Steve Irvine Previews UAB’s Spring Showcase
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 24, 2025
UAB closes spring practice on Saturday with the Spring Showcase on the program’s practice field at Legacy Pavilion. For Trent Dilfer and his staff, it will be one final chance to see a roster that includes a lot of newcomers before they head into the summer work.
“I think for the showcase it'll be a lot of guys playing real football,” said Dilfer of Saturday’s event, which will begin with a meet-and-greet at 10 a.m. and the scrimmage will start around 11. “We’ll rotate a lot of personnel groupings. We don’t really have a starting lineup on either side of the ball. We’ll play with a lot of different rotations, play with a lot of players. I think there’s a staff element too. This is a new staff so we’ll get on the same page with communication all those things. It’s really important because you don't get these scrimmage opportunities in fall camp. So you got to start the process of getting ready for game day in the spring.”
The Blazers held two scrimmages behind closed doors during spring practice but this will be the first chance for the majority of fans to get a look at the team. Dilfer said one reason he went to hold the event at the practice field was it allowed fans to get a closer look than if they had a spring game at Protective Stadium.
“I think the neatest thing about how we do it is the fans are right there,” Dilfer said. “You know, yeah, there's cool stuff. You got some bounce houses for the kids. My grandkids will be here, they’ll be running around. You got some food trucks, got some cool stuff. But if you're a fan and you kind of want to know what it's like to be in the action, you're right there on the sideline. You pull up your little chair and you're right there to hear Coach (Steve) Russ talk to the defense or (offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen) talk to the offense. The terminology, the substitutions and all those things that happen that maybe as a fan you don't really pay attention to. It's a big part of football and you can see the operation, you know, and you get to hear the operation. It's almost like being in a Hard Knocks (where) you get a camera on everything. But you're there in person.”
There have been many changes on the defensive side with Russ taking over as the defensive coordinator and nearly an entire new staff on that side of the ball. Many of the top defensive players this spring have been transfer portal additions. UAB also has several key additions on the offensive side of the ball. But the Blazers not only lost a large number of key players to the portal in December but have at least eight players who entered the portal during spring practice.
Dilfer was asked how the staff adapts after losing a player at this time.
“You got to look for solutions and our solution right now is to love the kids that are on this team, coach them up, demand their very best and they demand our very best,” Dilfer said. “Then the ones, the spots we need to fill, go find those players.”