The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Completes Day One of Fall Camp Wednesday Morning
7/31/2019 2:08:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team held its first practice of 2019 fall camp Wednesday morning at the Football Operations Center in advance of its season opener on Aug. 29 versus Alabama State at Legion Field.
WATCH: Head Coach Bill Clark Interview
WATCH: Spencer Brown Interview
WATCH: Brontae Harris Interview
THREE TAKEAWAYS:
HEAD COACH BILL CLARK:
Opening Statement:
"It is a big time to get back for all of us. It takes a lot of hard work from the players, all the way back to January to get to this day. Everything has been leading up to it: all the training in the summer, the sprints and weight lifting. All that is to get ready for today. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. They're excited. We are excited. We have really had a good summer. I have said that a few times already. We try to give everybody reps. As a player, you can say that we have given them an opportunity. We are constantly evaluating and looking at the depth chart. We don't have pads on, but we should be able to practice pretty close to how we are going to practice."
On beginning practice:
"The first 10 days of practice are kind of like spring. They are going to look like spring training. We will have a big scrimmage next Saturday and that will tell us a lot. It's going to be a constant evaluation if we have a guy that doesn't come in until the summer, he is going to constantly get better. The first game will be the total telling point."
On the team's energy level:
"For us, it is a little bit different. Quiet confidence, maybe. I think this group knows what it looks like and what it needs to be like. We have talked about that all summer. We'll see."
On the outlook for this season:
"Is this a real program? Because that's what we want to be. We have guys in line for their chance. They understand the little things. We want this to continue to go. This is a year to look forward to. Nobody has taken their program away and brought it back the way it all happened. We knew this was going to be one of those years. We are going to have to see how it works out. I think the guys are ready for their opportunity. Hopefully, we can keep going."
On the new-look roster for the season:
"You bring in guys who are one-or-two year guys versus guys who have been with us for three years. Seeing how we train, seeing how we practice, they have been through that. That's going to help us in this program."
On the defense:
"You're going to see some guys you probably haven't seen. You might be surprised. We have done some recruiting. A few guys came in after spring. Defense, to me, is a lot about depth. Hopefully, we will find a two-deep for that side of the ball."
On moving forward after last year's conference championship:
"You always say, 'We are going to enjoy everything that happened before.' Those are things that can't be taken away. It's time to look forward. When they ask, 'What's your favorite ring?,' it's the next one. This team looks forward. We've got all those things and a great team to help us move forward."
On the players not looking back:
"I'm sure they are sick of hearing it from coaches and other folks out there that they are not going to be who we have been the last couple years. That's what athletics is about. It's about trying to find an edge and playing with a chip on your shoulder. They have heard that a few times from me. What have you done? What are you going to do? We have been talking about that since January. We had four guys arrive late in July. The buy-in and expectation is very, very high."
On playing with a chip on the shoulder:
"We were picked No. 130 two years ago. That's something we always look at. I do think we have to realize that if somebody is going to get up for one game, they are probably going to get up for us. We have to be ready for that."
On quarterback Tyler Johnston III:
"He's a guy who just came off of game experience, along with the fact that he is a winner. The kids love to follow him. We have a bunch of other great quarterbacks too. He's been in the war, though."
QUARTERBACK TYLER JOHNSTON III:
On starting the 2019 season:
"I thought we had a great day. We did some good things and we did some bad things. We have a lot of things to work on. I feel good about this season. Just from the first practice, I feel good about it."
On being a leader on the team:
"It feels good. Everybody looks forward to playing for you, but I'm playing for everybody else here. Everybody is coming up and there are a lot of leaders coming up too. We are all going to go together and play together."
RUNNING BACK SPENCER BROWN:
On how it felt to kick off the season:
"It felt great. My heart was racing as soon as the first snap happened. It's really hard just watching something you love to do over a six month period, so it felt great to get out there."
On changing numbers (from 28 to 4)
"I've always wanted to, but I kept it because of my little brother. I changed it this year, and what number better than four? Greg Bryant was a running back, so running backs stick together."
On the running back stable:
"We're really close. This is the closest group I've seen. We complement each other. We also make each other work harder. It's good to work with those boys because they push me, I push them and we get better every day."
CORNERBACK BRONTAE HARRIS:
On upper classmen mentoring the younger players:
"They look up to us. We had success last year and the year before, so they look at us as big brothers. The upperclassmen set the standard, so they just buy in. They don't talk back or anything. They listen to what we say because they know everything will work out with the coaches, then we go from there."
On the team's feel compared to last season:
"It was a different feeling. We're very confident, but we're also humble because we know that people are doubting us all over the conference and saying these things. We're confident, but we're very humble as well."
On motivation from being selected to finish fourth in the West Division:
"That's given us a lot of motivation. We keep that in the back of our minds. We talk about it at meetings. We're working hard to earn our respect from the conference. We thought we earned it last year by winning the championship, but obviously we didn't. We're going to earn our respect this year. We're very humble and very hungry, so we're ready to get it going."
The Blazers will take the field again on Thursday morning for practice No. 2 of fall camp. Continue to check back with uabsports.com for updates, and be sure to follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.
