BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- It's official. UAB football is no more.
RELATED: News release confirms end of football, rifle and bowling at UAB
AL.com first reported the news this morning, and the school confirmed it in a news release this afternoon.
6:45 PM, A few more links: The text of the CarrSports Consulting report is online. One football player's emotional response has surfaced. And Kevin Scarbinsky has weighed in with his assessment of the day's events.
4:21 PM, Watts is done: University President Ray Watts leaves and concludes his news conference.
4:20 PM, No more cuts: University President Ray Watts says "we're not planning on cutting any more sports."
4:18 PM, Not fired: University President Ray Watts said AD Brian Mackin was reassigned to a new job -- created for him -- and was not fired.
4:15 PM, It's going downhill: Amid questioning from reporters, University President Ray Watts says "you're getting into trivialities."
4:13 PM, Killing football: University President Ray Watts said "killing football was not" objective. He keeps saying there's a "financial delta" between the money needed and the available funds. He said "giving pattern of donors" did not match up with properly funding football. He said the final report arrived "in the last two or three weeks."
4:03 PM, Who's calling the shots?: University President Ray Watts said the Alabama System of Board of Trustees did not make this call, but instead the school used "a disciplined process" to complete a strategic plan. He also said many people suggested that UAB abolish football when former coach Garrick McGee left.
"On purpose, we have kept the Board out of this decision," he said. "This is a university decision."
4:02 PM, Attendance from students: University President Ray Watts notes that "attendance has not been a big part" of student life. That's true.
4 PM, Bottom line: University President Ray Watts said in five years, the athletic department will transition from a $27 million deficit to a $1.8 million surplus.
3:59 PM, New reality: University President Ray Watts said the outcome of the study is not what was expected. Another words, he's saying he didn't intend to kill football, but that's what's happening.
3:55 PM, What did Bill Clark know?: University President Ray Watts said they were "candid" with Clark that the strategic planning study was happening and that "all options were on the table." Clark was hired less than a year ago, leaving Jacksonville State.
3:54 PM, He said it: University President Ray Watts just said "I know this is the best decision for UAB."
3:53 PM, At the podium: University President Ray Watts is talking again. "This is one of the hardest decisions we've had to make," he said. "We're going to continue to support athletics."
3:52 PM, Private fundraising: UAB Athletics gets only $2 million annually from private donations, Allen Bolton, the vice president for financial affairs and administration, said. That's what led to the belief that football could not be saved through private donations.
3:50 PM, No kidding: Allen Bolton, the vice president for financial affairs and administration, said school needed to spent $49 million over the next five years to improve facilities and increase the operating budget. It's no secret that UAB needs better facilities. He said $22 million was needed for football, including an indoor practice facility but no on-campus stadium.
He said he the only viable solution was discontinuing football, rifle and bowling.
3:48 PM, Why get rid of football?: UAB President Ray Watts says it's based on "financial realities." Now, he's calling Allen Bolton, the vice president for financial affairs and administration, to the dias. Bolton said athletic budget is $30 million, and $20 million comes from the university coffers.
3:46 PM, Honoring commitments: UAB President Ray Watts says athletes can stay on scholarship until finishing their degree. Coaches will also be paid. Any player who transfers will be immediately eligible to play.
3:46 PM, Ray Watts finally says it: Nearly 10 minutes in, UAB President Ray Watts says football, rifle and bowling with be abolished.
3:45 PM, Conference USA?: UAB President Ray Watts says he wants athletic teams to chase Conference USA and national titles. But a C-USA by-law requires all members to participate in football.
3:44 PM, Ray Watts talks more: He says he wants team to chase championships and emphasize good sportsmanship.
3:39 PM, Ray Watts talks: The UAB president opens his press conference by talking about the hospital and economic development. He said all decision are made "with the best knowledge available" and says all decision are "for the greater good."
3:36 PM, Another perspective: Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox doesn't like UAB's decision.
3:23 PM, Watch news conference live: UAB President Ray Watts and Vice President for Financial Affairs and Administration Allen Bolton are expected to speak at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the results of the athletics strategic planning process, and the closing of the UAB football program.
3:02 PM, Coach may not talk: It looks like UAB coach Bill Clark will not hold a press conference, as initially planned, because he's too emotional after team meeting with school president Ray Watts. It appears Clark will release a prepared statement instead.
