Following his 1994-2007 NFL playing career, Trent Dilfer had a prominent run as a national analyst. He started on NFL Network as a guest analyst in 2006, worked there until 2008, then worked for ESPN until 2017, and then spent time with Fox Sports after that.
But after his controversial ESPN takes and his eventual exit from that network exit (which drew its own conversations, including around private plane discussion) and then his time with Fox, Dilfer has been more focused on coaching. That started with Nashville-area Christian prep school Lipscomb Academy (2019-2022), and he then took the head coaching job with the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers in November 2022. And he drew particular notice with UAB Saturday for his sideline reaction in the fourth quarter of their 35-23 road loss to the Tulane Green Wave, which saw him publicly flagellating an assistant coach. (Language warning.)
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1708200878585655358
The audio of Trent Dilfer’s blowup on the sideline is absolutely WILD: pic.twitter.com/9Q7MgzjHWz
— Pypeline (@Pypeline_) October 1, 2023
Since that happened, it’s provoked a lot of discussion. And that led to posts of other clips of Dilfer sideline meltdowns, including one from his high school coaching stint:
Starting to think Trent Dilfer has a bit of a temper: pic.twitter.com/HUPyuVK9hL https://t.co/Ne87iXgcxK
— The Walmart Wolverine (@TheWalMartWolv) September 30, 2023
And all of those has led to notable reactions from many prominent football analysts and some of Dilfer’s former colleagues. One of those was ESPN’s Marcus Spears, who weighed in in strong terms:
Trent need a good ass whoopin https://t.co/aKpqYWTYWq
— Marcus Spears (@mspears96) October 1, 2023
But many others have commented too:
whomst among us would have guessed that trent dilfer has anger management issues https://t.co/whUQczPYj2 https://t.co/97bubSHgmR
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 30, 2023
“Trent Dilfer, beside himself…” is not how I would describe this clown acting like an absolute maniac. https://t.co/bNe28p9UpX
— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) September 30, 2023
https://twitter.com/marcisenberg/status/1708199502606479701
I’m all for some fire, but Trent Dilfer ERUPTING on assistant coaches like this is a terrible look. At least do it behind closed doors. pic.twitter.com/2ASgCRAqqW
— SCOUTWITHBRYAN (@ScoutWithBryan) October 1, 2023
dilfer's a reminder that you can't just go and find another deion sanders. https://t.co/VwMVp8ZdBt
— bomani (@bomani_jones) September 30, 2023
Coaching UAB has freed Trent Dilfer to be the unremarkable asshole he's always dreamed of being: https://t.co/9mch7vVMoc
— Defector (@DefectorMedia) October 1, 2023
thinking about the time trent dilfer yelled at a group of us from across the street in tahoe at a celebrity golf tournament event because he was mad about something written about him years before
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) October 1, 2023
Look when you've won exactly zero games against FBS opponents in your career as a head coach like Trent Dilfer you deserve a certain level of respect https://t.co/qcB6I3ZqDH
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 30, 2023
I have a question here…Who does Trent Dilfer think he is? https://t.co/mYVW7BYTi2
— Sam Neumann (@Sam_Neumann_) September 30, 2023
Dilfer’s sideline reaction here has certainly drawn a lot of discussion this weekend. And it will be interesting to see if it’s brought up on the weekday debate shows, which often have similar theatricality. But this wasn’t even the only context he came up in this weekend:
Derek Carr has his 3rd career game with 30+ attempts and fewer than 130 yards passing. Only player w/ more games like that is Trent Dilfer with 5
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) October 1, 2023
We’ll see what’s ahead for Dilfer and UAB.
[Marcus Spears on Twitter]
