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Amidst the mass confusion that seems to be presiding over the final few days of the UAB football re-evaluation came a pair of tweets from Birmingham radio host Tony Kurre this morning.
Trusted source"Watts has been swayed to recommend bringing football back to UAB but it will have to go thru BOT first". More details shortly
— Tony Kurre (@Tonethebone37) May 29, 2015
Source-Watts will meet with BOT this weekend with recommendation to bring back football-BOT must approve-find out Monday @free_UAB
— Tony Kurre (@Tonethebone37) May 29, 2015
The official line from the powers that be is that the BoT is not and never has been involved, which has earned a collective roll of the eyes from most who are following this story.
Ray Watts has been meeting with various constituent groups throughout the week to gauge support for the re-establishment of the team and to discuss the financials of the situation.
With $20 million-plus pledged to get UAB football back, one key piece of information we still don't have is how much Watts and company are looking for. Has the threshold already been crossed? Is the bar so high it can never be reached? We don't know.
Just as important: We don't know who's holding the keys. Officially, it's Watts. Per Kurre's anonymous source, it's the BoT. Given the history of the UAB football fiasco, it's questionable who has more credibility at this point.
First off, there is this:
@Tonethebone37 you guys are missing one big point: It is against any number of rules (SACS, NCAA) for the BOT to be involved
— joseph (@mixdup) May 29, 2015
Unfortunately, that doesn't rule out anything, at least not as I see it. Nothing about this process has made sense and there is no indication it is being negotiated in good faith by whoever actually is in charge.
One thing I will add: If Monday morning rolls around and no announcement has been made, that can only be a good sign for the #freeUAB crowd. UAB's leadership has been ever mindful of the news cycle of late, announcing its new athletic director and leaking the CSS football report late on a Friday night. Per Rep. Jack Williams, they were set to announce last Friday that the team wasn't coming back, a plan which apparently was thwarted. Bad news isn't usually released early in the week.
The announcement will come from Watts when it does arrive. Who actually made the decision may never be known.