The ever-widening gulf between the haves and have-nots of modern day college athletics hit UAB like a punch in the gut last month.

The athletic department was forced to cut or eliminate 12 positions before the start of its new fiscal year in July. The estimated savings are about $400,000. Caught in the middle of the sudden layoffs was Zac Schrieber.

Schrieber was a sports information director at Samford University for 14 years. Last month, he was offered a position by UAB to be the Blazers' new SID for men's basketball. For a father with two young children, it was a major step for his family and his career.

Then came the call from UAB's human resources.

Just before the end of business on Friday, June 15, and two days before the start of his new job at UAB, the university's human resources department informed him the position was no longer available.

Schrieber said the call came at 4:29 p.m. Samford's human resources department closed at 4:30 p.m.

"If I would have been told just four hours earlier, I could have most likely stopped everything on the Samford end of things and kept my job there," Schrieber said in a text message.

Schrieber is now unemployed for the first time in 23 years.

In addition to eliminating Schrieber's position, UAB director of athletics Mark Ingram had to cut 11 others in his department before the start of UAB's new fiscal year on July 2. The downsizing included the loss of Marla Townsend, the Blazers' longtime softball coach who last year accepted a new position as a senior associate athletics director. According to public records, Townsend's salary was $96,000.

"I don't take this lightly, and I certainly don't make decisions like this on a whim," Ingram said. "These are things that take a lot of thought and energy. I wouldn't speak specifically to anybody or any individual about their personal situation, but generally I just say that everyone affected was a very hardworking person that was dedicated to UAB.

"And so it was a hard thing to do, but the decrease in our revenues was a huge hit to our budget, and that had to be planned for as we head into the new fiscal year."

Townsend was a beloved figure inside UAB athletics, and beyond. In May, UAB faculty voted for her to represent them on the university-wide staff council. Townsend was a vocal leader inside UAB athletics for the reinstatement of football when it was eliminated in 2014.

Fans of UAB athletics, still wary of their own university after the return of UAB football, have cried foul on Twitter and social media since Townsend's last day at UAB, but she told AL.com that she doesn't think her position was eliminated for political reasons. Townsend said she will still support UAB athletics, and doesn't want any fans boycotting the program to protest her forced retirement.

"We need all the support and money we can get right now," Townsend said.

Generating revenue this season through football season tickets is important, she said. The money would make up for for losses in television payouts from Conference USA, and help bridge the gap between now and the completion of Birmingham's new downtown stadium. The stadium is expected to be completed in time for the 2020-2021 season.

UAB could be facing some lean years between now and then, but Ingram said the loss of TV revenue by Conference USA in recent years forced him to make the cuts. While TV revenue has exploded for the Power 5 conferences, Conference USA schools saw their annual TV payout drop from $1.1 million per school to about $200,000 in 2016.

The loss in revenue from the conference coincided with the return of UAB football. It was terrible timing.

"We're in stable financial shape, and have been, but what has occured is just a build up of lack in conference revenues," Ingram said. "The conference revenues that we had anticipated having when we reinstated football have diminished significantly, and so that really is the issue. And that's the same with the other schools, too."

The staff downsizing came amid record fundraising for the football program as well as UAB's investments in a new soccer stadium, track and field facility and beach volleyball courts. The new football facility is entering its second year.

"There's a big difference between one-time facility expenses ... versus ongoing, long-term annual expenses in your operating budget," Ingram said. "Those are two separate things. You have capital budget, which are your facilities and projects, and, so, if we spend $100,000 or $1 million or $20 million on a facility, once we raise those dollars and spend it on that [facility], we have it and we don't have to then do it the next year.

"That's, I think, where the confusion is," Ingram said. "Yes, we have had record fundraising, which is wonderful and is putting our teams and our coaches in a position to win, and be successful, but those expenses are one-time expenses. They're not annual expenses that repeat themselves year after year."

Conference USA entered into a new multimedia rights deal early this year with CBS Sports. Another deal with ESPN for digital content on ESPN+ was also recently announced. The new media contracts are expected to bump television payouts per school from $200,000 to $400,000. Those additional sources of revenue should help the future, but, ultimately, UAB is banking on football season ticket sales and donations to keep its program afloat.

That has always been the challenge for UAB, an athletics department operating on the outside of college football's Power 5 conferences, but in the heart of college football country. UAB shuttered its football program in 2014, but now Ingram is banking on that team to lead his department into the future.

"As we build that team back, we're going to do it the right way, which, you'll hear Coach [Bill] Clark and I say with regularity," Ingram said, "but it's not something football has done that has caused a problem per se. It is simply the lack in conference distribution that we have received versus what we expected to receive that has been a significant difference. And now over time that has put us in a position to make an adjustment, so we've made that adjustment and we're in a good place, and we're moving forward."

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter

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