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The son of the late ESPN legend Chris Mortensen earned his first college football win. Earlier this week, UAB announced that they were firing head coach Trent Dilfer and installing Alex Mortensen as the interim head coach.
Alex spoke about thinking about his dad while taking over the UAB job.
“I’ve thought about my dad a lot, I think about him every day,” Mortensen said. “Father-son relationships can be weird. Some people don’t know their father. Some don’t have the best relationship. I hit the lottery. I had an awesome dad.”
“Every day that goes by, I go, man, what would my dad think about this right now? What would he tell me to do here? This situation is no different.”
On Saturday, Alex Mortensen led UAB to a win against Memphis despite being a 21-point underdog.
Alex Mortensen, the son of the late Chris Mortensen, was named UAB’s interim head coach this week.
In his first game, he gets a win against Memphis who was undefeated 👏 pic.twitter.com/3ZUfVIyHC1
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 18, 2025
Even ESPN gave Alex a shoutout after his win.
What a victory for UAB and Alex Mortensen as a massive underdog against No. 22 Memphis 🔥
Our friend Mort would be proud 👏 pic.twitter.com/ymwfcsJcls
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 18, 2025