WATCH: Head Coach Bill Clark Interview
WATCH: Spencer Brown Interview
WATCH: Brontae Harris Interview
THREE TAKEAWAYS:
- It was a blistering hot day as temperatures continuously increased throughout the morning, and reached the mid-90s by the end of practice.
- As always, the first day of camp was helmets only. That will be the case on Thursday as well and the team will increase to shells for Friday and Saturday before going into full pads next Monday.
- Despite losing 34 seniors from last year's championship team, head coach Bill Clark mentioned there is a quiet confidence to this year's team because they know what it takes to win a championship and there are still very many players on this team who were leaders last year.
HEAD COACH BILL CLARK:
Opening Statement:
"It is a big time to get back for all of us. It takes a lot of hard work from the players, all the way back to January to get to this day. Everything has been leading up to it: all the training in the summer, the sprints and weight lifting. All that is to get ready for today. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. They're excited. We are excited. We have really had a good summer. I have said that a few times already. We try to give everybody reps. As a player, you can say that we have given them an opportunity. We are constantly evaluating and looking at the depth chart. We don't have pads on, but we should be able to practice pretty close to how we are going to practice."
On beginning practice:
"The first 10 days of practice are kind of like spring. They are going to look like spring training. We will have a big scrimmage next Saturday and that will tell us a lot. It's going to be a constant evaluation if we have a guy that doesn't come in until the summer, he is going to constantly get better. The first game will be the total telling point."
On the team's energy level:
"For us, it is a little bit different. Quiet confidence, maybe. I think this group knows what it looks like and what it needs to be like. We have talked about that all summer. We'll see."
On the outlook for this season:
"Is this a real program? Because that's what we want to be. We have guys in line for their chance. They understand the little things. We want this to continue to go. This is a year to look forward to. Nobody has taken their program away and brought it back the way it all happened. We knew this was going to be one of those years. We are going to have to see how it works out. I think the guys are ready for their opportunity. Hopefully, we can keep going."
On the new-look roster for the season:
"You bring in guys who are one-or-two year guys versus guys who have been with us for three years. Seeing how we train, seeing how we practice, they have been through that. That's going to help us in this program."
On the defense:
"You're going to see some guys you probably haven't seen. You might be surprised. We have done some recruiting. A few guys came in after spring. Defense, to me, is a lot about depth. Hopefully, we will find a two-deep for that side of the ball."
On moving forward after last year's conference championship:
"You always say, 'We are going to enjoy everything that happened before.' Those are things that can't be taken away. It's time to look forward. When they ask, 'What's your favorite ring?,' it's the next one. This team looks forward. We've got all those things and a great team to help us move forward."
On the players not looking back:
"I'm sure they are sick of hearing it from coaches and other folks out there that they are not going to be who we have been the last couple years. That's what athletics is about. It's about trying to find an edge and playing with a chip on your shoulder. They have heard that a few times from me. What have you done? What are you going to do? We have been talking about that since January. We had four guys arrive late in July. The buy-in and expectation is very, very high."
On playing with a chip on the shoulder:
"We were picked No. 130 two years ago. That's something we always look at. I do think we have to realize that if somebody is going to get up for one game, they are probably going to get up for us. We have to be ready for that."
On quarterback Tyler Johnston III:
"He's a guy who just came off of game experience, along with the fact that he is a winner. The kids love to follow him. We have a bunch of other great quarterbacks too. He's been in the war, though."
QUARTERBACK TYLER JOHNSTON III:
On starting the 2019 season:
"I thought we had a great day. We did some good things and we did some bad things. We have a lot of things to work on. I feel good about this season. Just from the first practice, I feel good about it."
On being a leader on the team:
"It feels good. Everybody looks forward to playing for you, but I'm playing for everybody else here. Everybody is coming up and there are a lot of leaders coming up too. We are all going to go together and play together."
RUNNING BACK SPENCER BROWN:
On how it felt to kick off the season:
"It felt great. My heart was racing as soon as the first snap happened. It's really hard just watching something you love to do over a six month period, so it felt great to get out there."
On changing numbers (from 28 to 4)
"I've always wanted to, but I kept it because of my little brother. I changed it this year, and what number better than four? Greg Bryant was a running back, so running backs stick together."
On the running back stable:
"We're really close. This is the closest group I've seen. We complement each other. We also make each other work harder. It's good to work with those boys because they push me, I push them and we get better every day."
CORNERBACK BRONTAE HARRIS:
On upper classmen mentoring the younger players:
"They look up to us. We had success last year and the year before, so they look at us as big brothers. The upperclassmen set the standard, so they just buy in. They don't talk back or anything. They listen to what we say because they know everything will work out with the coaches, then we go from there."
On the team's feel compared to last season:
"It was a different feeling. We're very confident, but we're also humble because we know that people are doubting us all over the conference and saying these things. We're confident, but we're very humble as well."
On motivation from being selected to finish fourth in the West Division:
"That's given us a lot of motivation. We keep that in the back of our minds. We talk about it at meetings. We're working hard to earn our respect from the conference. We thought we earned it last year by winning the championship, but obviously we didn't. We're going to earn our respect this year. We're very humble and very hungry, so we're ready to get it going."
The Blazers will take the field again on Thursday morning for practice No. 2 of fall camp. Continue to check back with uabsports.com for updates, and be sure to follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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