BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama analyst Alex Mortensen has been hired as the next offensive coordinator at UAB, new coach Trent Dilfer told CBS Sports. Mortensen, 37, has been with Alabama since 2014. He is the son of longtime NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
Alex played quarterback at Arkansas and Samford. After graduating college, he served as passing game coordinator at Division II New Mexico Highlands (2012-13) as well as a coaching assistant with the St. Louis Rams (2013). He has been both a graduate assistant and analyst with the Crimson Tide since 2014. Between his stints at Alabama, Mortensen was a wide receivers coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football.
Dilfer was announced Wednesday as the Blazers new coach, replacing interim coach Bryant Vincent, UAB’s former offensive coordinator. The 50-year-old Dilfer jumped directly into college coaching after four years as a high school coach at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.
The former Super Bowl-winning quarterback finished 43-10 with two state championships. Dilfer has promised a progressive, innovative staff to the point he is using some of his salary to add to the assistants’ pool. He is the first high school coach to make the jump to FBS since Tony Sanchez at UNLV in 2015.
“The most overrated person in building is the head coach, because he gets too much credit for the things other smart people do,” Dilfer said. “The greatest thing about the head coach is when he hires people that are smarter than him.”
