The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Week 1 Transcript: Alabama A&M
8/29/2022 4:40:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – Ahead of the 2022 season opener on Thursday night at Protective Stadium against Alabama A&M, interim head coach Bryant Vincent, quarterback Dylan Hopkins and cornerback Starling Thomas addressed the media on Monday morning.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
Opening Statement:
"Game week, right. Game week. We're all excited its finally game week. It's finally here. I've got a lot of respect for Alabama A&M and Coach Maynor, everything that those guys have done. We've played them before here in the past, they won a 2020 conference championship in the short COVID year, then they come back and go 7-3. If you go back and you look at the history of the teams that Coach Maynor coached, obviously with him being a former quarterback and an offensive guy, they've scored a lot of points. They've got a lot of tradition, a great fanbase, great alumni, and we know they're going to be bringing a great crowd and loud band coming into Thursday night at Protective Stadium."
On expectations on the Alabama A&M quarterback:
"That kind of goes back to Coach Maynor's history. If you go back and look at the history of his quarterbacks in his program, they've been very good offensively. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll have a quarterback that's ready to play. They've got a lot of speed on offense, they've got a good receiving core coming back, they've got Quarles at the running back from Alabama that's more of a 5-9 180, 190 pound running back, then they've got a big back at 5-11, 220 pounds. We fully expect those guys to be prepared and be very good offensively."
On the difference between this year and years past:
"It's game week. At the end of the day, our kids have went through another fall camp, they're excited to play, I think our leadership has grown. You know obviously, just being the offensive coordinator here the last several years, it is different when you step in the head coaching position, but it's football. We're getting our team ready to play, we're excited, we get to play at home to open the season this Thursday night. It's a lot of the same, but just a little bit different. We're excited, I'm excited to lead this team this Thursday night, for this university, for this town, and excited to kick off the 2022 season. [We're excited] to get started, to start this journey with a football team that has a lot of pride and a lot of passion for UAB, for each other, and for this town. I'm telling you, our team's excited, our kids are excited, and we're ready to kick it off."
On coaching his first game as a head coach:
"I'm a routine guy, everybody's different, but I'm a routine guy all the way up to the night before the game, how we play out the game in our minds as a staff going into it, like a rehearsal going into it. So, not really, everything's kind of on point, just staying in our routine of what we do here, what we've done here, all our standards, all of our traditions, all of our routines here, it's the same."
On taking over for Bill Clark:
"Something that comes to mind, when you say Bill Clark is, I don't know if there's any one player or any one man that's done more or is as important to UAB football as Bill Clark. I think his legacy here is cemented, his leadership, all the things that he's done for this football team, and lead this program and this town through, it's unprecedented. Bill Clark is UAB football and to be able to replicate that is just not going to happen. Bill Clark will always be one of the founding fathers, one of the guys that got UAB to where it's at now. I'm Bryant Vincent, I'm not Bill Clark. Bill is a mentor of mine, he's a close friend of mine. I wake up every day and attack this job with the emphasis on trying to make him proud, being able to follow after his footsteps, but I am going to be Bryant Vincent. I have a lot of pride; I have a lot of passion for this football program and these players. I was here in 2014, I was here for the first championship in 2018, I was here for the first bowl win in 2018, to the second west [championship] to the third west [championship], to the second conference championship in 2020. My goal and my passion is to continue everything that Coach Clark built in this city, in this university, and to continue to raise the standards, and to elevate the standards, and to go out and chase a conference championship."
QUARTERBACK DYLAN HOPKINS:
On opening the 2022 season:
"We're all ready to play someone else, we're tired of hitting ourselves. I think this team is super excited about this year with everyone coming back and a lot of new people coming in too. I think this year is going to be special."
On this camp versus years past:
"This has probably been my best camp. I know with the quarterback room, just the level of competition, it's definitely boosting everyone in the room each day. That's definitely been a huge part of it, but I think just how high the bar is this year for us, the expectations for us, that's been part of the really big push so far this year."
On preparation for Alabama A&M:
"It's definitely different going in, just from watching last year's film, but I think them not having played a game, them being our home opener, it's definitely different. [We have to] be ready for anything, especially with all the new transfers, don't expect the same team as last year, just expect them to be ready to play."
CORNERBACK STARLING THOMAS V
On covering their top receiver:
"We just go into the game really respecting these guys, even if they play in the FCS, we still have to come into the game with respect, knowing that they still can play football. Even though they've lost their quarterback, I'm pretty sure they're going to have a good one. Number 82, we really haven't seen much film of him because he's a transfer, but we're ready to play regardless."
On how far he has come heading into his senior year:
"Since I've been here at UAB, I've been through some things, and I grew a lot throughout the years, but it's been fun for me, even though I had to go through all those tasks. Now I'm in a leader position, and the guys that came before me like Brontae Harris and Broderick Thomas, they taught me how to be a leader of this team and show guys the right way and I'm just trying to bring the guys along with me. That's how I'm coming into this year."
On being a leader:
"It's pretty natural to me. I'm not much of a speaker as much as I am a leader, but when I speak, I expect people to listen, and my team does. I just want to show them the right way to do things and show them that we're here to win and bring the UAB way to them."
Season and single game tickets are available by clicking here. Season tickets start as low as $90 and are the most cost-effective way to watch the Blazers this season. Single game tickets start at $20.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- Thursday marks the first game for Bryant Vincent as a collegiate head coach. Vincent was UAB's offensive coordinator in 2014, and again from 2018-2021. He took over as interim head coach on June 27 after former head coach Bill Clark announced his retirement on June 24.
