Son of late ESPN reporter lands head football coach job

Alex Mortensen, the son of late former ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen, has landed his first college football head coach gig.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) is making Mortensen their next head coach. Mort is being promoted from interim head coach to full-time head coach. He took over the job midseason when Trent Dilfer was fired. Under Mortensen, UAB went 2-4, including a win over a ranked Memphis team. The Blazers went 4-8 overall and were 2-4 under both Dilfer and Mortensen. Dilfer was 9-21 overall in his two-plus seasons as the school’s head coach.

Mortensen, who just turned 40, played quarterback in college at Arkansas and Samford. He spent some time with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent.

Mortensen went into coaching in 2012 and served as an analyst for Alabama for six total seasons over two separate stints. He got a big break when Dilfer hired him to join his UAB staff as the offensive coordinator. He was promoted to interim head coach after Dilfer was fired in October.

Alex’s father Chris was a journalist who began his career in 1969. Chris was known for his decades spent as an NFL reporter and TV analyst for ESPN before his death last year.