Trent Dilfer meets with media ahead of trip to army
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - October 8, 2024
UAB head coach Trent Dilfer met with the media on Monday morning to talk about last weekend’s embarrassing loss to Tulane and look ahead to Saturday’s visit to Army. Dilfer addressed how his players and coaches reacted to the 71-20 loss to Tulane and looked at where the Blazers go from here.
Opening statement: I don't have a lot to say. I think the theme of our failures has been too much talk, not enough action. Words are cheap, actions speak louder than words. And, you know, it's something we've taken very serious the last, really for a while now, but really since the game. When you're humiliated like that, you have to take a very close look in the mirror and starts with the person in the mirror. So with that, you know, there's not a lot to say except we've got to do a lot better, not just say more things.
On reaction from the team since Saturday: Well, you know, I think the biggest thing was in those moments, and I've been part of some really low moments, but that that in the fourth quarter of the game, all I was thinking about is how do you address your team? So, you know, I I told them, I said, I've let you down. I have not prepared you as well as I wanted to. So if you're looking for somebody to blame, blame me. My biggest fear was the finger pointing game in fighting. I think when people are hurt, like we were hurt like that, human nature is to be mean and to direct the blame somewhere else. I told him, if you need a place to direct it, direct it right at me. Don't make the mistake and direct it at each other. Our issue is not our want-to. We have people that really want to do it well. Our issues are know how to and obviously that that starts with me. I have done a poor job, as the record shows, knowing how to turn this team into a winning team. That was that was the posture and then again last night as we met, really throughout the day and last night that it was kind of a continuation on that theme. I have to do a better job of preparing the coaches and players to do the things it takes to win when you lose a game like that.
On juggling act of using the tape from a game like that to teach and taking care of players’ emotions: It's a both/and. Primary concern for me is people. You know, that's just who I am right or wrong. My primary concern was how are my people doing emotionally? But then at the same time, you have to use the tape. And really, it's not just Saturday's tape. It's, you know, looking at what have been habitual things that have hurt us and asking why is it not like that Tuesday through Friday? Because there's no evidence during the week that would make us think what's happening on Saturday would be consistent. I've been around football where your preparation is terrible and you know that game day is going to be rough. I've had really smart people come in and watch practices and nobody has told me that we're not preparing the right way. So something's happening on game day that's forcing our players to not play to their potential and our coaches not coach to their potential. And that's kind of what I'm trying to figure out when it comes to the tape. So it's not just one game, it's what's happening in really the span of our time together that has not allowed us to play as we prepare.
On keep the Tulane loss fresh: I think it's always better to flush. I think if you carry over big wins too much, complacency can be dangerous, you carry over devastating defeats too much, confidence, negativity can come out. Your confidence can be shaken and negativity can come out. I just always believe that the flush method is the best method. I don't think you can deny that when you're humiliated. I mean, humiliation is an interesting thing if you and I have dug into it because I've experienced it. You know, it's a scary deal because when you're humiliated, you feel naked, right? All your flaws are out there. Everybody has an opportunity to chime in on them. It's deserving, you know, so everything you get, you probably deserve. But there's a by-product of humiliation that can be really powerful in a good way, and that's humility, you know? And I know, personally, humility has been something in my life that God has worked really hard on over my 52 years. And when you go through it, it stinks. It's painful. It's lonely. You know, you have that sick feeling in your stomach. But as you get older, you realize that something good can come out of it, too. So, my point being is that I think that's a lesson we all can learn. And when they're in humility to how you approach life, maybe that's something that can unlock us, too, and help us be our best.
On the differences in Army and Navy’s option attack: They create the same conflicts, you know. Without getting an X-and-O geeky, they create the same conflicts. I don't want to say this quarterback runner is better than Navy's dude (Blake Horvath). Navy’s dude, I mean, that guy is freakish. But they're different. This guy (Army’s Bryson Daily) is Cam Newton, right where the other guy was Lamar Jackson. Does that make sense? Both equally awesome, but attack you differently. I mean, this guy is what you want every one of your football players to be. He is gnarly. He is tough. He's a glass eater. Fiery. The team, I mean, every time he carries the ball in the C gap, you know, if you go to the sideline as he's doing it, you can almost see like that (excitement). Like, with anticipation of what could happen. He’s running over, destroying defenders that are bigger than him and supposedly more aggressive than him. So, this is a game where you as a defender really have to decide before the game starts, are you willing to take this on all day long?
On the key to getting off to a good start vs. Army: We’re trying to figure that out right now, to be honest with you. We were just in offensive room, and we're trying to not just look at schemes and what we can do and all that stuff, but look at it relative to the score of the game. Because when you watch Army's defense, so much of it is relevant to the score of the game. They have a 14-point lead, 21-point lead, 28-point lead, offenses are running 47 plays against them, 51 plays, like low volume plays against them, because it's not just Army's effectiveness of finishing, much like Navy’s, they keep the ball from their opposing offense. So the (Army) defense rolls out there with limited snaps against them and with the lead. It's always easier to play defense with the lead. So I don't know, we're looking at that right now, to say we have a solution would be a lie. And again, it would be cheap talk.
On Jacob Zeno: Well, no, we'll look at Jacob's shoulder again today. He's getting treatment today. We'll continue to monitor that situation. It's not a strategy thing, we'll see how it goes. Jacob was awesome (on the sideline). The kid's just an awesome kid. He's professional. I told him Friday, he didn't have to go to the travel stuff. He could have taken a spa break on Friday and Saturday morning and had ‘me’ time. Instead that he sat in every meeting, was fully engaged, helped the quarterbacks. He sat in the snack room Friday night at the hotel for the entire time. And was with his teammates. He's a model teammate.
