UAB has parted ways with Mark Ingram and named Andy Kennedy interim director of athletics, a leadership change that takes effect as the university begins a national search for its next athletics director.
The move ends Ingram’s 11-year run as UAB’s associate vice president and director of athletics. UAB said he played an important role in the growth and evolution of UAB Athletics, and President Ray L. Watts said the department reached major facility investments and a successful transition to the American Conference during Ingram’s tenure.
The change comes now because UAB says college athletics is shifting quickly and the department needs to be positioned for its next era of growth and opportunity. Kennedy, who is the current head basketball coach at UAB, will serve in the interim while the school searches for a permanent replacement.
That is what makes the decision notable: UAB praised Ingram’s work and Watts thanked him for 11 years of dedication, yet the university still chose to move in a different direction. Ingram said working for UAB Athletics was an honor and that he leaves with tremendous pride in what he and the university accomplished together.
UAB also cast Kennedy as a stabilizing figure, describing him as one of the most recognizable and respected leaders in UAB Athletics history and saying he has helped advance the visibility and success of the department. What UAB has not explained is the specific reason it decided to part ways with Ingram, leaving the school’s next steps to define the transition more than the split itself.
For UAB, the immediate task is clear: keep the department steady under Kennedy while the national search unfolds. For Ingram, the exit closes a long tenure that UAB says helped build the program’s modern foundation, even as the university prepares for a new chapter.
