After a rough start to the season, including a loss on the road to Tennessee football, UAB has fired head coach Trent Dilfer. The Blazers sit at 2-4 (0-3 American) and are coming off a 53-33 defeat to FAU on the road.
Dilfer’s UAB team went to Knoxville in Week Four following the Vols’ overtime loss to Georgia. The Vols won the game 56-24, but led 56-10 before UT’s backups allowed two unanswered touchdowns.
“Not a lot to talk about,” Dilfer said after the loss to Tennessee. “That’s a really good football team. Very talented. Very, very well coached. That’s the thing that stands out is the quality of their systems, their schemes, how disciplined their players are. They do a great job and overwhelmed us early in the game and it was just about trying to compete the best we could for the rest of the game.”
A statement from UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram… pic.twitter.com/Eresp73EyF
— UAB Football (@UAB_FB) October 12, 2025
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Dilfer was hired by UAB in 2022 after only holding coaching experience at the high school level beforehand. He coached at Lipscomb Academy from 2019-22, where he coached current Vols defenders Kaleb Beasley and Edwin Spillman.
“Those kids are great kids,” Dilfer said about Beasley and Spillman. “They’re everything college football is all about. They’re awesome off the field, they’re awesome on the field. When they were eighth graders, I said I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is what NFL players look like as eighth graders. I think they’ll both play in the league. Man, they’re just fantastic kids.”
Dilfer was also a successful NFL quarterback, playing in the league from 1994-2007. He won Super Bowl XXXV and was a Pro Bowler in 1997. He played his college ball at Fresno State.
Next, UAB will play in the ‘Battle of the Bones’ rivalry against No. 22 Memphis. Then, it’ll be matchups against UConn, Rice, North Texas, No. 19 USF and Tulsa to round out the year.
