Alicia Rohan
UAB News
To celebrate the best season in the University of Alabama at Birmingham football program history, Mayor Randall Woodfin has declared Friday, Jan. 18, as “UAB Blazers Football Day,” and the city of Birmingham will hold a championship parade on campus at 4 p.m., with a pep rally to follow.
The parade route will start at the UAB Administration Building, located at 701 20th St. South, and turn onto University Boulevard. It will then travel west on University before turning right onto 13th Street South and then left on Sixth Avenue South. The parade concludes there with a pep rally at the Football Operations Center, where the three trophies the Blazers earned this past season will be presented.
“UAB already means so much to Birmingham in terms of jobs, economic impact and the education it provides to our students,” Woodfin said. “And now, this team has shown the entire nation what Birmingham is all about — resiliency, perseverance and teamwork.
“I join UAB in inviting Blazer fans to meet us on University Boulevard to honor the team. Wear your green and gold and let’s show the team and coach Bill Clark just how proud we are of them.”
In just its second year back on the playing field, the Blazers won the program’s first Conference USA and bowl game en route to a school-record 11 wins.
“Our fans and our team both deserve the opportunity to celebrate together,” said Director of Athletics Mark Ingram. “We are incredibly grateful for the mayor’s leadership for making this happen. This will be a lot of fun, and hopefully this is just the first of many to come.”
After securing a berth in the C-USA title game with a 26-23 victory against Southern Miss on Nov. 10, the Blazers traveled to Middle Tennessee on Dec. 1 and defeated the Blue Raiders 27-25 to win their first C-USA Championship in school history.
UAB then capped its storybook season with a decisive 37-13 victory over Northern Illinois in the Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 18, its first bowl victory in school history.
For leading the Blazers to national prominence in 2018, head coach Bill Clark was named the 2018 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, as well as the CBS Sports and Sporting News National Coach of the Year.
Clark accepted the National Coach of the Year award Jan. 5 in San Jose, California, in conjunction with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
