By Mark Pszonak
UAB head coach Trent Dilfer is not bashful in front of a microphone. Earlier today during a radio interview on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, he openly discussed UAB’s current NIL situation and how some other AAC schools are stealing players from the Blazers:
Trent Dilfer on the current state of NIL.
“In our conference, again not going to use schools, we have two teams that will go to our roster and sign double or triple what these guys can make on our roster and make them backups on their roster so that we can’t have them.” https://t.co/BtiZRYvhfV pic.twitter.com/W3k4pecxV5
— BirminghamSports (@BirminghamSport) January 14, 2025
Dilfer’s comments regarding UAB’s NIL situation aren’t surprising. The program has been known to struggle financially, so there are no expectations that they are drowning in NIL money. But his comments about “two teams” from the AAC taking UAB’s players, then not playing them just so that they wouldn’t play for the Blazers is a head scratcher.
In two seasons as head coach of UAB, Dilfer has led the Blazers to a 7-17 record. It is hard to imagine that other AAC schools are plotting to keep UAB down by gutting their roster. If any AAC school adds a UAB transfer, it is because they think that player can help their team, not to cripple the Blazer juggernaut. It is also an odd statement, because while UAB has had players transfer to Miami (TE Jack Nickel), Ole Miss (OL Delano Townsend), Georgia (S Adrian Maddox), Arkansas (WR Kam Shanks), Houston (WR Amare Thomas) and Indiana (RB Lee Beebe) during the winter, while only one player, LB Everett Roussaw, has signed with an AAC school, Memphis. And if you look at the 2023/2024 transfer portal cycle, no UAB transfers signed with an AAC school.
So what is Dilfer even talking about? AAC coaches were also wondering, because soon after the interview went online there was a response from Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall:
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👀 @RSilverfield 👀 @CoachGolesh 😜 https://t.co/5VmcfyH48r
— Jon Sumrall (@CoachJonSumrall) January 14, 2025
And yes, he tagged two other AAC head coaches, Ryan Silverfield of Memphis and Alex Golesh of USF to share in Dilfer’s chaos. None of this will slow Dilfer down, as he is sure to create more radio or television gold the next time he is in front of a microphone. This will also make the AAC Media Days quite interesting this summer.
For someone who was lucky to keep his job, Dilfer should be focusing his time on better things.