On Jalen Kitna: I was super impressed with his competitive temperament. He competed at a super high level. Now that word can get whitewashed sometimes, but what I mean by that was he was truly focused, regardless of score, on trying to play his best football. He had not started a game in four years. I fully expected there to be some mistakes. The mistakes he made was he tried to put on the Superman cape. He tried to do more than what was there. The positive is that he didn't make many mental mistakes, like X-and-O mental mistakes. He read coverages correctly, he saw fronts correctly, he handled the operation correctly. For the most part, his eye progression was solid. It's when he felt like he could make a play to try to save us. You know, get in the phone booth and put on the cape and turn into Superman, that got him in trouble. He didn't have a lot of help, you know, he was under duress. I stopped yesterday, as I was grading the film, I was doing a quarterback hit tape and I stopped keeping track just because it was, the kid just took some brutal shots and never flinched. He stayed the same. That’s the thing about Jalen that is so impressive, is that he is the same person every single day, regardless of circumstance. And he never changed during the week as he anticipated starting the game, he never changed in the midst of an absolute disaster in game. And he was exactly the same after the game, he was exactly the same (Sunday). That's something, you know, (quarterback coach) Nick Coleman has done a phenomenal job in that world, teaching these young men how to play football and also how to play the game of life. And he's an example of that.
On offensive struggles: You know, I didn't anticipate any of this obviously. You know, I was very optimistic by our chances being a really good football team. I didn't have a win-loss total behind that but I felt we would be highly efficient offensively. I didn't know if we'd be as explosive without (Tejhaun Palmer) and with some youth your going to have youthful mistakes. But I thought we'd be really efficient offensively. We have not been efficient. I thought we'd be really physical. You know, it was the one thing we really focused on and we have not been as physical as we expected. So when you're banking on physicality and efficiency and you're not getting it, you're stuck with nothing. It's been a challenge to figure out what our identity is offensively. And then you have a quarterback change, you have injuries, which are all part of the game. They're not excuses, but you have to adapt to those. So to say to sit here and say I have a solution, I don't. Like, I'm working on them. We all are.
I hope people understand that as much as they hurt, we hurt more. We are completely invested in trying to fix this. Again, those are cheap words, but that's what we're doing today. And that's what we started doing yesterday is we're actively looking for solutions to get everything back on track.
On the temptation to tear things up during tough times: I think that is, it's a very good question. It's what people talk about, right? It is a method that has been used, which is a plan that isn’t working, blow it up. I understand that. If I felt that I had done my job as well as I could do it and others had let me down, then I think that would be a logical move. When I say it is my fault, it is my fault. I have not allowed the defensive staff to do what they should do. I have gotten in the way of the offensive staff. I have not taught our players football to the level of which I know I'm capable of teaching them. One of the things that I've always been told I do well, have not done well here, is take the highly complex and make it simple. That’s something since I was a young ballplayer, all my coaches, all my teammates always said. The consistent theme in me as a player and my limited coaching experience, my Elite 11 coaching experience is that I had the ability to take really complicated things and make them really simple. Take calculus and turn into fifth grade math. And people go, oh, cool, like I get it now. I've done a very poor job of doing that here. I say all that because I'm not gonna blow it up when it's my fault. Like, I'm not gonna point the finger. I'm not gonna be the one that says, our defense stinks because it's Sione’s fault. Like, I don't believe that. I believe it's my fault. Our offense hasn't been as good this year because we lost players or what not. And I'll say, no, our offense hasn't been as well because I haven't taught offense as well. And I've gotten in the way of some things that maybe we should have done that I didn't allow us to do.
Culturally, you know, I worked really hard on trying to create the right culture and I think I overcomplicated the culture. So, like again, please understand that I mean this. This is not lip service. This is my fault and if you're angry, be angry at me. Don't be angry at a group of kids that have really poured out everything they have and bought into what we've asked them to buy into and, you know, a community that really is looking for us to represent them well, a fan base. Like, I get it, if you're angry, I don't blame you. Be angry at me, but please don't be angry these people that are working really, truly hard at finding what's best for them and I gotta find a way to help unlock that, instead of keep it sequestered.
On using the Arkansas game as a gauge: The only way to beat a lie is with truth. Truth is love. The first thing I told (the team on Sunday) is we’re exactly the same group that gave Arkansas all they could handle. The same group, nothing’s changed. The second truth was that we've played worse since then. That's truth. There's some other things that I want to keep quiet but you know like we started with the truth. I want these kids to understand and these coaches to understand that we are way more capable than we've played this year. Now it's up to me to try to find a way, again I use this term, to unlock everybody so they can play to their potential. I do not believe we've done a poor job in recruiting. I just don't believe that I've seen these players play at their other schools play in high school, compete at a high level, practice at a high level, for whatever reason it's not happening in the game. I've never met a player and I said this in the team meeting last night. I pointed to a couple of guys and said, hey, did you wake up Saturday morning and decide to miss that tackle? They’re like, no. I'm like, did you decide to do the wrong thing? They don't wake up and decide not to be their best. They're waking up and trying the best way they know how to be their best. Something is inhibiting that. And I think what great head coaches do, which I am not in that category yet, is they find a way to unlock that potential and allow a player to go out there and be what they want to be. And I don't, again, that's my soul searching is how do I become that coach that allows them to be the best they can be.