UAB Football is Reinstated
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 1 (UPI) — After being killed in December by University of Alabama-Birmingham president Ray Watts, football has been revived on campus, according to multiple sources.
Last year, Watts said it “wasn’t financially feasible to support the football program,”according to AL.com.
“Our goal is to play as soon as possible, which may be 2016,” Mark Ingram, UAB’s director of athletics, told USA Today.
Watts announced Monday that the school could collect $17.2 million in pledged donations.
“The biggest single difference is that we now have tangible support that we never had before,” Watts told USA Today.
Watts said in December that the school would drop football, the rifle team and the women’s bowling team. The decision followed a CarrSports Consulting report, that found that UAB’S expenses associated with athletics would “grow to $38.5 million by 2019 while revenue would increase by less than $1 million,” according to ESPN’s Alex Scarborough.
The Blazers had a 6-6 record overall last season and were 4-4 in C-USA.
