Trent Dilfer On Defeating The Dot Of Negativity
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - October 7, 2025
A blank piece of paper with a dot drawn in marker was one of the takeaways of UAB head coach Trent Dilfer visit with the media on Monday morning.
Dilfer was asked if there was a process to keeping away from discouragement in the midst of a two-game losing streak, coupled with a pair of difficult seasons heading into this year. He pulled out a blank piece of white paper, drew a dot on it and asked a reporter what he saw. When the answer was a dot on a piece of paper, Dilfer made his point.
“That’s what most people say, you don’t see white?” Dilfer said. “That's what negativity does to you. The dot is the bad, it's the negative and that's what jumps out. Too often, we look at this picture (with a small dot) but what we really in our mind see is that picture (with a bigger dot). And that's not the reality. The reality is there are a lot of good things. These kids like each other. These kids have a really good brotherhood. We have good coaches. We've done some good things. We've gotten better.”
The reality is Dilfer was 7-17 in his first two seasons at UAB and the Blazers are 2-3 heading into Saturday’s game at FAU.
“You can't let the setbacks (make) the size of the dot grow bigger than what it is,” Dilfer said. “When you have two bad seasons and now you have a losing record and you've lost two games it's very easy to make that dot bigger than what it is. So you have to you have to fight not making a dot bigger than it is. Now the dot is probably bigger than what I represented there. But, regardless there's a lot of good and you have to stay focused on the good because the good is what's going to get you out of the bad. If you focus on the bad all the time, it's just going to be perpetual and it's going to amplify itself in a lot of different ways. I think that's a challenge that we have this week, making sure that we see the dot for the dot but not bigger than the dot.”
That was just part of Dilfer’s message on Monday. Following is most of what he said during the weekly Coffee with the Coach.
Opening statement: “Extremely disappointed with Saturday's results. I felt like they were things, we’d really grown a lot on raising our floor, which has been the theme of this group. Resorted back to some bad habits, kind of giving the game away. Give them a lot of credit, they play really hard as we expected and stayed true to who they are. But we gave them a ton of opportunities, so disappointed in that, but we've got to flush it, move on, embrace the next challenge, and find a way to win on the road.”
On his postgame comment about putting too much on UAB QB Jalen Kitna: “I think we're still working through that. We're going to meet with them tonight. We as coaches watched the film. We've been very critical, looked ourselves in the mirror. When the players come in tonight, we will kind of address (it). I want to explore from our players kind of what they were thinking. You know what was going on in their minds. Ask them to be truth tellers to us, too. Did we give them too much? Did we ask too much of them? Did we have too many passes? Did we not run it enough? Kind of get their take on it. But obviously, there was a threshold of focus that we surpassed. You know, I think that's what I was saying. Like we did something that did not allow them to focus at their highest ability and it cost us.”
On not using the running game the past two games: “I wouldn't count Tennessee in that. We were not going to run for more in Tennessee, just from a personnel standpoint. We probably could have forced a couple more, but they weren't going to get much. Army we had a chance to run it really well. It was more we had a few runs called and then we had those silly penalties that pushed us back to longer yard situations. Very hard to run the ball on 2nd-and-13, 2nd-and-19, you know. So we had to change those to passes. When it went to 17-7, it felt like you weren't going to have that many more possessions. So we talked on the phones about, hey, we've got to make them honor the run, but we've got to get back in this thing throwing now. Then we lose a possession with the second play of a drive being an interception. That was actually a drive we were going to start the possession with the pass and then get to the run game. We wanted to get the ball around 30 to 40 yard line and then start running the ball. So, you know, it didn't go the way we wanted to from a run-pass balance standpoint. But we knew we were having success running football and the plan was to run it more in a one-score game.”
On his team’s play at the end of the Army game and his expectations on how they respond this week: “That's a really good question. I'm disappointed, very disappointed, but not discouraged. And I think (the players are) the same. They showed that, even in the locker room after the game, even after how the game ended. They played hard. This group doesn't have the self-pity, the whining, the complaining, the woe is me, the excuse making. They were still playing hard, they were still encouraging each other, they were still trying to find answers to the bitter end. So, that is a positive sign. We have to build off of that. We have to make sure this is a week where we're hungry and desperate to get better because of the disappointment in the last game, but there's no discouragement. Once you get discouraged, once that sense of hopelessness starts, it's a downhill spiral from there. So, you can't let a two-game losing streak discourage you. You can be disappointed and you can make corrections, and you can make hard decisions, but you can't let it go be super negative.”
