Report: UAB Shutting Down Football

The football program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham appears to be coming to an end. Sources told Sports Illustrated's Thayer Evans that athletic director Brian Mackin is to be fired and that the school will announce this week that the football program will be shut down. The news comes despite—some say because of—a 45-24 win against Southern Mississippi on the weekend and a 6-6 season overall. Last week, State Rep. Jack Williams had proposed adding 10 new members to the board of trustees, including the mayors of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Huntsville, in an attempt to possibly preserve the program. UAB students and supporters plan to stage a protest at the school’s administration building Monday.