Bill Clark retiring as UAB head football coach

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Calling it “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Bill Clark announced his retirement as the UAB head football coach Friday morning, citing the need for a spinal fusion because of “long-standing back issues that have grown more and more debilitating in the last year.”

“Retiring as the UAB head football coach is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Clark wrote in a statement, “but my future health and well-being depend on it.”

Clark, who turns 54 years old Tuesday, shared his decision with the UAB players and assistant coaches in their regularly scheduled Friday morning meetings. He confirmed his decision to The Lede and AL.com.

“I have reached this difficult decision after consultation with a number of world-class medical experts and much family discussion, reflection and prayer,” Clark’s statement said. “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’s statement said that he will officially retire Aug. 1 and that offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent will serve as interim head coach and defensive coordinator David Reeves as assistant head coach. Clark recommended that Vincent and Reeves remain in those roles, with the rest of the staff staying together, for the 2022 season.

Clark spent eight years and six seasons as the UAB head coach. He retires with a 49-26 record, three Conference USA West titles, two C-USA championships, four bowl trips and two bowl victories. In his last game in December, UAB beat No. 13 BYU in the Radiant Technologies Independence Bowl. It was the highest-ranked opponent the Blazers have beaten in program history.

The numbers alone don’t tell the full story of Clark’s tenure, which also includes national coach of the year awards in 2017 and 2018. At the conclusion of his first season, the university administration discontinued the sport in December of 2014, only to reinstate it in June of 2015. With no games to play for the next two years, Clark led the rebuild known as #TheReturn.

In addition to winning championships, Clark was a driving force behind the formation of the UAB Athletics Foundation and the construction of the on-campus Football Operations Center, the first capital project dedicated to football in university history. The program’s success also contributed to the construction of multi-purpose Protective Stadium at Uptown, where UAB football is the anchor tenant, playing beneath a facade that reads, “Home of the UAB Blazers.”

Clark’s statement, which did not include a date for the spinal fusion, said that he is unclear about his future beyond the surgery but that he will continue to live in the Birmingham area and contribute to causes such as the Children’s Harbor game UAB football plays annually and the CoachSafely Foundation.

“I am stepping down, but I am not walking away,” the statement said. “UAB football, the university and the city of Birmingham mean too much to me. My roots and my heart are here, and they will stay here.”