Tampering is a hot-button issue in the current college football landscape being dominated by the transfer portal. Several prominent coaches have spoken out on the issue while bemoaning the lack of mandates as it pertains to coaches luring players away from other programs. Few have actually ever called out opposing coaches by name for tampering, however, but first-year UAB coach Trent Dilfer is prepared to go that route should the opportunity arise.
During a recent appearance on the "Rick & Bubba Show," Dilfer sent an impassioned message to any opposing coaches hoping to entice his players into the transfer portal and away from his Blazers program.
"By the way, come try to get my guys," Dilfer said. "I dare you, Power Fives. I got a pretty big platform that I can step on, and if I find you in my kids' DMs, and if I find you talking to high school coaches about my kids -- if you're in my roster, I'm gonna call your ass out. I'm going to say it, by name, to the biggest voices in television today and it's going to make [College] GameDay and it's going to make SportsCenter. By the way, those guys running SportsCenter are still my friends.
"So go ahead. I dare you to jump into my roster. I told the American [Athletic Conference] coaches the same thing. I said, 'Why don't you guys have the you-know-whats to stand up and say get out of my roster?' I said here's why: 'cause you want their job. I want this job. I don't want no Power -- I want this job. I want to live in Birmingham. I want to live downtown. I want to go see my grandson in Nashville. I don't want that other job, so I don't care if you blackball me. I want this job. I want the city of Birmingham to say, 'No. That's our city. That's our coach.' So, go ahead. I'm not scared of whoever -- the Grand Poobah of Poobahs -- to blackball me. Like, get out of my roster. These are my guys. I love these guys. Stay the hell out of it."
A former NFL quarterback and analyst for both the NFL Network and ESPN, Dilfer was hired as UAB's coach in November 2022 after four seasons as the head coach at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. UAB is Dilfer's first coaching job at the collegiate level.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has never been afraid to voice his opinion on the transfer portal. Last season, Panthers wide receiver and then-reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison transferred to USC. Narduzzi heard of the USC chatter before Addison transferred and allegedly called Trojans coach Lincoln Riley multiple times to express his displeasure and discuss the potential of tampering, according to ESPN. Riley later responded and shot down Narduzzi's allegations.
