UAB's Athletics Assessment Task Force last week unanimously selected California-based consulting firm OSKR to "review the feasibility of a football program," but on Thursday night the school "wouldn't approve a contract for the firm," according to John Talty of the BIRMINGHAM NEWS. Earlier in the day, a scheduled Friday meeting between OSKR and the task force "was canceled," and the firm "never got a chance to speak" with UAB President Ray Watts. Task force Chair Wes Smith on Friday said that the school "had decided to go in a different direction." The issue was that OSKR partner Andy Schwarz "had published two articles on VICE Sports about how UAB erred with its decision to drop football." UAB VP/Financial Affairs & Administration Allen Bolton in an e-mail told Smith OSKR "cannot be considered unbiased." Talty noted Schwarz and his OSKR team "had answered questions about the articles during the initial process of the task force selecting a firm." However, UAB "never gave the firm a chance to explain its methodology or why it wasn't biased despite Schwarz's previously published work." OSKR was "expected to complete its review by April 2." Now, UAB officials have "extended the timeline for that review as the task force looks for another firm to take on the project" (AL.com, 3/15).