2:49 PM, Reaction?: No immediate reaction yet from players or coach Bill Clark, but Clark posted this earlier today (it's his most recent tweet):
2:44 PM, Charles Barkley weighs in: And Sir Charles voices support for UAB football.
2:39 PM, That doesn't make much sense: According to the news release, UAB hopes to remain in Conference USA and maintain NCAA Division I status. However, a C-USA by-law stipulates that all members must play football on the Division level.
In addition, UAB will honor players' scholarships and coaches' contracts.
2:33 PM, New job for Brian Mackin: According to the news release from UAB, Athletic Director Brian Mackin has been reassigned to a newly created position of special assistant for athletics in Watts' office. The release said he requested the change. "In this role, Mackin will be dedicated to assisting student-athletes and coaches affected by the discontinuation of programs," the release reads.
The school's interim AD will be Shannon Ealy, who currently serves as senior associate athletic director.
2:24 PM, 2 other sports are out, too: In addition to football, bowling and rifle are also being abolished, according to a news release from the school.
2:21 PM, Football players react: UAB players are reacting in real-time on Twitter to the meeting with school president Ray Watts.
2:10 PM, The president is here!: School president Ray Watts has arrived to address the UAB football team in what's expected to be a behind-closed-doors meeting. He's expected to deliver the news that the program is being abolished.
2:01 PM, Quick backlash: Many people have taken to Twitter and other social media to express their opinions about the decision to shut down football.
1:44 PM, Where is school president Ray Watts?: Check out cartoon and commentary from J.D. Crow.
12:56 PM, That sounds official: UAB commit Demarco Montgomery, a former star at Spanish Fort now playing at East Mississippi Community College, said he was told this morning that the football program is being shuttered.
12:36 PM, Looking back: Check out a list of the greatest moments in UAB football history.
12:34 PM, What happens to the band?: Several alumni expect the band, cheerleaders and other auxiliary programs to suffer greatly without the football team.
From earlier today:
UAB President Ray Watts is expected to inform his administrative staff and other university employees this afternoon that he is going to discontinue the school's football program, two sources close to the situation told AL.com Tuesday morning.
Watts may also make a public announcement, as well.
A spokesman for Watts did not immediately return messages. Neither did UAB football coach Bill Clark or UAB Athletics Director Brian Mackin.
AL.com will update this story as it develops.
UAB's football future has been in question since a group of former players expressed concern in early November that the school's administration was considering shutting down the program. Neither Watts nor Mackin would put those concerns to rest publicly or privately.
In a Nov. 6 statement, Watts said the entire UAB campus began a strategic planning initiative more than a year ago. As part of that process, Watts said, "the Athletic Department is conducting a full strategic review of its programs. The Athletic Department has engaged outside experts and is exploring a full range of options - not all of which will be implemented - to reach its desired results of sustained excellence."
CarrSports Consulting has conducted the study of the UAB athletic department.
Under Clark in his first year as head coach, UAB beat Southern Miss in its last regular-season game Saturday to improve to 6-6, becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2004, for just the fourth time since the program moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1996. The Blazers have played in one bowl game, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in 2004.
UAB football started as a club program and played its first season as an NCAA Division III program in 1991. The program moved to Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision, in 1993. The Blazers moved to the FBS in 1996.
The last Division I program to discontinue its football program was Pacific in 1995.
Since the possibility that UAB might discontinue football went public, the program has received support from many directions: Birmingham Mayor William Bell, the Birmingham City Council, the Jefferson County Commission, state legislators such as Rep. Jack Williams as well as Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, a former UAB football player himself.
Jimmy Filler, who helped start a UAB Football Foundation this fall, pledged to raise $4-5 million in the next year and millions more in the next decade to support the program if the administration extended Clark's original three-year contract and scheduled non-conference opponents beyond 2016.
The unusually short length of Clark's contract and the failure to schedule non-conference games past 2016 were among the original concerns of former players and boosters that the program's future was in jeopardy.
Gov. Robert Bentley told AL.com Monday he was "optimistic" about the football team's performance this season.
"Hopefully it's going to survive, and I'm going to find out some more information about the situation over the next day or two," Bentley said.
AL.com Managing Producer Josh Bean and reporter John Talty contributed to this report.