Jeremiah Briscoe
UAB Head Coach Bill Clark watches as quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe looks to throw during a practice session at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, April 11, 2014. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Bill Clark is only four games into his tenure as UAB head football coach.
But he's already thinking about the Blazer's long-term future at the game's most important position.
If you attend a UAB practice, you'll notice the black jersey gang rolls deep. That's how Clark and his staff outfits the Blazers' quarterbacks, a position group Clark is committed to keeping depth at, moving forward.
UAB's currently practices seven quarterbacks, a group comprised of starter JUCO transfer Cody Clements and backup redshirt freshman Jeremiah Briscoe as well as Myles McKee, Austin Chipoletti, Stevie Farmer, Evan Orth and Alabama State transfer Arsenio Favor.
"That helps your defense," Clark said of keeping so many quarterbacks among the fold. It creates depth and as we see that quarterback position, you can go from No. 1 to No. 3 real quick. I think down the road we're going to be even better with that."
Clements was picked off twice in the Blazers' 34-20 loss against Florida International in both teams' Conference USA opener this past Saturday. Briscoe fared even worse against the league's top defense, going 2-for-5 with a pair of picks, both of which were returned for touchdowns.
Clements was shaken up in the game and wasn't available for postgame interviews but is expected to start when UAB (2-2, 0-1) travels to Western Kentucky (2-2, 0-1) this Saturday.
Clark said McKee is the Blazers' No. 3 but is looking to get on the field anyway he can. The 6-foot-3, 198-pounder spent part of Monday's practice working with the special teams units.
"He's really a guy that cares that much. He's really a good athlete," Clark said of McKee. "We feel like he can do some other things."
Farmer, Chipoletti, Weber St., Orth and Favor are all expected to have a chance to compete for playing time in the spring.
UAB's coaching staff wanted to add some bulk to Orth's 6-foot-3 frame. "If you look at him from the day he got here in the summer to where he is now, he looks totally different," Clark said.
Chipoletti is sitting this season out while gaining experience on the scout team, playing against the Blazers' first-team defense every day in practice.
Clark said the knee issues that plagued Favor during stints at Southern Miss and A&M, where he started games earlier in his career, are behind him.
"Him (Chipoletti) and Favor both do somethings that make your just say, 'Wow'," Clark said. "We're probably playing as good a scout team quarterbacks as there are."