Trent Dilfer was singing a more upbeat tune at this time last year. He believed his Blazers had turned the corner in his second season as head coach at UAB. Then he was hammered hard by a dismal 3–9 season.
Although Dilfer views himself as an optimist, his evaluations of his club this month are a little cautious. Consider the second preseason scrimmage at UAB.
Dilfer once again commended his defense for its on-field response when he was questioned on Tuesday regarding his team’s performance over the weekend. He also expressed optimism about his offensive line, saying that it looked its best since the Blazers broke camp during Saturday’s second scrimmage. The running backs gave it their all. The decision was made by the quarterbacks. Dilfer highlighted this as one of the main priorities before the scrimmage, since UAB even converted on 70% of its conversion opportunities.
Dilfer isn’t going overboard just yet, though.
Dilfer remarked, “Our floor is just so wildly low.” The fact that we still don’t know how to improve the situation is what makes me hesitate to be too enthused. It’s the simplest way to put it. At the very least, your awful must be bearable. Everyone will have bad days, but you’ll be better than them.
UAB’s bad was intolerable last year. The Blazers allowed an average of 73.8 penalty yards per game, which matched them for 129th place out of 134 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams. Due to 25 turnovers in 12 games, UAB also finished 129th with a -12 turnover margin.
Dilfer would consider the scrimmage this past weekend a success, but he is still troubled by the inconsequential moments.
According to Dilfer, we had a punt that was most likely going to be blocked during the scrimmage, but the player held up. Some of our defensive plays and penalties gave the offense a chance to score when they should have been stopped. Two odd turnovers were committed by the offensive, but two giveaways is simply too many.
Don’t misunderstand Dilfer. He is hopeful about this year’s squad. In fact, he frequently gets enthused about the Blazers’ potential because of his upbeat disposition. He then forces himself to be a realist after realizing those obvious shortcomings.
According to Dilfer, I was seriously duped last year. I simply don’t want to be duped again after being so thoroughly duped last year. In order for us to coach appropriately, I want to know who we are, what our weaknesses are, and what our strengths are.
I believe it hurt us when I occasionally coached as though we were better than we actually were. I want to make sure that we have a clear picture of our current situation.
This practical method has a balance. Although Dilfer may be concerned about going overboard with optimism, the program has maintained a consistent, self-assured attitude for the previous month.
As a team, we are truly remaining upbeat, Dilfer stated. This team’s positivity, excitement, and mutual joy, in my opinion, is the best we’ve seen here.
Allowing players to gain that confidence without being swept up in short-term success is the key. The Blazers appear to be managing that well thus far.
According to Dilfer, it’s a fine line between encouraging kids not to lose and teaching them how to win. That, in my opinion, is the daily struggle. However, I do believe that they are beginning to get it. During the scrimmage, I overheard some offensive players on the sidelines say, “Hey, this is the opposite of what we’re trying to be,” in response to blunders.
Before beginning game-week preparations for its season opener against Alabama State on August 28 inside Protective Stadium, UAB will have two more practices this week.
