Bryant Vincent returns to Protective Stadium

Bryant Vincent spent six years at UAB. He was the offensive coordinator for much of the program's return from shutdown. He was the interim head coach in 2022 after Bill Clark stepped down due to health reasons, went 7-6 and won the Bahamas Bowl. He wanted the permanent job. UAB gave it to Trent Dilfer. Half the team staged a protest and tried to walk out.

Vincent took the Louisiana-Monroe job, built a staff full of people who came with him from Birmingham, and beat the stuffings out of Dilfer's UAB team 32-6 in Monroe in September 2024.

Now he is coming back.

Vincent brings his ULM Warhawks to Protective Stadium on Saturday for UAB's home opener, and this is not a game where either sideline needs a scouting report to know what the other is doing. Six members of Vincent's coaching staff have direct UAB ties. Two players on his roster transferred from the program. His son is on the team. And on UAB's sideline, running backs coach Hindley Brigham spent last season embedded in Vincent's staff at ULM before returning to Birmingham in January. There are ten direct connections between these programs. The only mystery is execution.

The ties run deep

Vincent is the obvious connection — but the depth of the staff ties is what makes this game unusual. He brought a piece of UAB with him to Monroe, and it shows.

His offensive line coach, Cameron Blankenship, played at UAB from 2012 to 2014 — a three-year starter who went to South Alabama for a year after UAB shut down the program, then came back to coach. Blankenship spent seven years on UAB's staff before following Vincent to Monroe. Quarterbacks coach Taylor Dupuis spent five years as a senior offensive analyst at UAB. Assistant head coach Earnest Hill coached UAB's secondary for three seasons. Vincent's son Brady was a student assistant and graduate assistant at UAB before joining his father's staff as tight ends coach.

Then there is Jermaine "Skull" Brown Jr. — UAB's career leader in all-purpose yards with 5,026 — now coaching running backs for the Warhawks.

On the field, safety Carl Fauntroy transferred from UAB and started nine games for ULM last season with 35 tackles. Wide receiver Brandon Buckhaulter made the same move. Both will line up Saturday against their former program.

And Brigham makes ten. He spent 2025 at ULM as Vincent's assistant head coach, running backs coach and run game coordinator. He knows the personnel. He knows the scheme. He knows the calls. Alex Mortensen brought him back to UAB in January, and the timing is not a coincidence.

What we learned from Week 1

Both teams opened on the road against teams that, at least on paper, occupy similar positions in their conferences. UAB went to Illinois. ULM went to Mississippi State. Neither won. But the losses told different stories.

UAB outgained Illinois 413-332. The Blazers ran 79 plays, held the ball for 41 minutes, converted 10-of-19 third downs and reached the red zone on every trip. Ryder Burton was 18-of-31 for 219 yards with a touchdown pass and a rushing touchdown. Rod Robinson II and Bam McReynolds combined for 27 carries and 115 yards on the ground. Jonah Delange was perfect on three field goal attempts.

The Blazers lost 42-23 because they committed nine penalties for 69 yards to Illinois' one for four, because they scored field goals instead of touchdowns in the red zone and because three explosive plays — a 65-yard punt return, a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half and a 59-yard pick-six — handed Illinois 21 points the Illini never had to earn. UAB didn't get outplayed. UAB got out-disciplined.

ULM did get outplayed. Mississippi State put up 762 total yards and led 41-3 at halftime. The Warhawks managed 278 total yards and converted three of 16 third downs. Starter Aidan Armenta went 10-of-16 for 67 yards in the first half before being pulled. Houston transfer Austin Carlisle entered in the third quarter and provided a spark — 73 passing yards, a 40-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Jameson and 50 rushing yards to lead the team. Kicker Abram Murray hit a career-high 52-yard field goal, the first by a Warhawk from that distance since 2021.

There was some life with Carlisle in the game. But 62-13 is 62-13.

The parallel is imperfect but useful

Illinois and Mississippi State are not the same team. But they are not in different galaxies either. Both are middle-of-the-pack programs in their conferences — Illinois in the Big Ten, Mississippi State in the SEC. Both have the kind of roster depth that overwhelms Group of 6 opponents when those opponents make mistakes.

UAB made mistakes and stayed in the game until the final minutes. ULM made mistakes and was buried by halftime. That gap matters heading into Saturday. UAB's problems at Illinois were correctable — penalties, red-zone finishing, preventing the catastrophic play. ULM's problems at Mississippi State were structural. The Warhawks could not sustain drives, could not stop the run and could not stay on the field.

If UAB cleans up even half of its penalty issues from Thursday, the Blazers should control this game. The early line has UAB as a 7.5-point favorite, and the Blazers have the better roster, the home field and a coaching staff that watched the ULM-Mississippi State film knowing Brigham had already told them what to expect.

Motivation is not a question

UAB was favored in 2024 too. That game was in Monroe, under Dilfer, with a different roster and a different identity. Vincent's team showed up motivated in a way UAB did not, and the 32-6 margin was not a fluke — it was a beating.

This is a different UAB program under Mortensen. The Blazers proved at Illinois they can move the ball against anyone on their schedule. But the connections guarantee that ULM will not come to Birmingham looking like a team that just lost 62-13. Vincent's coaches spent years building UAB's program. Some of them were there when the school shut down football and had to start over. They are not making this trip for a paycheck game. They are coming because this is personal.

Mortensen has his own motivation — the home opener, a new identity and the knowledge that the last time these teams played, his program got embarrassed. The Blazers want to prove that the team that outgained a Big Ten opponent is the real version of this program. Saturday at 2:30 is the first chance to do it in front of their own fans.

The bottom line

Saturday's game at Protective Stadium is a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on ESPN+. UAB is favored. The Blazers should win. But there are ten people on the other sideline who know exactly how this program operates — and one on UAB's sideline who knows exactly what the Warhawks are going to do about it.

The only mystery left is execution.