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Coaches change jobs, get hired, fired, resign, retire and whatnot all the time. the UAB Blazer football program, however, will be a little bit less awesome going forward, as longtime Bill Clark cohort Mike Bennefield has announced that he is stepping down as the Blazers' offensive line coach.
Bennefield's story is a unique one because he's not just a great football coach, he's also a survivor. He suffered a severe brain injury back in 1998 when he was still a high school baseball coach, after taking a line drive to the temple during a session of pitching batting practice without the safety screen (for the first and last time).
Mike has come a long way from those days and will likely continue to have success wherever he goes, as Clark has had nothing but positive things to say for as long as he has known him. Bennefield will head home to Prattville where he will reportedly pursue high school coaching jobs, and his son Mitchell remains with the program as the Blazers' long snapper.