Alex Mortensen blending Nick Saban’s ‘Process’ with his own style at UAB

Alex Mortensen can’t help himself sometimes. 

He’ll be explaining a concept or philosophy, only to realize afterward he quoted his former boss, Nick Saban, verbatim. That’s what nine seasons and three national championships with the greatest football coach in history will do to you. It has seeped into that subconscious level when Mortensen, a former analyst, thinks and talks about football. 

As a first-time head coach at UAB, he has surrounded himself with fellow Saban expats. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham worked for Saban twice (first at Michigan State, then at Alabama). Passing game coordinator and receivers coach Kevin Garver and run game coordinator and offensive line coach Gordon Steele each worked as offensive analysts under Saban, too. They’ve seen what it takes to win at the highest level of college football, and can all speak that same Saban language. 

Making the ‘Process’ his own

It is always interesting to see how much of the famous Alabama “Process” each Saban disciple keeps once he strikes out on his own. Georgia‘s Kirby Smart and Indiana‘s Curt Cignetti have had the most success, each winning at least one national championship, and there’s a natural throughline that they’ve followed the plan most closely. Issues arise when following Saban’s relentless, never-satisfied approach isn’t authentic or natural to the individual. Players and fellow coaches can sniff out a facade. 

Mortensen says 80-90 percent of what he witnessed at Alabama can be translated and implemented at UAB, but that he’s not trying to be a Saban clone. He wants to keep the aspects of Saban’s formula that are “timeless” and evolve and adapt elsewhere. 

“You would be foolish not to take the things you learned from him and apply it to your next job,” Mortensen told CBS Sports. “I’m not going to try to be him. I’m not going to try to act like him in ways that are phony. I think there are principles in the way he ran the program – organization, leadership, practice organization, all the details – we’re definitely going to implement those things.”

Even though Alabama and UAB reside in the same university system, the differences are obvious. Alabama plays in the SEC and spent $82.9 million in operating expenses during the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to its NCAA financial report. UAB, which plays in the American, proposed a $11.6 million football operating budget for 2025-26. 

Still, deploying the Saban blueprint has been successful outside of the Power Four. Former Alabama receivers coach Billy Napier went 40-12 over four seasons at Louisiana, replicating what worked in Tuscaloosa. Long before Cignetti was winning championships at Indiana, he was winning at a high clip at Division II IUP and later at Elon and James Madison. The fundamental approach can work, you just have to make adjustments in areas where you don’t have the same resources or personnel as you did. 

Mortensen is well aware he has to maximize his resources at UAB but has been encouraged by the institutional and community support he’s gotten thus far in trying to elevate the program. And he’s already shown an ability to beat more monied programs like he did last season over No. 22 Memphis as the interim head coach. He is known for his special offensive mind and worked with a who’s who of the elite playcallers during his time at Alabama, including Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley and Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien. 

An unexpected ascent 

It was a shock, Mortensen said, when his boss, Trent Dilfer, was fired in October after a 2-4 start to the season. Dilfer, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, was never able to match the results to the hype brought on by his prominent personality guiding the Blazers. Dilfer never put together a winning record in his two-and-a-half seasons at UAB. He grumbled privately and publicly about the program’s limited resources affecting its ability to succeed. Dilfer’s departure gave Mortensen a third hat to wear in 2025 in addition to his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach responsibilities. 

When he took over, his odds of taking over the program permanently didn’t seem overly promising. Many felt Dilfer’s lack of college coaching experience was a big reason for his tenure’s failure. It seemed as if UAB would hire a proven head coach as a response. And in a long, winding coaching search, many of the names associated with it, like Ryan Beard, Steve Englehart, Drew Cronic and Skip Holtz, had previous head-coaching experience. Mortensen didn’t, and was fighting an uphill battle from the start. He says he heard the same rumors and even had people in his life urging him to look for other opportunities. 

He wasn’t ready to leave Birmingham, though. 

He wanted to stay and fight for the job, eventually winning over key constituents who pushed for him to get the full-time job. There were some high highs and low lows throughout the search, but he was thrilled when he eventually got the news in early December that the job was his. 

Mortensen had a front-row seat to all the good and the bad of the job as Dilfer’s offensive coordinator, and knew there was no time to waste getting going. There is an adjustment period that naturally happens when you move into the big chair, from having to do more media to the daily asks from fans, boosters and others. Managing your time becomes even more paramount. 

But Mortensen has been working toward this opportunity his entire life. The former Arkansas quarterback and son of famed sports journalist Chris Mortensen, Alex has a lifetime of football experiences to draw upon as he embarks on the newest chapter of his journey. There has been little time for reflection or celebration, given the work required to deliver UAB’s first winning season since 2022. He believes the team he has assembled is up for the task. 

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said. “For the short term – just the 2026 season – we’ve got a lot to get done and then over the long term, too. That could potentially paralyze you, discourage you or it can motivate you. I’m motivated because I think we can do it, and I’m really excited for our staff and me personally to take this thing on.”