UAB's Bill Clark Named Conference USA Coach Of The Year

BIRMINGHAM, AL - UAB head football coach Bill Clark has received some attention this year. And given the circumstances surrounding his team, all he really needed to do was show up, but he went much further than that. The fact that UAB took the field at all in 2017 is a feat worth mentioning, after the Blazers program was terminated by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2014. After a fight to get the program back, Clark has his team preparing for a bowl game. This has earned Clark Conference USA Coach of the Year honors, an award Clark also captured the year the program was shut down.

Clark has also been mentioned as a finalist for National Coach of the Year honors, a distinction he shares with Alabama coach Nick Saban and Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.

Veteran sports editor Scott Adamson has spent the last 10 years covering sports in South Carolina (most recently at the Seneca Journal), where he has covered the likes of national championship coaches Steve Spurrier and Dabo Swinney, and he said he thinks Clark should be the favorite to win the national award.

"I remember thinking before the season if UAB could win four games that would count as a major success," Adamson said. "Remember, this was a team that had been given the death penalty, although it was executed through no fault of its own. Regardless of whether or not some players stuck it out – which is a huge credit to Clark – UAB was still starting over. To get bowl eligible with six wins through its first nine games is remarkable. There are obviously other coaches who have done great jobs this season, but no one has done a better job than Clark."

The Blazers will play Ohio University in the Bahamas BowlDec. 22.

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