University of Alabama at Birmingham Football

Updated December of 2025 Alex Mortensen was named UAB's head football coach on Dec. 5, 2025. Mortensen was named as UAB’s Offensive Coordinator on Dec. 5, 20...

Brent Vieselmeyer was named the new UAB secondary coach/pass game coordinator on Jan. 2, 2025. Vieselmeyer has seven years of NFL coaching experience with the Washington Commanders (2020-23) and the Oakland Raiders (2015-17) and has impressive credentials as a high school head coach and position coach at the collegiate level. Overall, Vieselmeyer brings over 26 years of coaching experience with him to Birmingham. From 2020-22, Vieselmeyer was the assistant secondary coach for the Washington Commanders, and was elevated to the secondary coach in 2023. With Oakland, Vieselmeyer was the assistant linebackers in 2015 and 2016, followed by serving as the safeties coach in 2017. In between his stints in the NFL, Vieselmeyer was an offensive analyst at the University of Kansas (2018), followed by serving as the head coach at Santa Margarita High School in Orange County, Ca. (2019). Vieselmeyer began his coaching career as the defensive coordinator at Orange Lutheran High School from 1999-06, then served as the head coach at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., from 2007-12 where he built the program from scratch and won four straight Colorado State Championships (09-12). For his efforts, he was a three-time Coach of the Year recipient from the Denver Post. He then went on to help start the program at Houston Baptist University from 2013-15 as their defensive coordinator before joining the Raiders as the assistant linebackers coach. Vieselmeyer played linebacker at

UAB Football Head Coach Alex Mortensen and Director of Sports Performance Lyle Henley named Bryant Novick as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach on...

FootballSkip AdEger, CharlieBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent

UAB Head Football Coach Alex Mortensen named Corbin Grantham to a Defensive Backs Assistant Coach position on January 21, 2026. Grantham spent the 2025 seaso...

Danny Mitchell was promoted to the new Run Game Coordinator and Running Backs Coach for the UAB football program on January 29, 2025. He served the previous ...

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Updated January of 2026 UAB Head Football Coach Alex Mortensen named Hindley Brigham as the Blazers’ assistant coach on January 14, 2026. Brigham spent nine ...

FootballSkip AdHenninger, JackBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent

Head Coach Trent Dilfer named Kevin Garver as UAB’s Pass Game Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach on Jan. 28, 2025. Garver, who won Super Bowl LV as the Tampa Bay wide receivers coach in 2021, was on UAB’s staff in 2024 as a senior offensive analyst working alongside the receivers and now takes over full-time duties leading that unit. A Birmingham native, Garver served as the Buccaneers wide receivers coach from 2019-2022, and helped Tampa Bay defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl LV. While coaching Tampa Bay, Garver helped Mike Evans achieve four-consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons as Evans compiled 288 catches for 4,322 yards and 41 touchdowns during that span. Prior to Tampa Bay, Garver was on staff with the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-2018. He started as offensive quality control in 2013 and progressed to the wide receivers coach for the 2018 season, working alongside future NFL Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. Garver began his coaching career at the University of Alabama as a student assistant from 2007-09, then served as a graduate assistant in 2010-11. He was an offensive analyst for the Crimson Tide in 2012, and overall he was a part of three national championship winning teams at Alabama. In 2024 with the Blazers, Garver’s unit accounted for 64.4 percent of UAB’s completed passes (183 of 284 passes) and 19 of the 24 receiving touchdowns. Garver is a graduate of Oak Mountain High School and earned a business marketing degree in 2009 and a master’s degr

Stokes comes to Birmingham from Michigan, where he has been a defensive analyst since 2024. In Ann Arbor, he worked with a defense which ranked 19th in the country against the run. Prior to his time at Michigan, Stokes was at Louisiana, where he was a defensive analyst for three seasons. During his time in Lafayette, he worked with the defensive backs and assisted with day-to-day operations of the defensive staff, including film breakdown, weekly game planning and managing academics. Stokes was a two-year starter for the Ragin’ Cajuns from 2010-11, recording 135 tackles and five interceptions playing cornerback and safety. He was a part of the program’s 2011 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl championship team. He earned an associate degree in mathematics from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 2009 before earning his bachelor’s degree in general studies from Louisiana in 2012.

FootballSkip AdGodsey, LukeBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent

Lyle Henley, UAB’s long-time Director of Sports Performance, has been promoted to Assistant Head Coach for the 2025 season. Henley will continue to lead the strength and conditioning program for UAB Football. Henley has been a cornerstone of the program since UAB’s return to the playing field as he began his role in 2016. Henley has been with the program its practice season in 2016, and since then has been a part of all 57 wins, which includes three bowl victories, three CUSA divisional titles and two CUSA championships. Regarded as one of the top strength coaches in the country, Henley has a proven track record of developing players into next-level talent. During his time at UAB, he has helped 13 players reach the NFL. Overall, Henley has coached nearly 100 players who have signed in the NFL, including 23 first round draft picks throughout his time at UAB and when he owned Athlete Factory, a private training facility in Spanish Fort, Ala. from 2005-15. Henley also helped Spanish Fort High School win Alabama State Championships in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Henley was a linebacker and tight end at Louisiana Tech from 1994-99 and got his first coaching job at the University of Alabama from 2000-02. He then returned to his Alma Mater as the head strength coach from 2003-04 before opening his private gym. Henley and his wife Nicki have two children, son Gage and daughter Jocie.

