Rewinding Trent Dilfer’s weekly UAB football press conference

UAB head coach Trent Dilfer addressed the media Friday, as the Blazers set their sights on the season opener against North Carolina A&T on Thursday, Aug. 31, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

See the full press conference video above.

Here is what Dilfer had to say in his first game week press conference:

— Dilfer was excited as a child on Christmas morning in delivering his opening statement in his first game week press conference at UAB.

“Well, I’m pumped! That’s my opening statement. Fired up, obviously — it’s been a fun journey since December 1st. A lot has changed in my life for the better, and I think hopefully for our team and our coaches. I’ve learned over my football life that regardless of what the season has for results, it’s going to be a wild ride. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows in football, and the one consistent is that it’s a journey of ebb and flows, so I’ve been trying to prep them for that and how to handle those moments emotionally, mentally and physically. Football is a steep climb, so we’re prepped for that and excited for the battle ahead of us.”

— Preparations are in full swing for the season opener and Dilfer is pleased with the progress of the program within the last few months and fall camp.

“The hay will be in the barn for week one on Wednesday. We’re still prepping hard, obviously, for our first opponent, and I’m super excited, but to me, it’s just the next day. I think we’ve taken an approach, at least I’m trying to, within the building that we have an opportunity each day to get better — significantly better — and I’ve taken that same approach. If you’ve been in my office, you’ll see giant black letters that say ‘growth,’ and that’s my word of the year. I’m trying to grow and get better every day too. I think Thursday will be a litmus test for how much we’ve grown, for sure, but it’s not the defining moment of anything. We’re just taking that ‘1-0 approach’ every single day. I know that’s coach speak, I try not to do coach speak, but that’s one of the truths of coach speak. You’ve got to cast a vision as a leader, and that has to be number one. You’ve got to get your people buying into a vision, but as you spend more time together, that vision is a funnel, and it comes down to this very micro, ‘what can we do today’ approach so that one day, we can accomplish that vision. That was the talk this morning with the team and now we’re talking about the micros. Like, where the piece of trash that you pick up, so you train your eye to see the little things?’ And that’s the approach we’re at right now.”

— The UAB head coach encouraged fans to attend the Blazers’ season opener Thursday.

“Yeah, I mean one thing is just the vibe. I’ve used that word a lot, but I think people resonate with that word. How do you feel when you’re around this program? I think words are cheap. How you make people feel is important. I think we’ve treated the community very well as a team—over 600 hours of service our boys have put into this city. We’ve been out there and recognizable, and we want to make sure that the people of Birmingham understand that we want to be a sense of pride for them. I hope they feel that. I hope that would make them want to come out and support it. I do think the vibe of this stadium will do things for kids. A group is actively thinking of creative ways to make the experience better. Again, I’ve never been part of the experience, so I can’t be the expert here. I’ve only experienced the spring ball setting. I haven’t experienced a regular season setting. I think that naturally there should be excitement around this team. We have some great players. We have all-conference-type players, we have players that will be playing in the NFL one day. So, come watch them play, and then there should be intrigue. There should be curiosity about what’s going on. I think you’re crazy not to be curious. If a high school coach can do this at the next level…if a couple of coordinators have never called a play in college football can do it, if we only have six returning starters coming back, if guys don’t have a lot of experience can play at a high level. I mean you can be a skeptic, you can be an optimist, but you should be curious.  And I think curiosity alone should get you into the stadium. And, it’s college football. I love Ted’s opener, ‘It’s college football season.’ I mean, it’s the South, and it’s college football season. It matters more. It’s part of your lifeblood. You can still go to your Friday night game and come to the Thursday night game. You can still go to the little league game on Saturday, or whatever it is, but be at the Thursday night game, because there should be excitement. There should be a great vibe. You have a bunch of kids you can root for, and you should be curious as hell how this thing turns out.”

— Dilfer said that offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen and defensive coordinator Sione Ta’ufo’ou will call plays from the sideline but that he will still have input and maybe even call a few plays himself on either side of the ball.

“I’m shocked this hasn’t been a bigger topic of conversation, to be honest with you. It will be a collaboration. I think that’s the easiest way to say it. But Mortensen and Ta’ufo’ou are the lead dogs. They will call the offense and defensive play calls as they see fit with my input. But that input starts during the week. The best way I’ve seen it done is you win with how you prepare, and as Mortensen and I have spent more time together, and Ta’ufo’ou and I have a long history together and were spending a lot of time together, we think each other’s thoughts. When we’re thinking each other’s thoughts, then it’s a true collaboration in-game. I will call some plays; he will call some plays. I will call some coverages and fronts and blitzes; he will call some as well. I don’t know what that ratio will be. I get labeled an offensive guy. I understand that, but I would argue that I know as much about defense as I do offense. The kicking game is a huge part of gameday operations. Yesterday, my day was dominated by these types of meetings, because we’re trying to spend a lot of time together so that we’re thinking the same thoughts. I think my approach to this would be that it would be impossible for me to do what I did at Lipscomb and also be the CEO of this program in year one. And I have said this too, that I hired a guy that I thought was better than me offensively in Alex Mortensen, so I’m trusting that process. I think the world of him. I feel lucky to have him, to be honest with you, and will defer most play-calling duties to him, but there will be a lot of collaboration as well.”

