Trent Dilfer Says NIL Money Influencing Schemes he Can Run at UAB

NIL money is great — if you have it. And while UAB’s Trent Dilfer has some, it’s not enough for him and other coaches to run things the way they want.

Oct 12, 2024; West Point, New York, USA; UAB Blazers head coach Trent Dilfer walks off the field after a 44-10 loss against the Army Black Knights at Michie Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

It stands to reason that UAB football coach Trent Dilfer has a little more to worry about than the state of NIL in college sports.

After all, after two seasons at UAB he’s just 7-17 and he clearly has some work to do to keep his job. That’s where talent — and NIL — could help.

Dilfer, a former NFL quarterback who is guiding his first college program, has sounded off about NIL before, most notably advocating for a “floor” for upcoming revenue sharing in college sports.

Now, he’s sounding the alarm about another issue — the disparity of NIL money between power conference schools and Group of 5 schools and how it can influence the type of scheme you want to run.

How does NIL Money Influence Offensive, Defensive Schemes?

Dilfer used an example from his own program. Bill Clark, now retired, set the standard at UAB football. He even remained the head coach after the program was killed and through its revival.

Clark was famous for running what Dilfer called a “mint defense.” The cover two scheme featured a two-gap system where linemen punch and hold up offensive linemen to create lanes for tacklers.

Dilfer told the Blazer Victory Podcast recently that he loves the system. He says many coaches hate playing against it.

But, to run that system the team has to have the personnel to do it. And that’s the problem. The players needed to execute the system are hard to find. And with NIL, they’re not cheap.

The power conference teams can make those NIL payments, Dilfer’s UAB Blazers and other Group of 5 programs cannot.

“Those guys are very expensive,” Dilfer said. “To run that defense right now is probably about $2 million and we have $1 million for the entire team."

Yes, that’s $1 million in NIL money for an entire team. He said the Jack position in that defensive scheme can make $750,000 in NIL money.

“I'd love to play that defense. I can't afford that defense,” he said.

For contrast, the Texas football program is believed to have a budget of anywhere from $35-40 million for 2025, which reportedly combines its NIL money with its expected money from revenue sharing in the House vs. NCAA settlement.

That’s a payroll that the Blazers — and the schools outside of the power four conferences — simply can’t afford, whether they like a particular scheme or not.

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