Bill Clark stood in the middle of Legion Field, surrounded by members of his University of Alabama at Birmingham football team following their first session of spring practice.

“We don’t compare how we practice to nobody else,” the coach began. “If nothing else, you’ve learned what kind of shape you’ve got to be in. For a first day, you had a heck of a day.”

After meeting with position coaches, the squad of 64 assembled in a corner of the north end zone for a team picture. That’s not what you normally do after the first day of spring drills.

But this isn’t just any first day.

UAB football spring practice offers look at program’s rebirth from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

UAB football spring practice

Tuesday was the most recent and visible step in the rebirth of UAB football. While the team won’t actually play a game until fall 2017, Clark and his assistants had the team on the field just as they would if kickoff were six months away.

UAB President Ray Watts announced the end of the school’s football, rifle and bowling teams in December 2014. But a groundswell of support caused school leaders to take another look and Watts announced in June 2015 that the programs would be reinstated.

UAB Athletic Director Mark Ingram told Alabama NewsCenter that nearly a third of the $17.3 million that was pledged over five years has been collected. Those pledges brought about the reinstatement of football, golf and rifle.

The school is also raising money for a new football operations building. The University of Alabama System Board passed a resolution allowing UAB to hire an architect and design the building while raising money for it.

Ingram said there is more support for UAB Athletics than ever before. Athletic fundraising at UAB last year exceeded $5 million.

“That’s a big number for us,” the athletic director said. “I think our previous high water mark was in the mid ones, $1.4 million or $1.5 million. To be at $5 million is huge.

“Our interest is to play in 2017 and be competitive on Day One,” Ingram said. “We don’t have any interest in being average … limping into that season. We want to come out and be a competitor as soon as we can be.”

While Clark’s team won’t face an opponent for about a year and a half, Tuesday was an historic first step.

“You always get some butterflies any time you go back out to practice each year but when you’ve been sitting out for a while, it was a big deal,” the coach said.

Coach Clark instructing players at spring practice.

Clark acknowledged that with just 64 players, coaches will need to pace practices to avoid injury. But spring practices will largely be what Clark installed in his lone season with the Blazers.

“We think we’ve got a way we practice and a style and a tempo we want to reflect,” he said.

Shaq Jones is one of the 2014 team members who opted to stick around and remain a Blazer. He said despite the layoff they were picking up where they left off.

“The only thing different is just new players,” the jack linebacker said. “We still have high intensity. Coaches still coach the same. Just different players to learn the system.”

Jones said he didn’t consider leaving to continue his career.

“I love UAB,” he said. “UAB is who I am. I bleed the green and gold. Once I made a commitment here, this is where I wanted to be.”

Wide receiver Wally Adams admitted he was anxious to get to work. To this point, players have only worked in the weight room and done drills without footballs.

“It was great to get back out here,” he said.

Quarterback A.J. Erdely comes to UAB from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He knows that he has time to work on his footwork and other parts of playing his position.

The transfer signal-caller doesn’t fear that practice will become stale with so much time before kickoff.

“Coach Clark’s going to do a great job,” he said. “He keeps us pumped up every day, day in, day out. I don’t fear that at all.”

Erdely admitted it would be great to be the starting quarterback when the Blazers take the field again. “I’m just worried about learning all the plays right now,” he said.