Another College Football Head Coach Was Fired On Sunday After James Franklin and Trent Bray

Trent Dilfer was an interesting hire when UAB named him head coach in November 2022, despite the former NFL quarterback having no prior college coaching experience.

After just two and a half seasons, the Blazers have seen enough.

UAB fired Dilfer on Sunday after a 2-4 start to the season and a 9-21 record overall. The Blazers went 4-8 and 3-9 the last two years.

Alex Mortensen, who has been UAB's offensive coordinator throughout Dilfer's tenure, was named interim head coach.

"We made a decision to part ways with head football coach Trent Dilfer. We agree that -- unfortunately -- our on-field performance has not lived up to the standard of winning we have for the program," UAB athletic director Mark Ingram said.

"This decision will allow us to move forward in the best long-term interest of the program ... I wish Coach Dilfer the best and thank him for his class, tireless work and commitment during his tenure at UAB. While his efforts did not translate into a winning record, each young man who played for him will be a better person as a result."

A statement from UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram... pic.twitter.com/Eresp73EyF
— UAB Football (@UAB_FB) October 12, 2025

Dilfer was the third college football head coach fired Sunday, following James Franklin at Penn State and Trent Bray at Oregon State.

Dilfer was a first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1994 out of Fresno State and played for five NFL teams through the 2007 season before retiring. He later worked as a football analyst for NFL Network, ESPN and Fox Sports 1.

Dilfer was heavily involved in the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp series and became a high school head coach at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville in 2019, going on to win two Tennessee Division II Class AA state championships before taking over at UAB.

The Blazers' only win over an FBS opponent this season was against Akron. They lost each of their other four FBS games by at least two touchdowns, including a 53-33 loss at FAU on Saturday.

UAB launched its program in 1996 and had one season with double-digit wins, going 11-3 in 2018 under coach Bill Clark. The program has appeared in six bowl games, including five in a six-year span from 2017 to 2022, winning three of them.

Mortensen, the interim head coach, is a former Arkansas quarterback and was a grad assistant and later analyst at Alabama before joining Dilfer's staff at UAB. He is the son of longtime ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen.