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Montgomery was committed to UAB, but now needs to find a new option. (Photo via EMCC)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham saved Demarco Montgomery's son's life.

The least he could do was play football for the school.

But with the school moving forward with plans to disband the football program, Montgomery will never get that chance.

"I was really locked into UAB," Montgomery said. "I don't know what to do now."

Montgomery's son was born with heart murmurs and needed to have heart surgery seven months ago. Montgomery took him to UAB and thankfully the surgery was successful. His son will turn one-year old on Dec. 14.

"My baby had heart surgery there and they took care of my baby," he said. "It all worked out fine. He's doing great now thanks to UAB."

The 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive end was a standout football player at Spanish Fort High School. After high school he enrolled at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Miss. and is on the verge of winning his second junior college national championship this Sunday.

He was all set to graduate from East Mississippi in two weeks and enroll at UAB in January. Playing football at UAB allowed him to be closer to his son and gave him a chance to reunite with offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent, who coached him at Spanish Fort.

Vincent called Montgomery on Tuesday morning to tell him the UAB football program would be killed. Vincent said the decision was out of the football staff's hands and that it was made by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees.

Now, the junior college standout will have to quickly scramble and find another college in the next three weeks. He hopes to take official visits to Memphis, Kansas State and Arizona in the coming weeks.

But it won't be UAB.

"I really liked coach Bill Clark and coach Vincent," he said. "I've known them since high school. There's a lot of loyalty there and it's really like a family. I felt like I would (have been) taken care of."