The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB to Host No. 22 Memphis on Saturday in Battle For The Bones
10/13/2025 3:47:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team returns home to Protective Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 18, to host undefeated and 22nd-ranked Memphis. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
UAB DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS MARK INGRAM:
"Thanks, everyone, for being here. We certainly had a difficult day yesterday, but I am excited to introduce Alex (Mortensen) today, our interim head coach. He has been our offensive coordinator, as you know, for the last two and a half seasons. Our success offensively is very well documented, he is very well liked by our players, very well-liked by our staff, and those who know him and work with him, and we are excited to have him lead our program for the next six football games."
INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX MORTENSEN:
Opening statement:
"I want to start off saying I certainly did not expect to be in this position right now, so a lot of this will be a little bit off the cuff, so bear with me. First of all, I want to thank Coach Dilfer for giving me this opportunity to be here as the offensive coordinator. Coach Dilfer really cared about our players a lot, was very genuine, and poured a lot into them. (He) cared about our staff. I saw that firsthand working with him very closely on offense and he's a good coach, he really is. I am really grateful to have had an opportunity to work for Coach Dilfer. Secondly, certainly, I want to thank Mark Ingram for expressing the confidence in me and our administration to do this for the remainder of the season for the next six games and it is obviously not the circumstances in which I want this to happen, but I am certainly grateful. Beyond that, getting on to this week, this is the Children's Harbor game. There is a great tradition with Children's Harbor here at UAB, it is something that means a lot to a lot of families and a lot of kids and I think our players have really embraced it. Coach Dilfer put a big emphasis on it here as well, but our players have really embraced it. (They are) playing for something bigger than themselves, so certainly that is going to be a big point of emphasis this week for us is doing a really good job interacting with those families and those children and we are glad we get to do that. It is a really great opportunity. Finally, this thing is really about the players at the end of the day. A lot of these guys have six games left and some of them are on their last stretch. They are seniors and this is their last stretch to play college football and so it is important to us that we send them out the right way. This thing is not about me, it is not about anyone else but doing a really good job for the university, for the program, and for our players, and doing it the right way for them. I am certainly excited to try to take on that challenge for the remainder of the season."
On how this position changes the structure of his day:
"I think there are a variety of things that will change taking on head coach responsibilities. I think the good thing is there are certain things that are in place that we have good department heads that coordinate their respective areas. I am going to try to really be involved with the offense and run the offense and then take on the head coaching duties the best I can on top of that. Time management is going to be really important, scheduling is going to be really important here, but thankfully we have a lot of really good people in this organization that I really trust to help."
On seeking counsel for his newly appointed role:
"I think it is certainly wise to seek counsel especially in a situation like this. Some of it is our past experiences, past head coaches I have worked for, certainly I have learned in my role and experience here, too, and I have made some phone calls, and will make some more, certainly, to try to glean some wisdom on how best to handle this. I have also been doing this for a while, too, so you go in with some ideas and some thoughts as to the way we want to do things. So, it is a little bit of both coming in with some past experience and knowledge and some of it is the uniqueness of the situation of saying, 'okay, how do we best handle this?' I think the biggest thing is you talk to people and it is really what is on our hearts as a staff is making this about the players. How do we give them the best coaching experience and football experience possible to close out the remainder of this season. We will keep it about them, and it really is the most important thing to me."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- On Sunday, Oct. 12, it was announced that UAB has parted ways with Head Coach Trent Dilfer and that Offensive Coordinator Alex Mortensen will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Mortensen has been UAB's OC since the start of the 2023 season and Saturday marks his first career game as a head coach.
- Running back Solomon Beebe continues to be a weapon all over the field and he's coming off a game in which he led UAB in rushing and receiving while scoring two touchdowns at Florida Atlantic. He compiled 119 all-purpose yards and ranks 12th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (129.0). Beebe has had over 100 all-purpose yards in five of six games this season, and for the year he has 110 rushing yards, 236 receiving yards and 428 kickoff return yards.
- Saturday marks the 10th year of a partnership with Children's Harbor and the ninth annual game in which UAB will wear alternate grey and lime jerseys with the names of 100 patients on their back. Located on UAB's campus inside Children's of Alabama, Children's Harbor's mission is to strengthen families of seriously ill children through refuge, respite and resources. These unique, no-cost services are offered at both "The Harbor" Family Center located at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, and at the Lake Martin retreat facility in Alexander City. Children's Harbor has been in service since 1989.
UAB DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS MARK INGRAM:
"Thanks, everyone, for being here. We certainly had a difficult day yesterday, but I am excited to introduce Alex (Mortensen) today, our interim head coach. He has been our offensive coordinator, as you know, for the last two and a half seasons. Our success offensively is very well documented, he is very well liked by our players, very well-liked by our staff, and those who know him and work with him, and we are excited to have him lead our program for the next six football games."
INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX MORTENSEN:
Opening statement:
"I want to start off saying I certainly did not expect to be in this position right now, so a lot of this will be a little bit off the cuff, so bear with me. First of all, I want to thank Coach Dilfer for giving me this opportunity to be here as the offensive coordinator. Coach Dilfer really cared about our players a lot, was very genuine, and poured a lot into them. (He) cared about our staff. I saw that firsthand working with him very closely on offense and he's a good coach, he really is. I am really grateful to have had an opportunity to work for Coach Dilfer. Secondly, certainly, I want to thank Mark Ingram for expressing the confidence in me and our administration to do this for the remainder of the season for the next six games and it is obviously not the circumstances in which I want this to happen, but I am certainly grateful. Beyond that, getting on to this week, this is the Children's Harbor game. There is a great tradition with Children's Harbor here at UAB, it is something that means a lot to a lot of families and a lot of kids and I think our players have really embraced it. Coach Dilfer put a big emphasis on it here as well, but our players have really embraced it. (They are) playing for something bigger than themselves, so certainly that is going to be a big point of emphasis this week for us is doing a really good job interacting with those families and those children and we are glad we get to do that. It is a really great opportunity. Finally, this thing is really about the players at the end of the day. A lot of these guys have six games left and some of them are on their last stretch. They are seniors and this is their last stretch to play college football and so it is important to us that we send them out the right way. This thing is not about me, it is not about anyone else but doing a really good job for the university, for the program, and for our players, and doing it the right way for them. I am certainly excited to try to take on that challenge for the remainder of the season."
On how this position changes the structure of his day:
"I think there are a variety of things that will change taking on head coach responsibilities. I think the good thing is there are certain things that are in place that we have good department heads that coordinate their respective areas. I am going to try to really be involved with the offense and run the offense and then take on the head coaching duties the best I can on top of that. Time management is going to be really important, scheduling is going to be really important here, but thankfully we have a lot of really good people in this organization that I really trust to help."
On seeking counsel for his newly appointed role:
"I think it is certainly wise to seek counsel especially in a situation like this. Some of it is our past experiences, past head coaches I have worked for, certainly I have learned in my role and experience here, too, and I have made some phone calls, and will make some more, certainly, to try to glean some wisdom on how best to handle this. I have also been doing this for a while, too, so you go in with some ideas and some thoughts as to the way we want to do things. So, it is a little bit of both coming in with some past experience and knowledge and some of it is the uniqueness of the situation of saying, 'okay, how do we best handle this?' I think the biggest thing is you talk to people and it is really what is on our hearts as a staff is making this about the players. How do we give them the best coaching experience and football experience possible to close out the remainder of this season. We will keep it about them, and it really is the most important thing to me."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
Players Mentioned
RB
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