Return of the UAB Blazers [NCAA Football 14]

[Trojuun]

Backstory

The UAB Blazers announced Tuesday that the school will bring back its football program for the 2017 season.

Athletic director Mark Ingram said the NCAA informed UAB that football play can resume at the Football Bowl Subdivision level beginning with the 2017 season. UAB would be eligible for postseason bowl competition, should it meet qualifying standards, as well as Conference USA championships.

UAB became the first major college football program to shut down since Pacific did so in 1995. It came on the heels of the program's best record in a decade (6-6) under first-year coach Clark and the team's first taste of bowl eligibility since 2004. Despite a prolonged struggle to gain fan support in a state dominated by Auburn and Alabama football, UAB doubled its average attendance in 2014 to more than 21,000 per game.



Introduction
Hey guys! My name is Trojuun and I'm a newer poster here. I used to spend lot of time back in early high school on this site and even made a few dynasties a long time ago. Now I'm 24 and been away from video games for years, but after hearing about the NCAA 14 cult like following I had to dabble a bit with my old favorite video game.

I chose UAB cause I wanted to do a rebuild with one of the worst teams I could and after recently watching a very moving ESPN piece on them losing their program and getting it back, it really inspired me to start a dynasty so I could be a nerd and keep track. I'm not the greatest at this game as I have never played on Heisman difficulty but I will do my best to create a fun environment. It may not be the most real Dynasty, but I promise I will try my best to entertain you guys and hopefully you guys enjoy watching me grow as a Dynasty writer/track/master/or whatever you call it. Cheers!

Rules & Settings
Platform: Xbox 360
Gameplay Level: Heisman(first full season on Heisman difficulty)
Quarter Length: 8 Minutes
Sliders: Custom.
Rosters: Xbox 360 Derricksun Roster File
Scheduling: Trying to keep it real and local. Will be playing a mixture of Alabama, Auburn, Troy and South Alabama every year.
Redshirts: Redshirt mostly only freshman and transfers. Not too strict.
Recruiting: Trying to keep the recruiting realistic as I am a 1-Star UAB. I'm also not great at the game so wouldn't mind a good recruiting class.

[Trojuun]

Season Recaps

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Past Recruiting Classes

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Heisman + National Championship Winners


NCAA/UAB Records

[Trojuun]

2017-2018 UAB Football Roster Breakdown

Quarterback

STARTER: A.J. Erdely. The 6-foot-4 junior took control at the position when he got to campus in the spring of 2016 and held on despite a push from redshirt freshman and former Alabama Mr. Football Tyler Johnston, who will get some playing time this year.
Kylen Binn is the third-teamer. Michael Turner is also in the mix.

Running Back

STARTER: There's an OR here. James Noble III or Donnie Lee will take the first snap. Noble climbed his way from being a deep reserve walk-on to earning a scholarship this spring and starting the spring game. Lee was moved over from linebacker and was also impressive, despite being slowed by an injury this fall. The two will give opponents a different look, as Noble is 5-foot-7, 180 pounds and Lee is 6-foot-2, 228.
Redshirt freshman Lucious Stanley is behind him.

Wide Reciever

Three starting positions are listed, so here goes.
WR: Collin Lisa OR Jonathan Haden / Sederian Copeland
WR: Xavier Ubosi OR Andre Wilson OR Kailan Carter
WR: Brock McCoin OR Ronnie Turner / Justin Walker
Lots of ORs here, but Lisa and Haden are inside receivers and the other two slots are outside spots. This isn't much of a surprise as these guys have all battled and the ORs will all play. The 6-foot-5 Walker was cleared later in camp and is still battling his way.

Offensive Line

The starting offensive line remains what it was in the spring, including right tackle Justice Powers. Rishard Cook would be that sixth guy and David Galten probably the seventh. Here is the order presented.
LT: James Davis / David Galten
LG: Chris Schleuger / Rishard Cook
C: Lee Dufour / Zach Sims
RG: Malique Johnson / Greg Fecanin
RT: Justice Powers / Bryant Novick
Dufour, Sims and Novick were with the program in 2014. Fecanin walked on from Clay-Chalkville. Clark said midway through the spring that Johnson had been the most consistent lineman.

