Different eras. Different sports. But Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer shares a common challenge with this UAB legend

This is an opinion column.

First things first. Happy Birthday, Gene Bartow. If he were still with us in person and not just in spirit, the Father of UAB Athletics would’ve been 94 years old Sunday. He left this earth too soon, but his unrivaled impact on sports at that university, in this city and in this state – as a coach, an athletics director and a damn good man – will outlast all of us.

There have been plenty of moments over the last 12 years when I wished we could’ve visited. To talk about The Return and Bill Clark, a coach as close to a Bartow as UAB has seen outside of Gene’s son Murry. Or Andy Kennedy, Gene’s old shooting guard, who’s revived the Bartow Standard and done his old coach proud.