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Th UAB Saga - What Can We Learn?

SFbayCane

SFbayCane

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Everyone here knows that UAB's board of trustees just decided to end their football program. But I wonder how many know the back story.

Several years ago UAB's AD wanted to improve his facilities so he could attract better football coaches and recruits, so he asked the UAB BoT for money. They refused. A couple years later, the AD asked for $3.2 million to hire Jimbo Fisher as their head coach. The UAB Board of Trustees refused. Why??? Because the UAB Board of Trustees is comprised almost exclusively of Bama alums. And these people did NOT want another football program rising in the state that could threaten Alabama's recruiting dominance. So they used their pull on the board to squash UAB football. Shutting the program down became an obvious next step.

So what can we learn from this???
 
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I don't think it applies as much to us except for the spending. We're 5 time National Champions, and our BoT is comprised almost entirely of people who care ONLY ABOUT THE U. What's happening to UAB is sad, but I don't think it applies as much to us except when it comes to spending money on building a football team. In that respect our BoT is doing a great job, together with Flake and Al
 
SFbayCane said:
Everyone here knows that UAB's board of trustees just decided to end their football program. But I wonder how many know the back story.

Several years ago UAB's AD wanted to improve his facilities so he could attract better football coaches and recruits, so he asked the UAB BoT for money. They refused. A couple years later, the AD asked for $3.2 million to hire Jimbo Fisher as their head coach. The UAB Board of Trustees refused. Why??? Because the UAB Board of Trustees is comprised almost exclusively of Bama alums. And these people did NOT want another football program rising in the state that could threaten Alabama's recruiting dominance. So they used their pull on the board to squash UAB football. Shutting the program down became an obvious next step.

So what can we learn from this???
Click to expand...

not making the connection sooooooooo. Help me
 
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bambam said:
SFbayCane said:
Everyone here knows that UAB's board of trustees just decided to end their football program. But I wonder how many know the back story.

Several years ago UAB's AD wanted to improve his facilities so he could attract better football coaches and recruits, so he asked the UAB BoT for money. They refused. A couple years later, the AD asked for $3.2 million to hire Jimbo Fisher as their head coach. The UAB Board of Trustees refused. Why??? Because the UAB Board of Trustees is comprised almost exclusively of Bama alums. And these people did NOT want another football program rising in the state that could threaten Alabama's recruiting dominance. So they used their pull on the board to squash UAB football. Shutting the program down became an obvious next step.

So what can we learn from this???
Click to expand...

not making the connection sooooooooo. Help me
Click to expand...



Im axing you guys to make the connections and tell me.


Are some of UM's BoT members trying to keep UM football down?

Are they using money as a tool to stifle UM football? This one is interesting in that they are spending a bunch of money on facility upgrades but yet won't spend on quality assistant coaches. Remember, when a governing body allocates money for construction, they typically have the ability to get a favor or two in exchange.
 
SFbayCane said:
Everyone here knows that UAB's board of trustees just decided to end their football program. But I wonder how many know the back story.

Several years ago UAB's AD wanted to improve his facilities so he could attract better football coaches and recruits, so he asked the UAB BoT for money. They refused. A couple years later, the AD asked for $3.2 million to hire Jimbo Fisher as their head coach. The UAB Board of Trustees refused. Why??? Because the UAB Board of Trustees is comprised almost exclusively of Bama alums. And these people did NOT want another football program rising in the state that could threaten Alabama's recruiting dominance. So they used their pull on the board to squash UAB football. Shutting the program down became an obvious next step.

So what can we learn from this???
Click to expand...

There is no UAB board of trustees. It is the UA "System" board of trustees, and you are correct that most of the board are UA (not UAB or UAH) alumni.

There is more to the story than just Jimbo Fisher debacle. UAB also proposed an on-campus stadium a year a two ago that go shot down due to "lack of fan support". The truth is Legion Field is way off campus is a very bad part of Birmingham. An on campus stadium would have worked wonders for UAB since Birmingham's Southside is considered safe by most. In addition to not being allowed to hire Jimbo (first choice), they were also believed to have been blocked from hiring Pat Sullivan (their second choice), who is an Auburn Heisman trophy winner. Also refusing to play UAB, which is something Nick Saban has stated he would be OK with certainly hurts UAB. You would think one school paying a sister school beats paying an out-of-state school.
 
The BOT has already shut our football program down. Some of us just have not figured that out yet.
 
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i have a hard time believing UAB could ever challenge bama for recruits no matter how good they became as a "group of 5" school.
 
Canejam said:
SFbayCane said:
Everyone here knows that UAB's board of trustees just decided to end their football program. But I wonder how many know the back story.

Several years ago UAB's AD wanted to improve his facilities so he could attract better football coaches and recruits, so he asked the UAB BoT for money. They refused. A couple years later, the AD asked for $3.2 million to hire Jimbo Fisher as their head coach. The UAB Board of Trustees refused. Why??? Because the UAB Board of Trustees is comprised almost exclusively of Bama alums. And these people did NOT want another football program rising in the state that could threaten Alabama's recruiting dominance. So they used their pull on the board to squash UAB football. Shutting the program down became an obvious next step.

So what can we learn from this???
Click to expand...

There is no UAB board of trustees. It is the UA "System" board of trustees, and you are correct that most of the board are UA (not UAB or UAH) alumni.

There is more to the story than just Jimbo Fisher debacle. UAB also proposed an on-campus stadium a year a two ago that go shot down due to "lack of fan support". The truth is Legion Field is way off campus is a very bad part of Birmingham. An on campus stadium would have worked wonders for UAB since Birmingham's Southside is considered safe by most. In addition to not being allowed to hire Jimbo (first choice), they were also believed to have been blocked from hiring Pat Sullivan (their second choice), who is an Auburn Heisman trophy winner. Also refusing to play UAB, which is something Nick Saban has stated he would be OK with certainly hurts UAB. You would think one school paying a sister school beats paying an out-of-state school.
Click to expand...

One thing I failed to mention was the reason the UA BOT denied the UAB hire of Jimbo Fisher. This all went down at the same time that Alabama hired Nick Saban away from the Dolphins, and they (correctly) assumed Saban would offer the OC job to Fisher. Fished turned that down and took the OC job at FSU.
 
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There is no connection. Our BOTs don't have an agenda, they simply don't care about athletics. They probably look at football and basketball as a juvenile sport for the lower classes. They're not trying to keep football down for the sake of another school, they want to keep football down because it doesn't jive with their world view. Heaven forbid those black kids from south Florida get into school and taint the university's reputation.
 
NVA CANE said:
There is no connection. Our BOTs don't have an agenda, they simply don't care about athletics. They probably look at football and basketball as a juvenile sport for the lower classes. They're not trying to keep football down for the sake of another school, they want to keep football down because it doesn't jive with their world view. Heaven forbid those black kids from south Florida get into school and taint the university's reputation.
Click to expand...



This is kinda where I was going with this thread. Its about the board of trustees not wanting the football program to succeed. THAT is the common thread. At UM, they want football down because I believe that many of the board of trustees believe football steals their shine. They don't believe that UM can be given the academic credit they want because people are too busy talking about that **** football team.
 
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