The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Trent Dilfer

Followed Bryant Vincent. Trent Dilfer held UAB at Regional Program II for 3 seasons.

9–21
2023–now · 1 stint
UAB
← all coaches

In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerUABRegional Programthe building-block levelUAB, 2023: 4-8, Regional Program II2023UAB, 2024: 3-9, Regional Program III2024UAB, 2025: 2-4, Regional Program III2025-5.8One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

UAB, 3 seasons (active)
−5.8
Regional Program II → Regional Program III.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%UAB2023–2025▲ 2.5pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
UAB3.2pt#244 of 258 · less than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

One-score games
1–2
33.3% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Buyout owed
$2,816,667
bigger than 30% of FBS buyouts
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
National Program
0–6 0.0%
Regional Program
3–8 27.3%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.23
#76 of 319 · more than most
Defense marginal impact
-0.22
#274 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2023–now
UABcaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program II
Trent Dilfer held UAB at Regional Program II for 3 seasons.

4th-best UAB tenure of 7 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+11.8 pts
#58 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-25.3 pts
#190 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Bryant Vincent (2022–2022).

Season202320242025Trend
Record & result
Record4–83–92–4
Postseason———
Recruiting rank#92#98#125
Style — pass rate
Pass rate50.153.252.6
Coordinators
OCAlex MortensenAlex MortensenAlex Mortensen
DCSione Ta'ufo'ouSione Ta'ufo'ouSteve Russ
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense795335
Defense22305
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%42.951.943.9
Red-zone pass%33.044.845.6
4th-down go%opp. territory33.331.750.0
Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
55
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
71
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-16
#48 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 237 lbs
across 48 of 55 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+4.9 lbs
#96 of 255 · a typical amount
Avg. class year
Jr
#143 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: AL (15), GA (5), OH (4), FL (4), TX (3)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
53.5
position-weighted
Talent lost
54.3
position-weighted
Net
-0.8
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Ryder Burton (QB) from West Virginia
Biggest loss: Jacob Zeno (QB) to Texas A&M
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
216 lbs
6′3″ avg · #302 of 767 · a typical amount
Running back
214 lbs
5′10″ avg · #165 of 791 · more than most
Wide receiver
190 lbs
6′0″ avg · #534 of 791 · a typical amount
Tight end
242 lbs
6′4″ avg · #486 of 731 · a typical amount
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
311 lbs
6′5″ avg · #290 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
299 lbs
6′3″ avg · #108 of 753 · more than most
Linebacker
229 lbs
6′3″ avg · #331 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
185 lbs
6′1″ avg · #606 of 771 · less than most
Safety
200 lbs
6′0″ avg · #87 of 346 · more than most
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Linebacker via the portal
71%
#17 of 225 stints
Buys Tackle via the portal
70%
#19 of 223 stints

2 NFL Draft picks: DeWayne McBride (2023), Tejhaun Palmer (2024)

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Kam Shanks (2024)

AI Narratives — “UAB — stat check” and 3 more on the team page.

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