On injury updates: “Sirad (Bryant) will be back, (that) will be great. Pierre (Royster) should be healthier. There's still some appointments that (Tamarion) Crumpley and (Eli) Ennis have to go through. We're a little banged up at receiver. B.J. (Brandon Hawkins Jr.) and Strap (Iverson Hooks) both got banged up a little bit. I think they'll practice, but it'll be limited. Jevon Jackson banged up a little bit, but again, he'll practice.
(With Royster), we wanted to give some other safeties a chance. He hasn't been completely healthy. He's practiced, but it hasn't been full speed. So, we also wanted to give Jeremiah (Vessel) a chance to play safety and A.J. (Brown). A little bit different rotation. Like I said, I haven't tried to be coy about this, there's lots of position battles that will continue to go on. Even on the offensive line, Baron (Franks) II and Barry (Walker) did not play, but they're practicing at a very high level and continue to push the starters.”
On whether the defense took a step forward in the Army game: “I really did (think it was a step forward) and I really thought they grew. You know, I'll tell a story. So Tulane last year, when we got just annihilated, that game got out of reach. And I kept following the book on the metrics on the fourth down go for it. I really regret it. I regretted it all off season. We still got beat by a lot of points but it would not have been as egregious as it ended up. I kind of feel that way about (the Army game with) five-ish minutes left and 4th-and-10 in our own area and we go for it. We don't get it. And you put your defense in a bad position. Because really, they had played winning football up until that point. And then you put them in a bad position. The score doesn't reflect how much they grew. I still don't know if I was right or wrong there. Because there's five and a half minutes, too, you convert it and you go down to score. You put a little stress on them. You get three-and-out (on defense) and now you got a bal lgame. So I guess my point is that the score does not reflect how hard they played, how well they handled that option game. We held them to one of their lowest yardage outputs in the run game of the year. So we did a lot of really good things and I think there was a lot of growth there.”
On this team being better equipped to handling the two-game losing streak: “I sure do hope so. Yes, my impression is yes. Tonight will be a very important moment when they come in the building and how they approach the work week. I think work weeks are hard with their bodies this time of year. They're sore, academics, stress. They’re college kids, they’re going through a lot. But if they can handle this week with great enthusiasm, great intensity, continue to work hard, then that's a really bright sign. I anticipate they will but we'll see. The two biggest things this year has been raising our floor and how we respond to adversity. So I think both things have to be points of emphasis this week.”
On what goes through the process of avoiding discouragement: “That's a big question, I could do a podcast on that one. I think for everybody it's a little different. So I think as a leader you have to talk to the staff about, talk to the players about know what disappointment is, know what discouragement is and then know how to handle both if you’re fighting discouragement. Know what it truth and know what is lies. So, look at the truth of this situation and be true tellers. I think we have to be true tellers on the good and the bad. But don't let one overtake the other.’
On FAU: “They're getting better. I give this staff, their players a lot of credit. They've gotten significantly better as the year has gone on. You know, it's an Air Raid offense that creates a lot of issues in the passing game and they do know how to run the ball. It’s not like they don't care about running the football. They just run a little differently. They lead with the pass. They're very good at what they do, so they put pressure on you from that standpoint. Defensively, they've grown a lot. I think they've settled into what they want to be. And they are playing faster, playing more physical, defeating blocks better, covering better, getting to the quarterback, creating a lot more chaos for the quarterback. So it's a team that's improving and they're at home. They play better at home, although they won at Rice, but they play with more energy, it looks like, at home. The weather, I think, you know, looking ahead at the weather it does not look great. That’s something we have to consider as well. So I say this every week, though, we're not good enough to where any game's not gonna be a great challenge, so this is a great challenge ahead of us and we have to get better.
I thought that's the hard thing (about the Army game) and I wrestled this all the time. It felt as if we were gonna play our best football based on how we prepared during the week. We can't be discouraged again because a great week of preparation did not lead to great execution. We have to work really hard, prepare really well to give ourselves the best chance to succeed. I think one of the great lies that is told in our country, obviously, is hard work equals success. That's not true. There's a lot of people that work really, really, really hard, but don't have a lot of success. The hard work gives you the best chance of having success and we need to take that approach. Because hard work and great preparation last week did not equal success does not mean that we shouldn't do it again, because it gives us our best chance to have success. That's another one of the things with the dot is it's too easy to go ‘Gosh, I did everything, I sacrificed this, I worked hard, and look it didn't get me anything.’ That's a wrong way of looking at it. It's okay, I'm gonna do that again, so I have a chance to be successful this next week. Because if you do the opposite, you don't work hard, if you cash it in, if you are feeling sorry for yourself, if any of those things come in, now you've just limited your chances of success exponentially.”
