Mortensen Takes UAB Back to Basics as Fall Camp Begins
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 3, 2026
At some point, the UAB football team will turn its attention toward a difficult season opening test against a talented Illinois team. UAB head coach Alex Mortensen made it clear on Monday that it’s too early to be concerned with the opener.
“I think you always want to start fast, but right now we're so focused on the process of getting better,” Mortensen said after putting his team through the opening fall practice session in shorts. “We don't want to skip steps, that would be a mistake. So we're really going back to the fundamentals. I mean how to take a snap, how to use a cadence, hand placement in blocking. If we do all those things, that will take care of itself, as we get closer to the competitive season.”
Monday’s work was an important step back on the field but it was also just the start of the preparation for Mortensen’s first season as the full-time head coach of the program. Mortensen liked what he witnessed on the first day.
“I think the first thing, it's our first day of practice and obviously we have to go through an acclimatization period where we don't wear pads or anything like that,” Mortensen said. “But I thought the guys approach to practice (with) their effort, their energy was really good. Very positive mindset. Then the other thing I can see from spring until now is I think our strength and conditioning staff, Lyle Henley, had a great plan for the summer. I think the guys bought into the plan. We look faster, we look more explosive. I think those movement skills, some of those things really show up. I think we're in better condition. It always takes a little time to get in football shape once you really start playing the game. But you can definitely see a lot of their work in the summer come to life.”
One of the positive parts of Monday was having wide receiver Kaleb Brown back on the practice field. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior suffered a lower body injury during spring practice and missed several practice sessions. He wore a yellow jersey on Monday, which signifies no contact, but was able to participate in parts of practice.
“I'm excited,” UAB quarterback Ryder Burton said of getting Brown back on the field. “As long as Kaleb continues to trend in the right direction it's a positive thing for us. I'm excited for him to continue to get back out there and kind of find his feet again. When he gets back (to full speed) everybody knows he's a special player.”
Mortensen left little doubt what Brown means to not only the offense but the team.
“He's very important to our team,” Mortensen said. “I would even say in the time (since) Kaleb's gotten here he's really developed, even as a person, the whole person. That kind of individual maturation and development and character development has also led to him, I think, earning the respect of his teammates. He's become a leader, a voice people respect. So, beyond his ability to produce or make contested catches, which are things he does well and he's also a physical strong runner when he’s got the ball in his hands. The intangible things and the leadership things he brings are really valuable to us.”
UAB returns to the practice field on Tuesday, once again in shorts, and the first practice in pads is scheduled for Thursday.
More from Mortensen on Monday’s practice:
On the continuation of summer work into fall camp: “I think it is a little different than it used to be. I mean, 20, 30 years ago things weren't as organized in the summer. The NCAA has allowed you to do a little more football than you did in the past. So I think there's a little more retention, learning-wise from spring till fall camp. I think that helps from a learning standpoint. And then I think from a conditioning standpoint, you go way back, I mean, guys would go home and they'd go work. They weren't a part of a strength and conditioning program. So I do think you pick up a little more where you left off (now).
I think the other thing that's interesting in the NFL they take about six weeks off, when they get done with their OTAs in June. So we're fortunate to have them for the month of July. I think it allows you to probably start, from a physical conditioning standpoint, a little bit further along. But when it comes to the fundamentals and technique, we like to go back to the foundation and kind of almost start over, make sure we're not taking those things for granted.”
On what he learned from his time as the interim head coach: “Having an opportunity to do the interim thing for that last half of last season, I think the biggest thing I learned was like the importance of the time management. I probably could have anticipated that but experiencing it I think helped. So being able to plan as many things ahead as possible, because there will always be surprises that are going to pop up every day. Making sure that the day's kind of not stuffed to the brim, where you don't have time to take on some of the things that are just going to happen that maybe you didn't plan for. I encountered some of those things as the interim. So, that's one thing I think that's allowed us, going forward, to create a daily structure that is well organized and well planned but also has enough of a margin and a little bit of wiggle room to where you take on the things that you don't expect. Certain times when you don't expect a knock on your door, you're going to get one.”
On defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and his group: “We're very excited to have Coach Grantham here. I'm really excited to have our entire defensive staff coupled with the group of players we have. I love that group over there. We still have a lot of work to do to get where we want. We're just trying to establish the basic things right now. I think everyone in college football right now is faced with this challenge of roster turnover. Everybody’s probably sick and tired of hearing about it. But we have to adapt to it and figure out what are the best strategies. Having some guys that maybe come in with some knowledge helps, but at the same time, you don’t want good players to not be able to play because they transferred in here and maybe they haven't caught up. Maybe we adapt our teaching methods, adapt how much we install in order to be able to teach to as much of the room as we can.”
On building a foundation and taking the next step: “I think the first thing, it was important they at least get to know each other a little bit. Some of that happened organically, some of it we manufactured. And then the second thing is I think is, man, they go to work in the weight room and the meeting room and practice. Guys start to reveal themselves a little bit in terms of what they're made of and how they're going to lead there. We had a high percentage, the majority of the team, handle that well but that's not enough.
We're at the next point. Maybe we've created a good foundation, you may have built the base of the pyramid but we got to build the whole thing. Here we are going into camp and this is a critical time period. One thing we're challenging our guys with is don't look at the off-season and the summer as the time you improve and now you go play. Camp is a tremendous opportunity to get better. So I think we've got to get better fundamentally, we've got to get better technique-wise, we've got to gain better understanding of our scheme. And then again, I mentioned earlier, you got to also get in true football shape. Guys have come in in good general condition, but now we got to go build the capacity to play from the snap to the echo of the whistle from the first quarter to the fourth quarter.”