Trent Dilfer wants UAB to be next best option after Alabama over Auburn football

Newly implemented UAB head coach Trent Dilfer has a spectacular goal for his Blazers in 2023 and beyond: surpass Auburn football as the second-best option in the state of Alabama behind the Crimson Tide.

While Dilfer’s presence could eventually attract top arms due to his Super Bowl-winning career as a signal-caller himself, it’s going to take serious changes on the recruiting trail to achieve this goal given UAB’s recruiting ranking (no. 107) during the current cycle.

Dilfer made the declaration that his Blazers will be such in a December 21 press conference and AL.com’s Joseph Goodman shared the quote via Twitter — while seemingly giving an ode to his own prediction that Dilfer would be a superior QB recruiter to Hugh Freeze:

Hugh Freeze is silencing Auburn football critics on the recruiting trail

Hate on Hugh Freeze at your own peril, since his work on the recruiting trail speaks for itself and could lead to a major turnaround on the field for Auburn football in 2023. There’s a strong likelihood AU will be a popular pick on many ‘top surprises in 2023′ lists because of not only what Freeze did in dragging the Tigers’ 2023 class into the top 20, but given the success he had at both of his last two stops (Liberty, Ole Miss). Freeze turns programs around, whereas Trent Dilfer has not yet endured a college football season or a full recruiting cycle — even if his time at Lipscomb Academy in Tennessee was a rousing success.

Ipso facto, the idea that UAB will become a better destination than a 2x national championship program with two SEC championship game appearances in the last decade upon stepping up in competition to the AAC is quite the stretch. Dilfer was taking part in coach speak, and anyone thinking there’s a chance this happens is merely allowing their hopes to seep into their rational thoughts.