Defensive Line

Another position here where plenty of guys should play. One position note is Zachary Williams moving from linebacker to defensive end.
DE: Stacy Keely / Zachary Williams
NT: Teko Powell / Anthony Rush
DT: Quindarius Thagard / Garrett Marino
Shaq Jones and the JACK linebackers will also line up on the edge from time to time. It will be interesting to see how deep UAB goes on the line. Usually, you want eight guys ready. Does UAB have that?

Linebackers

In UAB's 3-4 alignment, the JACK linebacker can play on the edge or drop into coverage. But UAB's depth chart lists three linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. So there are probably roles where a SAM linebacker plays, but against so many passing offenses these days, you're more likely to see the STAR (extra defensive back). That's listed on the next slide.
JACK: Shaq Jones / Tre' Crawford / Craig Kanyangara
MIKE: Tevin Crews / Chris Woolbright
WILL: Fitzgerald Mofor / Thomas Johnston OR Noah Jones
It's no surprise to see true freshman Thomas Johnston working his way into the mix for playing time. Jones, Crews and Mofor were starters here this spring.
Woolbright and Johnston are in line to play a good bit, too. Kanyangarara and Noah Jones have switched spots on the linebacker depth chart since the spring, it seems.

Defensive Backs

CB: Darious Williams / Dyjonn Turner
CB: D.A. Williams / Brontae Harris
FS: Jordan Petty OR Broderick Thomas
SS: Mar'Sean Diggs OR Will Dawkins
STAR: Duke Culver OR Garrison Mitchell
Clark said the two cornerbacks have been solid and consistent all through camp, but the former walk-on from Cullman Harris has also been very good since his arrival. He'll likely play a lot on Saturday. Not surprising to see all the ORs at the safety and star spots as those guys have all rotated in and out with the 1s and at different spots.
The biggest surprise is likely true freshman Dy'Jonn Turner at one backup corner spot.

Special Teams

Kicker Nick Vogel and punter Joel Dixon have been consistently atop their spots. Here is the order.
P: Joel Dixon / Jarrod Fuqua
PK: Nick Vogel / T.J. McGettigan
HLD: Jacob Clark
LS: Kyle Varnell OR Jacob Fuqua
KR: Andre Wilson OR Collin Lisa OR Jonathan Haden OR Kailon Carter
PR: Andre Wilson OR Collin Lisa
Clark said that of Varnell and Fuqua, one could handle short snaps and one could handle long snaps. Wilson, Lisa and Haden are smaller, shiftier guys who can make people miss in the return game.




2017-2018 UAB Football Schedule

UAB Blazers 2017 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 2	at Troy	Won, 34-24
Sep 9	vs UTEP	Won, 24-17
Sep 19	at Memphis	Lost, 30-27
Sep 23	at #1 Alabama	Lost, 48-17
Oct 7	vs North Texas
Oct 14	vs Florida Atlantic
Oct 21	at #12 Auburn
Oct 29	at Texas State
Nov 4	at South Alabama
Nov 11	at East Carolina
Nov 18	at Rice
Nov 25	vs Southern Miss

[Trojuun]

Bill Clark out, Sir'Tavius Strawberry in as Head Coach of the Blazers



UAB Athletic Director announcing that Mr.Strawberry will be taking reigns as Head Coach

After a long wait, UAB Football is finally back and ready for the 2017-2018 season. While most of the campus has been cheering for days, most of the members close to the team have been with mixed feelings about HC Bill Clark's departure from the program. Clark coached at UAB during the 2014-2015 season and led the Blazers to a 6-6 record, which was their best record since 2004. Clarks departure comes as a surprise to most as he was incredibly excited about the news of future reinstatement of the program in 2015. He was determined and destined to be the head coach of UAB come the reinstatement year of 2017-2018 until a giant ball of shock was dropped onto the team. Clark had accepted a job to become a position coach/recruiting coordinator at the University of Alabama. The pay was an obvious increase and Clark described it as "the toughest decision of my life, but also the most important move for my family and I moving forward."