- Quarterback Dylan Hopkins enters his second season as the full-time starter. He was 7-3 as the starting quarterback last season and is 10-5 overall in his career. Hopkins threw for 2,274 yards and 18 touchdowns last year and led UAB to its biggest win in school history over No. 13 in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. He finished the season ranked eighth nationally in passer efficiency (166.6).
- UAB is coming off a season in which the Blazers finished 16th nationally in total defense. The Blazers have ranked top 20 in total defense every year dating back to 2018, including a stretch of finishing inside the top 10 from 2018-20.
Opening Statement:
"Game week, right. Game week. We're all excited its finally game week. It's finally here. I've got a lot of respect for Alabama A&M and Coach Maynor, everything that those guys have done. We've played them before here in the past, they won a 2020 conference championship in the short COVID year, then they come back and go 7-3. If you go back and you look at the history of the teams that Coach Maynor coached, obviously with him being a former quarterback and an offensive guy, they've scored a lot of points. They've got a lot of tradition, a great fanbase, great alumni, and we know they're going to be bringing a great crowd and loud band coming into Thursday night at Protective Stadium."
On expectations on the Alabama A&M quarterback:
"That kind of goes back to Coach Maynor's history. If you go back and look at the history of his quarterbacks in his program, they've been very good offensively. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll have a quarterback that's ready to play. They've got a lot of speed on offense, they've got a good receiving core coming back, they've got Quarles at the running back from Alabama that's more of a 5-9 180, 190 pound running back, then they've got a big back at 5-11, 220 pounds. We fully expect those guys to be prepared and be very good offensively."
On the difference between this year and years past:
"It's game week. At the end of the day, our kids have went through another fall camp, they're excited to play, I think our leadership has grown. You know obviously, just being the offensive coordinator here the last several years, it is different when you step in the head coaching position, but it's football. We're getting our team ready to play, we're excited, we get to play at home to open the season this Thursday night. It's a lot of the same, but just a little bit different. We're excited, I'm excited to lead this team this Thursday night, for this university, for this town, and excited to kick off the 2022 season. [We're excited] to get started, to start this journey with a football team that has a lot of pride and a lot of passion for UAB, for each other, and for this town. I'm telling you, our team's excited, our kids are excited, and we're ready to kick it off."
On coaching his first game as a head coach:
"I'm a routine guy, everybody's different, but I'm a routine guy all the way up to the night before the game, how we play out the game in our minds as a staff going into it, like a rehearsal going into it. So, not really, everything's kind of on point, just staying in our routine of what we do here, what we've done here, all our standards, all of our traditions, all of our routines here, it's the same."
On taking over for Bill Clark:
"Something that comes to mind, when you say Bill Clark is, I don't know if there's any one player or any one man that's done more or is as important to UAB football as Bill Clark. I think his legacy here is cemented, his leadership, all the things that he's done for this football team, and lead this program and this town through, it's unprecedented. Bill Clark is UAB football and to be able to replicate that is just not going to happen. Bill Clark will always be one of the founding fathers, one of the guys that got UAB to where it's at now. I'm Bryant Vincent, I'm not Bill Clark. Bill is a mentor of mine, he's a close friend of mine. I wake up every day and attack this job with the emphasis on trying to make him proud, being able to follow after his footsteps, but I am going to be Bryant Vincent. I have a lot of pride; I have a lot of passion for this football program and these players. I was here in 2014, I was here for the first championship in 2018, I was here for the first bowl win in 2018, to the second west [championship] to the third west [championship], to the second conference championship in 2020. My goal and my passion is to continue everything that Coach Clark built in this city, in this university, and to continue to raise the standards, and to elevate the standards, and to go out and chase a conference championship."
QUARTERBACK DYLAN HOPKINS:
On opening the 2022 season:
"We're all ready to play someone else, we're tired of hitting ourselves. I think this team is super excited about this year with everyone coming back and a lot of new people coming in too. I think this year is going to be special."
On this camp versus years past:
"This has probably been my best camp. I know with the quarterback room, just the level of competition, it's definitely boosting everyone in the room each day. That's definitely been a huge part of it, but I think just how high the bar is this year for us, the expectations for us, that's been part of the really big push so far this year."
On preparation for Alabama A&M:
"It's definitely different going in, just from watching last year's film, but I think them not having played a game, them being our home opener, it's definitely different. [We have to] be ready for anything, especially with all the new transfers, don't expect the same team as last year, just expect them to be ready to play."
CORNERBACK STARLING THOMAS V
On covering their top receiver:
"We just go into the game really respecting these guys, even if they play in the FCS, we still have to come into the game with respect, knowing that they still can play football. Even though they've lost their quarterback, I'm pretty sure they're going to have a good one. Number 82, we really haven't seen much film of him because he's a transfer, but we're ready to play regardless."
On how far he has come heading into his senior year:
"Since I've been here at UAB, I've been through some things, and I grew a lot throughout the years, but it's been fun for me, even though I had to go through all those tasks. Now I'm in a leader position, and the guys that came before me like Brontae Harris and Broderick Thomas, they taught me how to be a leader of this team and show guys the right way and I'm just trying to bring the guys along with me. That's how I'm coming into this year."
On being a leader:
"It's pretty natural to me. I'm not much of a speaker as much as I am a leader, but when I speak, I expect people to listen, and my team does. I just want to show them the right way to do things and show them that we're here to win and bring the UAB way to them."
Season and single game tickets are available by clicking here. Season tickets start as low as $90 and are the most cost-effective way to watch the Blazers this season. Single game tickets start at $20.
Players Mentioned
QB
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