UAB FOOTBALL FALL CAMP REPORT: DAY 1
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - July 30, 2024
UAB football coach Trent Dilfer was pleased with his team on the first day of fall camp on Tuesday morning. The Blazers practiced in shorts and helmets for nearly three hours.
“We’ve been anticipating this for a long time, so has everybody else in college football,” Dilfer said. “I thought it was a good start. I’ve tried to be more flat-lined this year. A lot of good things, a lot of carry over from the offseason, but we are still a big-time work in progress, so we have to immediately start correcting the things that aren’t to the standard.”
Dilfer said he is keeping a close eye during camp on the progression of his program’s transfer portal additions in the spring. On the defensive side, that includes cornerbacks Troy Jakubec, Tariq Watson and Donald Lee and defensive linemen Derrick Shepard Jr. and Demarcus Smith.
“We took a big risk,” Dilfer said of adding spring portal players. “The May portal cycle data is really bad. You guys can look it up. It’s been alarmingly bad (for) May portal signees (with) production early on in the season. And I knew that going in, but we ended up signing 11 (players) in the spring, all who we think will contribute. We had to speed up the learning curve, so it’s not just the OTAs, it’s their “lonely work,” it’s their “on their own” (work) trying to catch up as well. So I do have a close eye on that, you know looking at the May portal guys, are they thinking too much, are they playing fast enough, how are their bodies, what’s their conditioning level? There’s a lot of question marks, I’ll be the first to admit it, so that’s a big point of emphasis for me looking globally at the team.”
Another area that was bolstered by transfer portal additions was the offensive line. JonDarius Morgan and DJ Jones signed in December and were on the roster for spring practice. Jones came out of the spring as a starter at right tackle but Morgan missed most of the spring session. Baron Franks II and Calib Perez were added to the mix in the spring portal period. Tuesday, during the early practice media viewing period, what appeared to be the first offensive line consisted of Jones and Morgan at tackles, Zaire Flournoy and Quez Yates at guard and Brady Wilson at center.
Dilfer, who sets a high bar for that group to jump over, expressed disappointment at the first day work of the offensive line as a group.
“I think they need to eat more nails for breakfast,” Dilfer said. “They were “eh.” I am the son of an offensive line coach, grew up on the back of a blocking sled as you guys have all heard, the expectations from me of that position maybe exceed (the expectations I have on) the quarterback. It was okay. We got to get a lot better.”
Offensive weapons weren’t hard to spot on Tuesday. Afterward, when quarterback Jacob Zeno shared a list of teammates when asked which players stood out on offense.
“Honestly, everybody,” Zeno said. “From Lee Beebe, Lee Witherspoon, Isaiah (Jacobs), Armoni (Goodwin) at running back, wide receivers we have Buck (Brandon Buckhaulter), Brandon Hawkins, Yusuf Terry, Amare Thomas, Kam Shanks and more. I can’t pinpoint a single person. We’ve got so many playmakers that it makes my job easy. I just have to get them the ball.”
The Blazers return to the practice field on Wednesday morning for another practice in shorts and helmets. They are scheduled to begin practicing in shorts, helmets and shoulder pads on Thursday.