UAB and athletics director Mark Ingram made a bold move several years ago when they hired away Trent Dilfer from a record-setting run in Tennessee high school football. It never panned out at the collegiate level. 

Multiple sources on Sunday told FootballScoop that UAB fired Dilfer on the heels of Saturday’s blowout-loss at Florida Atlantic University, which is under the direction of first-year coach Zach Kittley. The Blazers also were soundly defeated at home last week by Jeff Monken’s Army Black Knights. 

A former Super Bowl-winning quarterback who rose to additional acclaim as an ESPN analyst and also a key part of the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback program, Dilfer pivoted from his broadcasting career to coach Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.

There, Dilfer won. multiple state championships and compiled a 44-10 mark. His Lipscomb programs were dotted with FBS collegiate prospects and strong quarterback play.

Thus, after the Mustangs won their final TSSAA BlueCross Bowl State Championship under Dilfer in December 2022, he was hired days later by Ingram to replace Bryant Vincent, who had been placed into a difficult spot as the interim head coach in 2022 following the abrupt retirement of Bill Clark, the program’s all-time winningest coach.

Battling a variety of issues from staff hires that didn’t work out to being part of the Group of Five flux in general amidst landmark change in major college football, Dilfer never got UAB stabilized, let alone rolling on the field.

The Blazers were 4-8 in 2023, Dilfer’s first full season, and closed last year at just 3-9.

There were discussions a year ago among UAB leaders, sources told FootballScoop, about moving on at that time from Dilfer, but his then-buyout of $4 million was seen as too cost-prohibitive for the cash-strapped program.

UAB opened this season with a narrow escape against FCS program Alabama State, played a competitive contest against still-undefeated Navy and added a win against Akron.

The Blazers now have dropped three-straight contests, all by 18 or more points, and they host undefeated and nationally ranked Memphis this week, with the Tigers experiencing that program’s greatest heights under head coach Ryan Silverfield.

Memphis has stormed to an 6-0 mark, toppled SEC program Arkansas last month inside the Liberty Bowl and has won 10-straight games — the nation’s longest winning streak at the FBS level.