Talk:Free UAB

A few notes

• 1989: Auburn coach Pat Dye is supportive of UAB's efforts to create a football team. Alabama coach Bill Curry objects to adding a second football team to the UA system and says that the Crimson Tide is "Birmingham's team" and "as long as the city lives up to its commitments, we will continue to come to Birmingham." - Wayne Martin (February 12, 1989) "Dye would play Blazers, but Curry says no way." Birmingham News. (Alabama continued to play select home games at Legion Field through the 2003 season)
• 1991: Gene Bartow wrote letter to NCAA compliance official suggesting investigation into Alabama's basketball recruiting practices and also observing that multiple football coaches trained by Paul Bryant had recently been found in non-compliance.
• April 2002: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees passed a resolution requiring the UAB Blazers athletic department to eliminate its deficit or be shut down. Football coach Watson Brown was named interim athletic director and took charge of a fund-raising effort that brought the deficit from $7.6 million to around $5 million. Incoming UAB president Carol Garrison submitted a plan to continue reducing the amount year by year and succeeded in convincing the board to rescind the ultimatum. (link)
• 2006: UABOT blocked promotion of Pat Sullivan to head football coach and blocked agreement to bring Nick Saban's offensive coordinator at LSU, Jimbo Fisher, in as head coach. Neil Callaway was hired instead.
• November 2011: Trustee Finis St John IV had the UAB National Alumni Society mail out a letter explaining his position on removing the proposal for an on-campus football stadium from the Board's agenda. He cited challenges in maintaining excellence in health care and research as reasons to pull back on investments in athletics. (al.com)
• 2012: Gene Bartow died.