UAB HEAD COACH BILL CLARK PROVING CHARACTER STILL EXISTS IN SPORTS

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UAB HEAD COACH BILL CLARK 

Conference Media days are usually boring affairs that reporters and coaches dread attending. Conferences want to put their best foot forward during their media day and so everything tends to be scripted from who and what time a Head Coach and his players will speak  to what types of snacks will be  distributed during coffee breaks.

Reporters, hungry for news, parse every word a coach speaks hoping to glean some type of hidden meaning , shift in philosophy  or change of team strategy. Coaches on the other hand, only want  to speak in generic terms, smile at the camera and then go home as soon as possible to  get ready for Summer and Fall camp. At the end of the day then, everyone goes home completely   sure that nothing of substance was said or debated. Conference Media Days are like family gatherings where Momma tells everyone to keep their craziness in check  for a whole day.

Sometimes however, interesting things do occur at Media days. Sometimes reporters,  coaches and fans  learn something new. Sometimes there are moments that reveal why grown men care so much about football and the men who lead their favorite football teams. Yesterday such a moment took place when  UAB Head Coach Bill Clark showed up at the Conference USA Media Day by himself to tell anyone who would  listen that UAB Football is back.

 Just as important however, as Clark making the media rounds and  extolling the virtues of UAB football was that reporters , coaches and sports fans of all types were once again reminded  that  in addition to being one heck of a football coach, Bill Clark is also a man of character. Something that comes as no surprise to UAB fans who already proudly  know this  about their Head Football Coach.

I have been a fan of Bill  Clark since he earned the Head Coaching job at UAB a few years back. In a short article I penned about the Head Coach(Bill Clark Great Hire For UAB Link) I wrote the following :

Finally, if you needed one more reason to be impressed with Clark how about the brief story that was published in the Trussville Tribune, an Alabama newspaper , in mid May about Clark.  The newspaper, reported that Bill Clark had been invited to serve as guest speaker for a gathering of local business men and politicians at the  Trussville Civic Center located in Trussville Alabama. At the meeting, Clark told those gathered that when he met the UAB football team for the first time he shared with them coaching legend John Wooden's famous pyramid of success. The Tribune wrote the following about that encounter:

"He(Clark) showed them UCLA basketball coaching legend John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and delivered three rules. One: Always protect the team. Two: No whining, complaining or excuses. Three: Be ready.That first rule is about players representing themselves well on and off the field, because their actions reflect on UAB. The No. 2 rule is self-explanatory. The final rule is about being on time all the time. “We want to be known for great effort,” Clark said.

It is  one thing of course to quote the principles of John Wooden to your team, its another to live by them. If you have been following the drama surrounding the UAB football team the past year you will know that Bill Clark has lived by what he has preached. In an era where coaches are paid a ridiculous amount of money to run a football team and where talented coaches are in high demand, it would have been very easy for Clark to pull out of Birmingham and say thanks but no thanks, I have seen enough.

You know what, he didn't do this. Want to know what else?  Bill Clark stuck by his Blazer players and stayed with them even during the hard bits of the program collapse. Clark also stayed faithful to the UAB fan base by not taking the first coaching job offered to him. A bold move for a dynamic coach with a family to feed and look after. Throughout it all Bill Clark stayed true to his conviction that UAB football deserved a rebirth and a place at the collegiate football table.

Even with the announcement yesterday that UAB football will return in 2017, the Blazer program still faces an uphill battle with its comeback.  The UAB Football Program has been essentially gutted and will need to find new players at virtually every position, including new water boys.  The Blazers will also re-enter Collegiate Football at a time of great upheaval and great uncertainty.

Regardless of the many obstacles facing the rebirth of its football program, UAB fans can take solace knowing that  it will be guided by a man who chose to stay and fight rather than abandon ship.  Clark's willingness to take the road less traveled and stick around for the  heavy lifting is perhaps the best gift he will ever give to UAB and its fans. The gift of never say never.

As Clark told reporters yesterday at the Conference USA Media Day, "This hope that I saw from our community is what I hung around for. They would not let the dream die." Bill Clark has personified that hope and in doing so infused  the world of sports  with the rarest of gifts; a man who actually  lives by his principles. 

I have no idea what type of team Bill Clark will start the 2017 season with. I have no idea if the Blazers will even win a game in 2017 . You know what?  I don't  care and UAB fans shouldn't either. The only thing that really matters is that in  2017  UAB will be lead by a man who stood by the Blazer program when he could have easily walked away from it. The only thing that really matters is that  in 2017   UAB will   be lead by a Head Coach who embodied  the same  3 John Wooden principles he has preached as a coach to his players; Protect the team, no whining complaining or excuses and be ready. Somewhere John Wooden is smiling. Stay tuned.