I feel like you mouse, Kevin is probably the best kicker in UAB history even though some of his records have been broken. The kids that played for Hilyer were good and the reason they were good was not athletic ability, but HEART. They gave it all and they believed they were the best. That was what went out the window with Brown. Man, I just dream of what could have been had we had a decent coach when we moved up. Probably would have gotten our share of beatings, but the program would have been better. Bartow is a good man and meant well but he made a mistake hiring Brown. Also when Scotty McCallum resigned we really lost the best supporter we had at the time. When Bennett came in, he could have cared less about the football program.

Brown was the best hire available in 1994 once the decision had been made to replace Hilyer.

The job could have been Woody McCorvey's but that got shot down. It could have been Bobby Wallace's but he turned it down.

Mike Gottfried could have been the choice but he had some baggage and his relationship with Finebaum spooked some in the administration, too.

That left Charley Pell and Watson. Pell was begging for the job but unfortunately he had major health issues. As it turned out probably was best not to go that direction.

Watson did a solid job in building on Hilyer's foundation from 1995 to 2000. Things went to pieces with Britneygate and never really got back on track. From there it was a slow descension into madness on and off the field.

The mistake was deciding to replace Hilyer in the first place....

I have to disagree with britney gate being the falling point of Watson. You are forgetting major points.

1)the loss of respectable coaches from the staff to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregan, etc... Everybody respected coach gundy on offense and coach Clay and O'neal on the D. Players might have thought watson was a fool, but they respected the hell out of there position coaches.

2)the replacement coaches had 1/1000 the experience of the previous coaches in college football. They couldn't recruit or adjust like our earlier coaches. You can't have some guy, whos experience is "student assistant at auburn or alabama" come in after our previous coaches, who actually played college ball or who have been coaching since the 60's.

3)Darell Hackney, before hack we ran a no mistake, chew the clock, offense based off the option. this kept our d off the field and kept us in games we shouldn't have been in. I loved watching hack, but look at time of pos. before after 2001.

4) watson stopped staying on top of special teams and began to work with the offense more. look at the amount of blocked punts, net punt returns, and kick offs before 2001 and after 2001.

5)The bolt issue..enough said.

Thanks for mentioning guys like Sandy Jackson and Vince Elliott. Good football players and great people. Tough as old shoe leather. Before our first game as a club team at MMI we were scrambling trying to get ready and we finally had everyone dressed in that cramped area and Coach Hilyer wanted to get everyone back in the dressing room one last time before we went out. The MMI band started to play the national anthem and Sandy snapped to attention and faced the flag. He never moved until it was over. What most of those kids didn't know was that Sandy was a retired Marine who served in central America doing things we never asked about because we knew he wouldn't tell us. That image of him in that green uniform, helmet tucked under his arm has stayed with me to this day.

Lou-A-B:

I never forget anything related to UAB football :)

All of the things you mention are contributing factors but every one of the conceivable COULD have been overcome.

What could not and what was NEVER going to be overcome was the loss of discipline and respect that occurred around the Britneygate scandal. That was brushed over pretty well but aspects of it DID happen and don't think for one second that the loss of class surrounding that incident wasn't DIRECTLY connected to the lack of discipline on the field.

Watson was compromised as leader as a result of that and probably never should have been allowed to coach another game after 2001.

Loss of discipline is not an overnight thing. Compromising basic values for short term gain leads to collapse of system and results in inability for leaders to lead through crisis.

Until 2001, UAB was a very disciplined team. But pieces of the emperer's clothes were removed each year after that until he was spread out naked in 2006. The threads started unravelling with Britneygate. All of the things you mention are ancillary to the larger problem: the leader was compromised.

Again, the discipline came from the previous coaches. You could find coach gundy checking on players at the music hall and tc's. Heck, o'neal knew what you did the next morning before you did.

Lots of history here....

Some memories from my past:
- the mention of Thomason as the best kicker in UAB history is well received. He had a very powerful leg, plus the fact that he was like 32 when his eligability was up. Jake Arians was right up there as well.
- The thought of losing the ASU game still makes me want to puke.
- Thomason's long FG @ MVSU was even more impressive due to the fact that the grass on the field was higher than the rough @ Augusta National.
- I actually saw KT late last year at an alumni lunch. He lives out in Colorado now and still looks the same.
- Being one of the only alums to play in D3, 1-AA and 1-A, I can easily say that we were WAY more disciplined in the Hilyer days. Some of his assistants put the fear of God in their players during practice. Plus the offense with Whitcomb/Ingram/Green was alot more flashy then.
- Another memory was the skydiver who broke his leg right before the coin toss.
- We played Jax St my sophmore year I think, as soon as we came out of the tunnel for the game, a torrential downpour came down. The stadium looked empty as everyone either ran to the tunnels or they went under both upper decks.

I am sure more will come to me later.

Since some of us know who you are, tell us some stories........

OK, here's a few that I recall at the moment.....

Div 3 Years:

-Knowing that half of the O-line lived in the same appartment off of Valley Ave was both amusing and disgusting
-Meeting the Russians who learned about football from some UAB athletes that went over to Minsk, Russia on a mission type trip.
-Playing against the deaf team (Galludet) @ Lawson Field in front of 500 or so of our closest friends. The team used a larger than average bass drum as the signal calling on Offense and Defense
-Lighting striking the fence that surrounded the field @ Lawson Field during a channel 42 broadcast
-Raising money in Bartow Arena on a gameday morning to bail a certain player out of jail so that he could play (and he did).
-My first day of practice, walking out onto Legion Field and seeing the heat waves rising off of the turf about 4 feet high.
-"Borrowing" a rather large piece of the new(est)turf that was put down @ Legion Field before the grass was installed. That turf may or may not be on someone's back deck as we speak.

1-AA
- Almost making the playoffs
- The bus trips filled with episodes of Martin, Def Comedy Jam and the occasional porn tape when everyone was asleep.
- The antics that went on @ the hotels involving PPV movies and long distance phone bills.
- 16+ hour bus rides to places like Big Stone Gap, VA, Butler Indiana, etc....
- Getting trashed @ Kansas and having my fake punt pass TD nullified by an awful call that Alan Willis stepped out of bounds.
- Making Sportscenter when I missed a tackle on a guy that ran back a punt. He was one of the few polayers in D-1 that ran back a punt and a KO in the same game....Why they didn't show Thomason diving at him instead of showing me slip is still beyond me.....
- Meeting Daunte Culpepper

1-A
-The buzz int he locker room before playing Auburn still is with me to this day.
- 9-0 @ the half vs the #17 team in the Nation......
- The respect that the Auburn players showed us at the end of the game, and the fans that stayed until the end.
- Having the best game of my career @ Maryland
- The first TD scored at the D-1 level
- Making a 22 yard run against Southwest Louisiana after a bad snap....Then getting yelled @ by 0 b/c I ran over the return guy who tackled me rather than going out of bounds after getting the 1st down.
- Having the worst game of my career @ La Tech


More to come later.

Dude, your 70+ yard punt against...Maryland or Arizona

Maryland, that was my last season.

I remember your mother making you go to church in Dayton to wash your hands in the holy water before you punted that night. She was so afraid that you might drop the ball.