Shambley Ready to Help Build UAB’s Future

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - June 30, 2026

On the surface, Alex Mortensen and his UAB football staff added a talented young quarterback to the 2027 signing class with the recent in-state commitment from Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa quarterback Jordan Shambley. Dig a little deeper, though, and the addition of Shambley could also be a boost for the recruiting department that is trying to build a contender after three difficult seasons.

“I love to be in that transition,” Shambley said. “Knowing that UAB hasn’t been (above .500) for the past three years, like you said, I’ll love to be part of helping turn it around. My goal is to help get everybody in there that I can – o-lineman, receivers, punters, kickers, defensive guys, anybody we need to make the team better.”

It’s an approach that Mortensen helped build in Shambley’s mind during his official recruiting visit in June.

“He was telling me since I committed that he wanted me to tell other players that they were building a nice thing over there,” Shambley said. “He was telling me the year before they were really looking for transfer portal quarterbacks and stuff like that. That’s why they waited so long to make official offers to quarterbacks.”

As of now, Shambley is the lone Alabama high school recruit from the 2027 class to commit to the Blazers. His recruitment really started in early June and sped up quickly. Shambley and his Hillcrest High teammates participated in a 7-on-7 competition at UAB on June 10 and received an offer from the Blazers the next day. A few days later, he took his official visit to the UAB campus. It wasn’t his first time at UAB – he was at the Blazers spring game as a sophomore in 2024 – and he also attended some UAB games at Protective Stadium. But it was the first time that he arrived at UAB after getting a scholarship offer.

Shambley was quickly convinced that he wanted to become a Blazer.

“He was talking about the campus and all the quarterbacks he had coached,” Shambley said. “He coached Tua (Tagovailoa), Jalen Hurts and everybody like that. He talked to me about the offense and all that. You know, it’s not too far away from home, he’s coached a lot of good players and I decided to commit.”

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Shambley spent his first two high school seasons behind former Hillcrest standout Bryson Kimbrough, who is in his second season at Louisiana-Monroe. Once he arrives at UAB, Shambley will be the third consecutive Hillcrest quarterback starter to play college football, joining Kimbrough and Ethan Crawford, who began at Southern Miss and is now at Arkansas State. Shambley said he played wide receiver and defensive back while waiting his turn to play quarterback, which came last season when he led his team to a 6-4 record. He is ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals and his reported interest included UNA, Troy, Jackson State and Marshall.

Another big part of Shambley’s progression, as well as his interest in UAB, came from training with Raising Champions, which is an elite quarterback training program run by Tua Tagovailoa’s father Galu.

“It helped me a lot with my footwork, mechanics, making sure I’m seeing what I need to see back there, going through my reads and stuff like that,” Shambley said. “They treated me like family from the first time I came in there. He talked to me about Coach Mort and how good of a person he is and how helped build (Tua) into the man he is today.”