— Outside of a couple of season-ending injuries during spring practice, the UAB football team is relatively healthy heading into the season with no major injuries among those expected to play vital roles this year.

“I’ve been around a football world where there’s natural boosts coming out of camp, right? There’s natural fatigue or soft tissue injuries. There are little injuries that are going to heal up rather quickly. So, I think we’re pretty healthy but do have some guys that are questionable. I also trust their ability to work hard in the training room and treat their bodies right. If you expect to have a bunch of thoroughbreds out there that can only play when they’re 100 percent, you’re living in Lala land. There’s a mentality of playing not at your best, not your most healthiest, but still able to play at a high level.”

— The first official depth chart was released today and there are 10 true freshmen listed on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball. The impact of this freshmen class will be felt immediately and Dilfer places no premium on age or seniority.

“I don’t see age. I honestly had no idea there were 10 freshmen. I see production. I see humans. They’re like anybody else and expected to play to a standard and prepare to a standard, and we won’t worry about their age. Now saying that, yes, you have to lean on your Fish, you have to lean on your Fairbanks, you have to lean on your Skull — veteran leaders that have been there and done it. I think what happens is that those are private conversations of pride that go on when I’m not around. You lean on those veteran leaders to mentor the younger players who are inexperienced and make sure that that gap is closed. I’ve been relentlessly trying to find the very best way that’s ever been invented to practice because I believe if you find those ways and you create environments that have pressure, that have speed, that have physicality, that have that decision making constantly built into them, where you condition them at a high level to do that on game day, it’s just another day. In fact, it should be easier than what we’re doing this right. The response from our players should be, ‘We were so prepared that we played this game and it was actually easier than practice.’”

“I’ll never forget, I try not to use my personal experiences very much, but we’re playing Louisiana Tech in 1992. And that was the year that Bama and them played the week before us and only lost 13-0 and Alabama went on to have a historic season defensively. (Jeff) Tedford calls me early in the week and is like, ‘Man, I don’t want to lie to you. This can be tough. You’re gonna get your tail kicked and we can’t protect you. We can’t run the ball. By the end of the week, he pulled me aside and said, “I got a good feeling, if you’re the best player in the world, we got a chance,’ and that’s why practice was so hard. Everything that we can practice was set up to fail. I threw five touchdowns in the first half and we smoked them and we put 50 up on them. Practice should be so hard, so intense mentally, physically and emotionally, that you get to the game and think, ‘Oh, that was harder in practice,’ and your confidence grows within the game. That’s what I’m leaning on to grow the inexperienced players at a more rapid rate.”

— Considering the number of underclassmen expected to play this season, Dilfer and his staff will lean heavily on their experienced starters — such as senior running back Jermaine Brown Jr. — to guide not only the younger players but themselves as well.

“He’s a great player. He’s a great leader. He’s a great worker. He’s been back for a couple of weeks at full speed, so he’s conditioned to play at a high level and we’ll lean on him. I don’t think that’s any secret. If I were North Carolina A&T, I build my plan around number one. We’re leaning on him and he’ll be a centerpiece of what we do.”

— Former Maryland and Independence Community College (Kan.) transfer Isaiah Jacobs, younger brother of former Alabama and Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs, was one of the most impressive newcomers in fall camp and rocketed up the depth chart alongside Brown. Dilfer said that the entire program, top to bottom, has experienced adversity and that it would pay off well for the Blazers.

“A special kid. He’s been through a lot, which I can say that for a lot of our team. I have a lot of confidence in this team because of what they’ve been through in life. I’ll just make a blanket statement as the head coach to the 120 guys on this roster, We’ve been through some stuff. This building has gone through a lot of adversity in their lives and when you embrace that and use that as a superpower, there’s something special there. We’re definitely leaning into that and Isaiah is a great example of that. He has been through a lot. He has become way better through it. We have a chance to get better. We can get better when we go through tough stuff and he’s gotten exponentially better. He’ll be the first to tell you that. He’s a guy that is, in a very short amount of time, established himself as a leader on this football team. Without trying, just the way he carries himself, the way he practices, the way he handles himself in the media and the way he engages with the community, his teammates and his coaches.”