On the importance of turnovers on Saturday: “Well, I think we're two of the worst in the country. I think we're sixth worst in the country, and they're worse than us in turnover ratio. And it's the number one indicator of wins and losses. We haven't taken the ball away enough, and we've turned it over too much. And it's so frustrating and disappointing, because it's the opposite of what we preach. It's the opposite of what we train. It's the opposite of what we emphasize. I mean, you guys have been at practice, all you're hearing is protect the ball and take it away, and make good decisions. And yet, we've found a way to be careless with it offensively, and defensively not get it back enough. I think that's a huge part of this football game, is the team that can steal the ball from the other team the most will probably win.
On teaching how to create turnovers: “I think the more people that are around it, the more people that are attacking it, the more violent you are with your collisions and I think there's some techniques in order to punching it out. Awareness, situational awareness, and knowing that you're not the primary tackler, so you're not necessarily responsible for bringing them down. Somebody else is, well you have an opportunity to knock the ball out. I think eye discipline is a huge part of this thing, both offensively and defensively. Guys with great eye discipline protect the ball and guys with great eye discipline take it away. I just use the defensive analogy, the ball carrier is being held up and the other guy comes in (from a close distance) what am I looking at? You know what I mean? I should be looking at the ball and I should be finding a way to get the ball out. But too often we go in there and we're not looking at anything, we're just looking at color and we're going to hit something. You see it all the time in college football, guys just randomly throwing their helmets in there instead of attacking something specific offensively. Our turnovers, outside of Solomon (Beebe’s) fumble, I want to make sure I'm right on this one. I think they are all eye discipline issues, just not seeing the right stuff, not starting looking at the right thing. It's not talked about nearly enough in football, but eye discipline is up there with the physical traits that matter. When your eyes are right, when you're looking at the right things at the right times, you make better decisions and we have not.”
On UAB kicker Jonah Delange’s struggles: “Man, if I knew that I knew that I'd probably be a lot better at what I do. I think you have to take kickers, it's a lot like golfers, right? Some of my best friends are ex-NFL kickers and the way they articulated it to me is it's no different than going to the driving range and hitting your 8-iron just the way you want to hit it. However long you hit it, whether you play it right to left or left to right and you're hitting it good, you're hitting it flush, in rhythm. And then you get (on the course) and you miss hit it. You know, and his misses have been missed hits. All of a sudden you're like, okay, well, why? Why is my rhythm off? Why is the operation off? Is it my mindset? Is it a confidence thing? I don't know, but the bottom line is I'm not taking it from the range to the course. And most of the time it's over-complicating. You talk to the best kickers like Phil Dawson. I learned a ton from Phil Dawson and he would say, ‘OK, I got a 51-yarder in Cleveland, the winds blowing into me, it's snowy.’ It's a really tough kick, right? I'm not trying to make it. I'm trying to hit solid because hitting it solid gives me the best chance of that ball, with the thousands of reps that I've taken, is going where I've trained for it to go. I think that's the issue right now is that he's just not hitting solid balls. He's trying to make kicks. And I told him, (after the second miss), I just said, hey, if this comes down to a game winner, just hit it solid. I believe you'll hit it solid. When you hit them solid, Jonah, you make them. Like just go get it solid. Don't try to make it. I think there's a thing that I think you can try too hard. I don't know if I said this last week, but one of the themes to our skill position guys this year is trying to teach them how to try easy. This is a lesson I've had to teach my daughters because all three of my daughters wanna do it perfect. I'm like, no, you prepare for perfection and then you try easy in the game. And they went, what the heck does that mean? But trying easy is I trust my preparation and I'm gonna make it easy in the game. I'm gonna try to make it as easy as possible in the game. And for a kicker, it's just hit it square, hit it solid. For a quarterback, just trust your eyes, feel your feet, let it rip. As a receiver, it’s just be fast and finish. Don't be thinking about where my hands are, if it’s high I do this. It's high, I do this. The more you think, the more you're locked up. So I think our skill position guys in general, but Jonah also, it's try easy, make it simple, trust your preparation approach. They'll be a lot more free when they play and they'll make less mistakes. And the only reason I noticed is I've made every mistake they've made. You know, if you guys have seen me coach, I constantly tell my guys, I have been where you've been at. I've been locked up mentally. I've thought too much. I've made it too complicated. You know, I've tried to be perfect. I've tried to be a pleaser. I've done all those things. None of them work, right? This is what works. Prepare like a champion, let it rip on game day.”