Trent Dilfer Shares Vision Nearing Close Of ThIrd Spring At UAB
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 17, 2025
UAB head coach Trent Dilfer said he isn’t looking to make a “big splash” in the spring transfer portal but is looking to shore up some position needs.
“I don't think we're going to be aggressive,” Dilfer said. “We like our players. We're low on numbers. We have to address some things. Obviously, we don't have enough scholarship offensive linemen. So, we have to be in that market. We don't have the economics to compete in that market, like a lot of teams will. A lot comes with the evaluation. You're looking for players that are hungry and that are wired the same way you are. You're obviously going to bring on people, but we like the people we have.”
The spring transfer portal opened for non-graduate players to enter on Wednesday and will close on April 25. Graduate players can enter the portal at any time. UAB took a hit on Wednesday when offensive linemen Jordan Hall and Zaire Flournoy and defensive end Emmanuel Waller officially entered the portal. Flournoy and Waller had previously announced their intent to transfer but it wasn’t official until Wednesday.
Hall and Flournoy were probable starters on the offensive line. Flournoy, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound redshirt senior guard, played in six games with one start last season. The 6-foot-8, 310-pound Hall, who is a redshirt sophomore, played in 12 games last season with one start. UAB now has 10 offensive linemen on the spring roster after the loss of Flournoy and Hall. Tackle JonDarius Morgan, who started all 12 games last season, is the only returnee who started a game last season. Center Adam Lepkowski missed last season with an injury but did start the last five games of the 2023 season at guard.
The transfer portal losses forced Dilfer and his staff to scramble a bit with spring practice still in session. The Blazers started spring practice later than accustomed after almost completely overhauling their defensive coaching staff.
“Yeah, there was a risk,” Dilfer said of the later start. “That decision was made when you hired a new staff because they need time to come together, to implement their systems, to get on the same page, develop a relationship with players before you go put them in a practice environment. There was other advantages of pushing back spring too, but one of the disadvantages was you know you're going to lose people (to the transfer portal). There's not a team that's going to go through this portal cycle and not lose anybody. So you knew that in the middle of spring, you might be changing how you practice.”
Dilfer said that’s one reason he’s in favor of the NCAA changing the spring practice format to something that at least partly mirrors the NFL’s Organized Team Activities (OTAs) approach, which is done without pads.
“I do think that's why a hybrid spring is probably where we're headed down the road,” Dilfer said. “The NCAA will see it too and maybe expand the window where you could do this (spring workouts). You know, (it’s) like if you had two months to do spring ball and you could stagger a couple of practices here and then a couple of practices there and then have OTAs in between. It wouldn't be any more of a strain to the student athlete. It would be better on their bodies, be better for health and safety of the student athlete. And it can allow coaches to kind of deal with this situation. But you definitely have to adjust. You have to adjust on the fly and what you have to be really conscious of is not to get people hurt because you're stubborn about getting a certain amount of reps, but you don't have the manpower to do so.”
More from Dilfer after Wednesday’s practice:
On his spring practice approach: I think I've taken a very matter of fact approach to the spring. I think for everybody's benefit, like not a lot of frills, not a lot of we’re really good there, we’re really there. Just like every day's an opportunity to get better and evaluating in such a way that I'm looking for individual improvement, looking for unit improvement. When you look at that way, even if you're not productive in a period, you're still gonna see flashes of guys getting better. I guess what I'm saying is that we're a work in progress. There's definitely progress, but there's still a lot of work to do.
On the NFL OTAs model: I'm considering a hybrid. I don't think I'd go completely with an OTA model. Those are seasoned professionals that have played a lot of football, that understand how to practice in the helmets only environment. A lot of college kids don't know how to practice that way, guys could get hurt in their development. And then you have a lot of young players that need the spring. Zach Johnson, you know, early enrollee for us, this has been invaluable for him to play in pads. So I wouldn't take that away. But I definitely think there's a hybrid, especially as every team will have a position group that has lower (numbers). It's hard to have a lot of team periods when one position group lacks depth. We've already switched to some sort of hybrid, in terms of rep counts, in the middle of this (spring practice). I think next year for sure there will be a different approach.
On Jalen Kitna: He’s been fantastic. He's an awesome kid. He's a fantastic leader. He's wildly talented and he knows he's a work in progress. What I appreciate most about Jalen is no matter how high the highs are or low the lows, he comes back the next rep or the next day with the hunger to get better. There's nothing we haven't given him. Much like (Jacob) Zeno, you know I'll say the same thing about Zeno, they just dive into this process. You know the two quarterbacks we've had here in our time have really attacked the process and do all the little things that so many college kids don't do these days. And you appreciate it he really takes a professional approach to his growth.
I think we all go through valleys in our life. We all go through tough things. And it's how we handle them that defines us. I think he's handled his adversity in a very, very productive way. His character is impeccable, both on and off the field. And that's what I'm most proud about. I'm proud of him for it.
He still has a lot to learn as a quarterback and he knows that. He's only started eight games, so there's this experience gap. But his approach is so mature so professional, so focused. And I think a lot of that has to do with what he's been through in his life. He’s matured beyond his years.
I think if handled well, almost any adversity, almost any tough situation can turn into a good thing. And I thought, despite a miserable season, one of the bright spots was handling the Zeno situation in a good way and getting Jalen his starts, getting him some real under the fire experience of him having to go through the ebbs and flows of the season. He was wildly explosive as a quarterback. But his errors were pretty dramatic too. So that roller coaster experience that he went through as a quarterback, I think it means a lot for him.
On cautious optimism for the defense: Yes, I mean, I think obviously we're excited about the staff we brought in. We feel very good about the players we brought in. But again, it's a work in progress. I've been fooled now two years in a row thinking that this translates to the regular season. So this is just simply one step in the process. We're hardening ourselves and going as a team. We're going individually and we gotta keep building on that as we go through. the summer and we'll finish the morning and go through the summer and in the fall camp. I might be saying the same thing in fall camp. I don't know if I'm going to know anything until we play a couple of games. But I appreciate the investment. I appreciate that for that. I appreciate the professionalism.