In a heartfelt message posted to Twitter on the morning of June 24, UAB’s legendary head football coach Bill Clark announced that he will be retiring on August 1.
Describing the choice as “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Clark named increasingly debilitating back issues as the primary cause for this development. “Having undergone a previous back surgery, extensive physical therapy, shots and chiropractic therapy, I have exhausted all of my options. Due to the extreme physical demands placed on a head coach, it is clear to me. It’s time to pass the torch and try and get well.”
Clark announced that offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent will be taking his place as head coach and David Reeves will be stepping up as assistant head coach, roles that will likely remain in effect through 2022.
The coach’s legacy at UAB will be felt for decades to come. Clark helped lead the Blazers’ meteoric return to football following the controversial decision from President Ray Watts and the University of Alabama Board of Trustees to shutter the team in 2014. After three years of severe public backlash and a highly successful fundraising campaign, UAB announced their plan to return to the football field for the 2017 season. In 2018, Clark led UAB to win its first conference championship since the program’s founding.
“We rose from the ashes to build something rare and real, and we did it together. We set excellence as a standard, and we achieved it. We developed leaders, won championships and forged a bond with the community unlike anything college football had ever seen,” said Clark in his statement.
Clark’s decorated eight-year, six-season tenure at UAB ended with an incredible four bowl trips, two bowl wins, three Conference USA West titles, two Conference USA championships and a 49-26 record. He spearheaded the formation of the UAB Athletics Foundation, which was instrumental in the construction of UAB’s Football Operations Center and later the Blazers’ new home field, Protective Stadium.
“I will play a different role from here, but you can always count me in that number,” Clark said in the closing of his statement. “I will always be a Blazer.”
