bill-clark-first-spring-practice-uab.jpg

Bill Clark directs his first spring practice as the UAB football coach March 12, 2014, in Birmingham, Alabama. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

After a local business owner pledged money last spring to pay for the installation of artificial turf on one of UAB's football practice fields, UA System trustee Finis St. John shot down the plan, according to two UAB boosters.

The money was part of a $1 million pledge.

One of the boosters, Adam S. Cohen, said a vendor had already been selected to install the turf, but he received a phone call from UAB Athletics Director Brian Mackin telling him of St. John's refusal to let the project move forward.

"Brian Mackin called me and said he had been informed by Finis St. John, or Fess St. John, that he will not be allowed to move forward with the project of putting turf on the practice field," Cohen told AL.com.

" 'Adam, shut it down,'" Cohen said Mackin told him. " 'Fess St. John has said' - and this is a quote - 'you will not put turf on that field.' "

Cohen and Mackin have been friends since they were basketball teammates at Mountain Brook High School.

Another UAB booster, Don Hire, said Mackin asked him to lunch at Ted's Restaurant during that same time frame last spring and delivered the same message.

"We go to lunch," Hire said. "While we were sitting at Ted's, Brian explained to me that he had talked to Finis St. John and that basically the practice field turf had been canceled. The board (of trustees) wasn't going to approve it."

St. John didn't return a Friday morning phone message to his office for comment. Kellee Reinhart, vice chancellor for UA System relations, contacted AL.com and provided a statement that said, in part, St. John "did not instruct Brian Mackin that UAB could not install a turf field."

The rest of Reinhart's statement: "Capital improvement projects are submitted to the Physical Properties Committee of the Board of Trustees for review and approval. UAB has not submitted a proposal for artificial turf to the committee. Trustee St. John is not a member of the Physical Properties Committee and therefore would not have been in a position to act on an improvement project request from the UAB Athletic Department if such a proposal had been submitted."

Mackin did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Mackin had alerted six members of the UAB Champion Club - which the school calls "a distinct group of individuals and corporations who provide the philanthropic leadership for UAB Athletics" - to the $1 million donation, according to Justin Craft.

Craft is a former UAB football player who said he and five other Champion Club members received a text from Mackin about the donation dated March 7, 2014. Craft shared the text with AL.com. The text reads:

All

(A local business owner) committed $1,000,000 to me today for athletics unrestricted. He also committed to 7 recruiting trips for (UAB basketball coach) Jerod (Haase) on his jet and will pay all expenses. Good day for the Blazers. Shows people want to help. Thanks everyone for your continued support.

Brian

Former UAB football player Michael Putt was another one of the Champion Club members who received the March 7 text from Mackin about that gift. He said he later spoke to Mackin about it.

"Brian said the money would be used for the turf for the practice field," Putt said. "He was really excited."

Craft said Mackin also told him the money would be used to put artificial turf on the practice field.

"He was extremely excited about it," Craft said. "He felt like we had overcome a major hurdle."

Contacted by AL.com, the business owner, who asked that his name not be used, confirmed that he had made that commitment. He said he told UAB it could use the funds at its discretion but expected some of the money would pay for turf for the practice field. He also said he never actually donated the money for two reasons.

The first payment wasn't due until he'd finished the payments on a previous pledge. Also, the business owner said, he spoke to UAB President Ray Watts in early December and canceled the latest pledge because he never would've made that $1 million commitment if UAB didn't have a football program.

Four days after Mackin sent that March 7 text about the $1 million pledge, AL.com reported March 11, "Head coach Bill Clark said that the program has secured funds to build a locker room for the players beside the football office and install turf on one of the two practice fields that the team uses. The school hasn't made an official announcement, but Clark confirmed that the turf and locker room were coming."

Putting turf on at least one of the practice fields was a priority for Clark because of the spotty condition of the grass fields. He was concerned about player safety, and when it rained, the team was forced to bus to Legion Field to practice.

"Turf and locker room," Clark said in the March 11 story, "are two things that are guaranteed."

The locker room was built. The turf was never installed on the practice field.