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Chris Mortensen's Son Leads UAB to Historic Upset in First Game As Interim Coach

Alex Mortensen, the son of the late former ESPN NFL insider Chris Mortensen, helped the Blazers stun previously unbeaten Memphis.

Tim Capurso

Mortensen, UAB's offensive coordinator, was named the interim head coach after the firing of Trent Dilfer on Oct. 12.
Mortensen, UAB's offensive coordinator, was named the interim head coach after the firing of Trent Dilfer on Oct. 12. / Wes Hale/Getty Images
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After firing former head football coach Trent Dilfer on Oct. 12 following its third straight loss, UAB seems to have found something in interim coach Alex Mortensen, the son of the late former ESPN NFL insider Chris Mortensen. Led by its new interim coach, and a defense that was stout when it needed to be, UAB stunned the previously unbeaten and 22nd-ranked Memphis Tigers 31–24 on Saturday.

Not only was it a magical first game as an interim head coach for Mortensen, but it was also a historic one. UAB's victory over Memphis is the largest upset victory in a coach's first game since 1978, according to ESPN Insights.

The Blazers rode an offense that generated 450 yards of offense and a defense that kept the Tigers offense out of the end zone late in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a trio of red zone penalties by Memphis.

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Mortensen's father Chris broke into the industry as a newspaper writer before he worked for ESPN from 1991 to 2023 and quickly developed into one of the most trusted and respected news breakers in the business. Mortensen was a regular contributor on the network's NFL shows, as well as SportsCenter. The longtime NFL insider was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in January 2016, and he stepped away from his role at ESPN. Mortensen passed away in March 2024.

"He would be excited for our team and program," Mortensen told ESPN in an on-field postgame interview. "He covered football for a long time. He's always sensitive to coaches losing their jobs. I know he would understand how hard it was what these guys went through this week."

Mortensen later elaborated on how he got his players to "refocus" after what was a "tough week."

"It was a really tough week," Mortensen said. "Our head coach that's been here is Trent Dilfer. And Trent did an outstanding job here with our team and I reminded everyone he hired. He hired the staff, he recruited the players, and he created—set the culture in place. So really, a lot of people were hurting at the start of the week when we lost him.

"And so then we had to kind of refocus. And our message really was—there were three things we were looking to do. One, we wanted to play with fanatical effort. And that was the first thing we wanted to see. And then the second thing was, keep our poise, play with really good poise and then finally stick together."

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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