UAB football coach explains why team played game after player allegedly stabbed teammates

University of Alabama astatine Birmingham interim caput shot manager Alex Mortensen addressed his team's willingness to play its crippled against South Florida connected Saturday, conscionable hours aft a subordinate was arrested for allegedly stabbing his ain teammates. 

Mortensen cited his player's desires, particularly with Saturday being the team's elder day. 

"We spoke arsenic a team, and we spoke with the team, and those guys truly wanted to play today, and the speech went backmost to the seniors, with contiguous being elder day, they wanted to spell play for them, and springiness them an accidental to retired and vie and play, truthful that was astir apt the biggest thing," Mortensen told reporters successful the postgame property conference. 

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Alex Golesh caput manager of the South Florida Bulls shakes hands with Alex Mortensen interim caput manager of the UAB Blazers pursuing a crippled astatine Protective Stadium connected Nov. 22, 2025 successful Birmingham, Alabama.  (Stew Milne/Getty Images)

Mortensen added that respective players "understandably chose to beryllium out."

"We privation to beryllium precise sympathetic to what everyone's going through, and marque definite that everyone understood they had an accidental to question counseling, oregon thing that they needed oregon wanted," helium said. 

"We person a process and a regular that we got done successful pre-game, and I deliberation staying committed to that astir apt helped guys conscionable staying focused connected the job."

Mortensen took implicit arsenic the team's caput manager successful October aft the programme fired erstwhile caput manager Trent Dilfer pursuing a nonaccomplishment to Florida Atlantic. 

"The squad has been done a batch implicit the past respective months," Mortensen said. 

UAB went connected to suffer the crippled 48-18 to autumn to 3-8 connected the season.

Two of the team's players were allegedly stabbed by different subordinate astatine the team’s grooming aboriginal Saturday, a assemblage authoritative confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

The names of the victims and the subordinate successful custody were not released. 

MAN WHO SHOT AND KILLED UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOOTBALL PLAYERS SENTENCED TO 5 LIFE TERMS

UAB Blazers interim caput manager Alex Mortensen watches from the sideline arsenic the Blazers instrumentality connected the UConn Huskies astatine Pratt & Whitney Stadium astatine Rentschler Field successful East Hartford, Connecticut, connected Nov. 1, 2025. (David Butler II/Imagn Images)

An online inmate enquiry from the Jefferson County Jail showed that Daniel Israel Mincey, 20, was arrested by the UAB Campus Police conscionable aft noon connected Saturday and is facing charges of "aggravated battle — A to M — attempted murder." The assemblage would not corroborate whether Mincey was the subordinate progressive successful the incident. 

According to the UAB shot roster, Mincey is simply a redshirt freshman who joined the squad aft 1 play astatine Kentucky.  

"We’re grateful to study that 2 players injured successful an incidental this greeting astatine the Football Operations Building are successful unchangeable condition. Our thoughts are with them and their families arsenic they recover. The fishy — different subordinate — remains successful custody, and an probe is taking place."

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UAB Blazers Interim Head Coach Alex Mortensen connected the tract during the crippled arsenic the UAB Blazers instrumentality connected the UConn Huskies connected November 1, 2025, astatine the Pratt & Whitney Stadium successful East Hartford, Connecticut (Williams Paul/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The stabbing happened hours earlier UAB hosted South Florida astatine 3 p.m. ET. The spokesperson confirmed that the assemblage elected to play.

"UAB’s apical precedence remains the information and well-being of each of our students. Given diligent privateness and the ongoing investigation, we person nary further remark astatine this time," the assemblage said. 

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