Blazer alum Matt McCants was promoted to offensive line coach for the UAB football program on July 1, 2024. In McCants’ first season coaching the OL, his uni...

Madison joins the Blazers after spending the 2025 season with Colorado State, where he served as the cornerbacks coach. He previously spent two seasons at Sacred Heart (FCS) as the inside linebackers coach. Madison’s first full-time coaching position came at Oregon in 2022 as a defensive analyst. He was part of the Ducks staff that won the Holiday Bowl against North Carolina. He also served as a graduate assistant at FIU, working with the defensive line, and at Buffalo with the linebackers. Madison was a standout on the defensive line for Concordia-Ann Arbor (NAIA) from 2013-17. He began his coaching career in Ann Arbor, where he coached defensive line from 2018-19.

Updated June of 2025 UAB Head Coach Trent Dilfer named Reilly Jeffers as the tight ends coach in December of 2022 and Jeffers is in his third season with the Blazers. Jeffers was also given the role as recruiting coordinator for offense in March of 2025. In Jeffers’ first season at UAB, his unit helped the Blazers set the school record with an average of 450.0 yards per game. Led by Bryce Damous, the tight ends combined for 49 catches, 505 yards and three touchdowns in 2023. Last season, the tight ends increased their production by combining for 53 catches for 618 yards. Damous once again led the charge with 19 catches for 209 yards, and under the direction of Jeffers, Damous compiled 43 catches for 451 yards in two seasons. Additionally, senior Terrell McDonald had his most productive season catching the ball in 2024 as he finished with 15 receptions for 202 yards. Jeffers came to UAB after spending two seasons at Ohio State as an offensive assistant (2021-22). During his time in Columbus, the Buckeyes compiled an overall record of 22-4, made an appearance in 2022 College Football Playoff and won the 2021 Rose Bowl. While Jeffers was at Ohio State, the Buckeyes had the nation’s top offense in 2021 as they led the country in total offense (561.5) and scoring offense (45.7). In 2022, Ohio State finished 9th nationally in total offense (490.7) and second in scoring offense (44.2). Prior to Ohio State, Jeffers spent the 2020 season as the tight ends coach at Lipscomb Academy wor

A well-respected coach at the college and NFL level for almost 50 years, Rip Scherer was named UAB’s Senior Advisor to the Head Coach in January of 2023. Sch...

UAB Head Football Coach Alex Mortensen named Ryan McNamara as a Quality Control Assistant Coach on January 23, 2026. McNamara comes to Birmingham after serving on staff at Oklahoma State as a Defensive Quality Control Coach in 2025. McNamara arrived in Stillwater after three seasons at Central Michigan, spending time as the linebackers coach in 2024 after serving as general manager in 2022, where he oversaw recruiting and player personnel and helped secure the MAC’s top-ranked recruiting class in 2023. In almost 20 years of coaching, McNamara has helped 10 teams reach bowl games, developed 12 players who were drafted or spent multiple seasons in the NFL, and spent 11 combined years coaching in the SEC at Florida and Mississippi State. McNamara joined Central Michigan in 2022 following seven seasons as Florida’s defensive backs assistant. He helped the Gators win three SEC East titles, reached multiple SEC Championship Games, established one of the top pass defenses in the SEC and nation in multiple seasons, and helped develop first-round NFL draft picks Kaiir Elam and CJ Henderson. Before Florida, McNamara coached at Valdosta State, serving as defensive backs coach, recruiting coordinator, and special teams overseer, contributing to a Division II national championship, three playoff appearances, and coaching NFL standout Kenny Moore. McNamara also spent four years at Mississippi State as a defensive quality control assistant and graduate assistant, helping the Bulldogs reach

Long time Carolina Panthers assistant coach Sam Mills III was named UAB’s defensive line coach on Feb. 26, 2025. Mills III brings over 17 years of NFL coaching experience with him to Birmingham, 15 of which were spent in Carolina and two in Washington alongside UAB’s former defensive coordinator Steve Russ and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer. Mills began his coaching career with Carolina in 2005 as a strength and conditioning coach and defensive assistant, and then spent 2006-10 as the Panthers’ defensive quality control coach. From 2011-18, Mills III was the assistant defensive line coach, and was then promoted to defensive line coach/game management coach for 2018 and 2019. In all, Mills helped Carolina reach the playoffs six times, including a 15-1 regular season record in 2015 which culminated in winning the NFC Championship and reaching Super Bowl L. Following his 15 years in Carolina, Mills spent two years as the defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders. In 2023, Mills was a volunteer assistant coach at Montclair High School in New Jersey and spent 2024 working for CAI (Championship Analytics Inc.) His father, Sam Mills, is in the NFL Hall of Fame and played linebacker for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers in the 1980s and 90s.

FootballJones, SantonioBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent

FootballSkip AdDuncan, SpencerBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent

UAB Head Football Coach Alex Mortensen named Todd Grantham as the Blazers’ defensive coordinator on January 7, 2026. Grantham brings 35 seasons of coaching e...

FootballSkip AdPeterson, ZachBrigham, HindleyDuncan, SpencerEger, CharlieGarver, KevinGodsey, LukeGrantham, CorbinGrantham, ToddHenley, LyleHenninger, JackJeffers, ReillyJones, SantonioJones, JohnMadison, NigelMarciano, AnthonyMcCants, Matt McNamara, RyanMills III, SamMitchell, DannyMortensen, AlexNovick, BryantPeterson, ZachScherer, RipSteele, GordonStokes, LionelVieselmeyer, Brent