UAB Football Coach Bill Clark Says He Has About Five Players Left on Campus [VIDEO]

After ending the program and resurrecting it in a period of six months, UAB announced Tuesday that its football team will begin competing again in 2017. 

Head coach Bill Clark, who has remained loyal to his players and the Blazer fans, joined the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday to discuss the state of the program and where it goes moving forward.

It's no surprise that Clark will have a huge rebuilding challenge on his hands, but the past seven months have left him with practically nothing.

"There's probably about five (players) on campus right now," Clark said. "We had a few graduate, and then we basically helped send out about 60 guys across the country to other universities so we don't have a lot right now."

When UAB president Ray Watts informed the country that football had ended in Birmingham on December 3, college coaches from around the country wasted little time trying to recruit away Clark's players.

"I think we had every coach in America - it seemed like - on our campus right after the announcement."

But he helped them find a place to play football in the absence of his own program. Now, Clark and the Blazers football team will look to the future, which includes renewed support from the city and the community.

"Birmingham, which is such a great city and such a great athletic, and specifically football, town, has gotten involved and energized."

Even though football's official return remains two full seasons away, UAB will try and approach the 2016 calendar year as though the program never ended. Clark said they'll try and hold a spring practice with the players he has on campus. Then they'll try and use next fall to practice and prepare for 2017.

In the meantime, the task at hand is simple, but demanding: to recruit to a inactive program.

"We've got to sell UAB. I've got to fill our roster. I said it earlier today, maybe I was a good recruiter before but I have to be a great recruiter now and get this roster filled out.