Interim coach Alex Mortensen, son of the late Chris Mortensen, picks up his first win as UAB holds off No. 22 Memphis for a 31-24 win. (0:25)
In his first couple of days as UAB's interim football coach, Alex Mortensen quickly earned the respect of athletic director Mark Ingram, who was impressed by Mortensen's composure, professionalism and steady leadership amid a challenging transition.
Mortensen, the 39-year-old son of late ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen, had been tasked with replacing former Blazers coach Trent Dilfer, who had given him his first big break in coaching when he hired him as the team's offensive coordinator in 2023.
According to Ingram, Mortensen was calm and confident when he met with UAB's players and assistant coaches for the first time after Dilfer was fired Oct. 12. Mortensen was polished and prepared when he faced the media the next day.
"You're talking about a bunch of guys that were very emotional about that news, and I thought Alex handled that beautifully," Ingram said. "He met with the staff, and I thought he handled that beautifully. He was fabulous at the podium with [the media]. I hate to say that I was surprised, but I was kind of pleasantly surprised at how well he's done with all of that because he just hadn't done it before."
Mortensen had that same cool and measured demeanor when he made his head-coaching debut last week, leading UAB, a 21½-point underdog, to a 31-24 upset of then-No. 22 Memphis at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
After the Blazers punted with a seven-point lead and less than two minutes to play, the Tigers converted on fourth-and-7 when quarterback AJ Hill completed a 21-yard pass to Cortez Braham Jr.
Then it looked as if Memphis had a touchdown, with the potential to tie the score with a PAT or take the lead with a 2-point conversion, when Greg Desrosiers Jr. broke off a 41-yard run. But replay officials ruled Desrosiers' left knee was down at the 1-yard line.
That's when things fell apart for the Tigers. A false-start penalty backed them up to the UAB 6. Desrosiers nearly scored on first-and-goal but was pushed out at the 1. Then came another false start, two incompletions and a delay-of-game penalty, leaving the Tigers with fourth-and-goal from the 11 with 19 seconds remaining.
What was going through Mortensen's mind in the biggest moment of his first game in charge?