We started with UAB. Ryder Burton and Kaleb Brown were the first Ghost Alert this brand ever ran. so when the program that gave us our first breakout goes and hires a defensive coordinator with a Georgia championship résumé and an NFL pedigree that runs through the Cowboys and the Saints... that's not a random program to check back in on. that's a full-circle file. UAB fired Trent Dilfer mid-season on October 12, 2025. offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen took over as interim and, in his very first game running the program, upset a ranked Memphis team on national TV — with Ryder Burton, the same quarterback from our first Ghost Alert, throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns to seal it. UAB went 2-4 the rest of the way to finish 4-8 overall — rough record, but the tape was loud enough that UAB canceled its coaching search and made him permanent in December.
Mortensen's own background matters here: nine years at Alabama under Nick Saban, three national championships on staff, and a UAB offense that averaged 415.6 yards per game under his three seasons as coordinator. this isn't a young coach guessing. it's a Saban-tree offensive mind who just got full control.
Then came the real headline. in January, Mortensen hired Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator — and the two go back further than the press release let on: they worked together as analysts on Nick Saban's Alabama staff in 2022, which is exactly why Mortensen went and got him. Grantham's résumé is not typical Group of Five hire material. defensive coordinator at Georgia (2010-13), building a defense that helped the Bulldogs to a 12-win season and finished a stretch allowing just 19 points combined over three straight SEC wins. DC stops at Louisville, Mississippi State and Florida after that. on the NFL side: defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys (2008-09), where his unit led the league with 59 sacks... defensive coordinator in Cleveland (2005-07), taking the Browns from 4-12 to 10-6. after Alabama, he spent two seasons as Saints defensive line coach, then one year as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2025 — a rough stop, with the Cowboys finishing 1-11 and near the bottom of the country in scoring defense before Mike Gundy was let go. UAB is the bounce-back spot, working for a head coach who trusts him personally.