UAB’s search for its next head coach, and its first full-time leader post-Bill Clark and the program’s revival less than a decade ago, appears to have found its focus.
Multiple sources the past 24 hours have told FootballScoop that the Blazers’ search has shifted and the focus now appears to be on former Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, who has guided Nashville private school Lipscomb Academy to a third-straight berth in the TSSAA Division II Class AA State Championship.
Dilfer’s Mustangs program, which has numerous Football Bowls Subdivision-bound players and has been turned into a national-branded prep powerhouse under Dilfer’s guidance, with appearances on ESPN among other notoriety, plays Thursday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a second-straight state crown.
Per sources familiar with the process, UAB officials are expected to approach Dilfer with a formal offer to coach the Blazers’ program, and those sources said that the Blazers’ brass are “optimistic” that Dilfer will accept what would be his first-ever college head coaching position.
Sources in the high school ranks of Tennessee football, as well as other coaches around the college sport, have said that Dilfer has worked to maintain a laser focus on the Mustangs’ chance to repeat as state champions inside Finley Stadium, home of the Chattanooga Mocs.
After starring in college at Fresno State, Dilfer logged a 14-year NFL career that began with the Tampa Bay Bucs, where he earned a Pro Bowl nod in 1997, and later won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000. Dilfer first drew acclaim for his work in a “coaching” role when he became deeply involved with the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp, in addition to national network television duties with ESPN, among others.
UAB Athletics Director Mark Ingram, who’s worked at powerhouse athletics programs at the University of Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee, as well as Temple and has maintained a strong relationship through the years with Matt Rhule, has conducted what multiple coaches termed “an extremely deep” search to replace Clark, who abruptly retired in late-June due to health reasons and then declared that Bryant Vincent would be the Blazers’ interim coach.
Vincent made a strong case to get the job on a full-time basis this season as he guided UAB to a 6-6 ledger and helped the program secure a berth in next month’s Bahamas Bowl against Miami (OH).
Players have expressed strong support for Vincent and penned a letter to UAB President Dr. Ray Watts that was posted Tuesday to Twitter.