Sources: UAB names interim Mortensen new coach

• Jake TrotterDec 4, 2025, 05:36 PM ET

  Close

  Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He’s a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.

UAB is making Alex Mortensen its permanent head coach, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Thursday.

Mortensen, 40, had served as the Blazers’ interim head coach since the school fired Trent Dilfer on Oct. 12.

UAB went 2-4 under Mortensen to finish the year with a record 4-8, but won its final game, 31-24 over Tulsa.

Mortensen, who had been UAB’s offensive coordinator since 2023, is the son of the late award-winning ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen.