Steve Irvine Recaps UAB’s Spring Scrimmage

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 13, 2025

UAB’s first scrimmage of fall camp lasted for around 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon on the program’s outdoor practice field. The scrimmage included some situational work, including red zone and third down situations.

“Well, we wanted to keep it quick,” said UAB head coach Trent Dilfer. “We're down on some numbers offensively, so we couldn't get a lot of snaps. I thought the defense did a really nice job coming out ready to compete. They're getting better, and that's been the whole thing. We have so much to prove, we have so much to earn, and you need to see that come out in competitive situations. And there was that grittiness and determination on the defense.”

UAB is returning just one starter – safety Sirad Bryant – from last year’s defense. There are a few others, including linebacker Tylan McNichols, safety AJ Brown, cornerback Tariq Watson and Edge Ezra Odinjor, who return after playing a role last season but, for the most part, the defensive rotation is filled with newcomers.

“Again, I saw a lot of things I liked, number one was a competitive temperament,” Dilfer said “You know, like I explained, it just added determination to it, there's great enthusiasm, they're really ready, you could, you could hear them individually, they're very ready to compete.”

On the other side, Dilfer wasn’t pleased with the overall play of his offense.

“I didn’t see a lot that I liked,” Dilfer said. “Number one, we can't turn the ball for whatever reasons, whether it’s on fourth down or whatever the reasons are. You still see too much (of that) for me. I think that's the biggest issue offensively. Our good can be really good, but our floor is still way too low.”

Starting quarterback Jalen Kitna didn’t lead the first offense on a touchdown drive but he did make some nice throws during the scrimmage.

As he has for the majority of spring practice, Dilfer commented more about the team as a whole instead of praising indiviuals.

“There's a lot of unknown, we're still very early into a new team,” Dilfer said. “And you don't know what this will be like in May either. That’s just the state of college football. I think we're all very focused on having a lot to prove. We have to do it together, right? It's not an individual thing, it's a together thing. So, I think there's definitely some guys that are having good springs, but we’re only halfway into it to it. Team building is hard in modern day football. We're working very hard on trying to develop kind of an old school team in a new age of college football.”

UAB did lose a key member of the defense when defensive end Emmanuel Waller announced he is entering the transfer portal. Waller, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound junior from nearby Oak Mountain High, was expected to push for a starting role at defensive end this season. He had eight tackles, a sack and three quarterback hurries in 20 games over the past two seasons.