CULLMAN, Ala.- After marching the streets of Birmingham to get their program back then watching the most successful run in school history under Bill Clark, securing a move up to the American Conference, UAB fans were treated to one of the most nonsensical hirings in sports history.
In December of 2022, after moving on from interim HC Bryant Vincent (Clark’s offensive coordinator and pick for the top job), the school announced the hiring of 13-year NFL quarterback, former ESPN analyst and high school state championship head coach at 2A Lipscomb Academy in Tennessee, Trent Dilfer.
From the jump, the hiring reeked. Not just of incompetence by the institution for hiring someone with no experience to take over a program in its’ heyday, but also of seemingly trying to build a brand off the name of a famous coach, similar to Deion Sanders at Colorado.
The former Blazer brand, that of being a poster child for resilience- a true media darling, was soon reduced to less than a national laughingstock, often instead drawing pity.
The 21 losses over 30 games, failure to win a single matchup on the road and hiring almost exclusively coaches he brought from the high school ranks were enough to elicit criticism. Where Dilfer particularly excelled in running the program’s perception into the ground, however, was in front of a microphone.
Braindead quotes like his infamous “This isn’t freaking Alabama” after a 41-18 home loss to Navy in a nearly empty Protective Stadium drew the ire of the Blazer faithful.
Despite having been canned by the school five months ago in favor of the one great hire he did make in his offensive play-caller Alex Mortensen, the disrespect continues to roll in.
On the OutKick Hot Mic podcast last week, Dilfer made an appearance. Not only did he clearly not think much of the institution, but he made it clear he didn’t think much of his players, either.
“When you go into the portal for leftovers, that’s what you get.” Dilfer continued, “they’re good kids, they’re looking for an opportunity, but there’s a reason why it didn’t work at their last school if they’re coming to UAB. There’s usually a competitive piece to it, it’s not a traits thing. We’d go play Tulane and Jon [Sumrall] would say ‘Hey, you’ve got a good looking team’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, but wait till this thing gets hard and see how they respond, and that’s where the personal fouls, and lack of discipline and missed assignments and dropped balls and bad reads, because from a competitive standpoint there’s a reason they didn’t make it at Maryland or Georgia Tech or wherever we’re getting them from. Because when it gets hard, a really good player rises. Our players shrunk.”
There’s plenty to unpack there. First, that word, “leftovers.” Yes, the Blazers did not have a good transfer class in 2025, it ranked 87th nationally, with the program struggling to reel in much D1 experience. However, what happened when those “leftovers” were left in the hands of Mortensen to face 22nd-ranked, 6-0 rival Memphis just the week after Dilfer was fired? They produced one of the most iconic wins in school history, toppling the Tigers 31-24.
Second, I believe, and most would agree, that it is a direct indictment on the quality of leadership that the players “shrunk” when faced with adversity. It is the job of a coach to not only prepare the players physically, but to also know the mental makeup of a player before you sign them.
Whether this was disregarded in favor of talent, or just not Dilfer’s strong suit, it was an issue that hurt the Blazers even after his departure. There was the viral instance of a player stomping on a kickers’ foot early in 2025, but before the last home game of the season, things came to a head with transfer defensive lineman Daniel Mincey stabbing two teammates at the facility after an altercation during team breakfast.
The jab on the OutKick podcast wasn’t his first since he left Birmingham. On another appearance on the show earlier this year, Dilfer had this to say after announcing his return to Lipscomb to take over the program again, “You know the one thing that’s great about Lipscomb is that they care about winning as much as I do. They are invested. I cannot say that about the last place I was at.”
UAB, still a fairly young school and even younger athletic department, doesn’t have old money to fund their teams in this pay-to-win era. Regardless, investment goes deeper than money.
Dilfer talked his way into the UAB job. He sold himself to an athletic director to make $1.3 million dollars a year at an AAC program. Yet, after the ink dried on that contract and the school went 4-8 in 2023, his ability to sell himself and his vision for the program seemed to disappear.
Players left at first chance, speculation of culture issues within the building arose and the world watched as the once-revered program collapsed. While Dilfer continues beating a dead horse and dodging accountability on podcasts, the Blazers have legitimate momentum.
In the final game of 2025, the Blazers won their first away game in nearly three calendar years under Mortensen, who was then promoted to full-time head coach. With less than a month of preparation, the new head coach then went out and signed a portal class ranked higher than any in the Dilfer era.
So, after again experiencing a program-altering setback, the sun seems to be shining on UAB football once more. There’s much to prove, and Mortensen isn’t exactly a flashy press conference winner in terms of personality, but the late season rally and portal class proved he isn’t here to talk. He’s here to win.
