CFB AM: McCarron challenges entire state of Alabama to fight for UAB

Published Dec. 2, 2014 9:55 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

There’s ominous news for the UAB football program, as the university is expected to announce the closing of its football program.

Hundreds of supporters are battling against that decision, and it appears they also have some high-profile help.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide star AJ McCarron took to social media to challenge the entire state of Alabama to stand up and fight to save the Blazers’ football program.

Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah also tweeted support of UAB:

But all that support looks like it will be for nothing after fans had reason for a little more optimism on Monday.

Alabama governor Robert Bentley said he will look into the possibility of continuing the UAB program and applauded the Blazers on their success under first-year coach Bill Clark -- UAB went 6-6 this season -- but also noted the board of trustees would be making the decision. It appears their choice is clear despite vocal please to keep the program intact.

The strongest defense so far can be credited to UAB’s seniors, who wrote a powerful letter to school president Ray Watts saying, “Stand up for your students and alumni. Stand alongside the businesses, leadership and people of Birmingham. And fight for us. Or, with all due respect, look us in the eye and tell us you don't believe in us."

Here is the letter in its entirety – strong leadership by the UAB seniors:

To Dr. Ray Watts:

As the college football season comes to a close and teams begin to measure their accomplishments, this should be a time for celebrating our progress and dreaming of what we can achieve next. Instead, our team, and all of the student-athletes at UAB, have been left to wonder if our future is about goals, growth, and vision - or if it is about quitting.

For several weeks we have lived and played under a cloud of rumors about the future of the football program at UAB, even as we fought to become bowl eligible for the first time in ten seasons. From our own athletic director and president we have heard no vote of public support. Nothing at all except for questions about whether we can perform at a 'level of excellence.'

We have been left to wonder about our future as, game by game, we got closer to accomplishing goals for our university that most considered impossible heading into this season.

So we ask you, Dr. Watts, where is the excellence in that?

While we have had no support from our president or athletic director, the support from everywhere else has been overwhelming. We have seen our former players rally around us to raise money and urge you to fight for UAB. We have seen the Mayor of Birmingham and the City Council stand in unison and speak out about the value of our program time and time again as they pledged their support and finances.

We have been uplifted by the business leaders in our community who rallied around us and told you that when we win, all of Birmingham wins.

We have felt the continuous support from our fellow students, our professors, our alumni, and Blazer fans as attendance at our games grew almost 150% this year. And we have been driven by the support from our own coaches who have shown us the very meaning of the word commitment as they have fought for this university and for us even as their own livelihoods have grown more and more uncertain.

We are honored to play for all of these people.

So if everyone is for us, Dr. Watts, who exactly is against us?

Every one of us has fought for UAB football all year long. Many of us have fought for UAB football every day for the last four years. When we were recruited, we were sold on the very best of what UAB can be, and how UAB would in turn, make us our best. We believed in UAB then, and we believe in UAB now - which is why we will not stop fighting for what is right.

So we ask you to provide the leadership and direction we need. Stand up for your students and alumni. Stand alongside the businesses, leadership and people of Birmingham. And fight for us.

Or, with all due respect, look us in the eye and tell us you don't believe in us.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Jameis Winston’s disciplinary hearing at Florida State begins today, in which a retired Florida Supreme Court Justice will determine whether or not Winston violated the university’s student conduct policy in an alleged sexual assault in December 2012. The important thing to remember is that the Justice, Major Harding, isn’t tasked with determining whether Winston committed a crime but only if he violated FSU’s policy, which carries a lower standard of proof. The worst-case scenario is Harding determines Winston is guilty of four different violations and expels him from FSU, effective immediately. That would take him off the field for the Seminoles, as they pursue another national championship. Count me as skeptical that a decision will be made before the end of the season, though.

2. Hugh Freeze won’t be leaving Ole Miss, so relax Rebels fans. He has a new four-year contract with the school, AD Ross Bjork announced Tuesday morning. There’s been a lot of public speculation tying Freeze to Florida as a prime candidate to replace Will Muschamp. Who knows how much actual interest there was between the two parties, if any at all, but it doesn’t matter now. The Rebs are keeping their guy.

3. To the surprise of nobody, Georgia coach Mark Richt said Monday night on his radio show that running back Todd Gurley will enter the 2015 NFL Draft. Gurley’s stock will be in question come draft day, as he recovers from a torn ACL, which will likely prevent him from participating in the Combine or normal Pro Day drills in the pre-draft evaluation process. In related news, UCLA coach Jim Mora confirmed QB Brett Hundley will turn pro after this season.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. A neuropathologist will examine the brain of former Ohio State wrestler and football walk-on Kosta Karageorge, who was found dead on Sunday near campus, to see if there are any signs of traumatic injury related to concussions. Sam Gardner spoke with Karageorge’s high school coach, who said he’ll remember him for his devout loyalty. Continued prayers are with the Karageorge family and Ohio State.

2. Will not having a conference title game in the Big 12 ultimately help or hurt Baylor and TCU in the College Football Playoff race? Stewart Mandel tackles that question in his Week 14 Forward Pass column. It’s an interesting question. My opinion: If a team has one or two solid non-conference games and its league schedule is tough enough, then it helps by not having that extra landmine at the end of the year. But if the body of work is a little light – which Baylor’s might be this year, given how terrible its non-conference slate was – then a team probably needs that final opportunity to make a statement. I think TCU, which has a non-conference win over Minnesota, is in slightly better shape than the Bears.

3. The most pressing question for fans after Nebraska fired Bo Pelini, obviously, was what will happen with the brilliant parody Twitter account @fauxpelini? The founder of the Twitter account – who continues to remain anonymous – spoke with For The Win and said he’s not sure what comes next for him. It’s possible, but unlikely, that he follows the real Pelini to his next job and keeps the character up, and it’s probably unlikely that he creates a new account for the head coach. “It probably would just be a different character, depending on who it is,” he said. My guess is the @fauxpelini account remains and evolves into the Ghost of Bo Pelini at Nebraska, questioning every bad decision and taking undue credit for the good ones. Selfishly, I don’t really care what the founder does next, as long as he doesn’t stop tweeting. The account is brilliantly funny.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. Baylor hired a PR firm to help with its push for the playoff, but the company’s founder told FOX Sports Southwest their role is not to influence the playoff committee but rather help Baylor with some media relations things, such as scheduling some more interviews for Bears AD Ian McCaw. I assume the firm will also help McCaw craft the message he wants to shoot out to media in those interviews … which means they are campaigning. Here’s the best promotional idea for the Bears, free of charge: beat Kansas State. That alone probably gets Baylor into the playoff.

2. A Syracuse recruit has decommitted from the school after multiple messages he left with coaches on staff have gone unreturned. Can the Orange really afford to do this?

3. Nebraska players were outraged over Pelini’s firing and took to Twitter to blast the AD.

LASTLY

* According to a report, Michigan fans should probably get to burying their dream of Jim Harbaugh taking over the program.

* Nice job by Navy with this hype video ahead of the Army game on Dec. 13. Well done.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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