The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Team Reports For Fall Camp
8/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 3, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team reported for the start of fall practice Friday and will hit the practice field for the first time on Saturday.
First-year head coach Neil Callaway and his staff welcomed 102 players who reported for the team's first "official" event, an evening meal held in the Green & Gold Room in Bartow Arena.
The Blazers will go to work Saturday when they hold their first preseason practice session. With a roster that had nearly 30 seniors complete their eligibility in 2006 and only four returning starters on both offense and defense, there is going to be plenty of competition for playing time and starting jobs over the next several weeks.
One position that is still up grabs but appears to be in good shape is the quarterback spot where senior Sam Hunt and sophomore Joseph Webb will vie for the starting nod.
"I'm not going to put a timetable on it," Callaway said when asked when he hoped to have a starting quarterback determined. "Just whenever it works itself out. Certainly, we'd like to have it worked out a week or 10 days before the first ballgame so we can game-plan things in more detail. We're just going to work it out on the field and see what happens."
There's no secret that many of the Blazers' class of newcomers will have a shot to earn playing time. The young guys will have a lot to learn, on and off the field, in a short amount of time.
"You're limited in the work you can do in the acclimation period which I think is a good way to go about it," said Callaway. "I think the rule they implemented several years ago is good. It gives you a lot of walk-through time, a lot of meeting time. You are able to go on the field and practice once a day for the first five days.
"With so many new bodies, we're going to need all the meetings and learning periods we can get. We want to make sure a lot of these young guys get reps. It's obvious we're going to have to play a lot of freshmen and a lot of new guys who haven't been here."
UAB opens its 2007 season Saturday, Sept. 1 when the Blazers travel to East Lansing, Mich. to meet the Michigan State Spartans. The game will kick off at 12:00 p.m. EDT and be televised nationally on ESPN2.