In steps 38 year old Sir'Tavius Strawberry(Alabama WR/DB 1997-1999, UAB DB 1999-2001, Cleveland Browns DB 2001-2005, UAB GA 2005-2007) of Birmingham, Alabama. Once a decorated athlete out of Birmingham, Sir'Tavius or as friends and family grew up calling him "Doc", was a multi-sport athlete in track and football. After winning Mr. Football in Alabama during the 1996 season, he decided to take his talents to the the Crimson Tide. Needless to say he was stuck as a relay replacement for his tracks 4x100 team and one year of redshirting in football followed by another one with a torn achilles injury he decided to transfer where he went to his hometown UAB Blazers in Birmingham. It was UAB's first season in the Conference USA and Strawberry instantly became a force in the defensive backfield. He finished his career with 10 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles, 4 TD's and 2 concussions. Needless to say the concussion's took a toll on him and hindered his NFL career to 4 sad seasons with the Cleveland Browns. After going back to college and becoming Dr. Sir'Tavius Strawberry of Applied Kinesiology, he sets his focus on being more than a stopgap at the coaching position for his alma matter that finds themselves down a coach.

[Trojuun]

Strawberry cleans house! Adds Briles and Harbison to his staff.



Art Briles(Pictured) makes his long return to the CFB coaching ranks

Kaboom! UAB's coaching coordinator search begun today with the hiring of 62 year old coach Art Briles. Briles formerly a coach at Houston from 2003-2007 and most recently Baylor from 2008-2015 where he coached Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Briles would end up leading Baylor to a 65-37 record over the 7 year period while winning 2 BIG12 Championships and an 0-2 record in New Years Six bowl games. While the turn around of Baylors football program was great, tragedy struck in 2016. On May 26, 2016, Baylor released a findings of fact document prepared by the board of regents. According to the regents, the document was based on an independent investigation by the law firm Pepper Hamilton into how the school handled sexual assault. The report stated that the findings "reflect significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of athlete misconduct." It also faulted the football team for not adequately vetting transfers. The regents held Briles responsible, and suspended him with the intent to fire him as soon as they were legally allowed to do so.

Only time will tell if this is a safe pick for the UAB Blazers but one thing is sure, it will allow the 62 year old Briles one last chance to join the CFB coaching ranks. It also provides first year Coach Strawberry a valuable offensive coordinator with years of experience to get this team rolling.


Harbison(Pictured) steps in to UAB with 20+ years of coaching experience

A couple weeks ago Charlie "Cheese" Harbison had struck a deal to become co-defensive coordinator at the University of Lousiana but after a sudden change of heart he found himself at yet another Alabama school during his illustrious 20+ year coaching career. His knowledge with defensive backs made him an easy candidate for the DC job at UAB.

“Cheese” received a pay raise this off-season. His career has led him to places such as Clemson, Alabama, LSU, back to Alabama, Mississippi State, back to Clemson, and Auburn.

[Trojuun]

UAB Blazers 2017-2018 Football schedule released

UAB Blazers 2017 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 2	at Troy	Won, 34-24
Sep 9	vs UTEP	Won, 24-17
Sep 19	at Memphis	Lost, 30-27
Sep 23	at #1 Alabama	Lost, 48-17
Oct 7	vs North Texas
Oct 14	vs Florida Atlantic
Oct 21	at #12 Auburn
Oct 29	at Texas State
Nov 4	at South Alabama
Nov 11	at East Carolina
Nov 18	at Rice
Nov 25	vs Southern Miss

Rivalry Games - at Memphis, vs Southern Miss
Battle for Bama Games - at Troy, at Alabama, at Auburn, at South Alabama

ESPN Projected Record = 5-7