Trent Dilfer buyout: Details of UAB head coach's contract

If UAB decided to part ways with head coach Trent Dilfer at the end of the 2024 season, the Blazers would owe their head coach roughly $3.6 million. UAB would pay Dilfer in monthly installments for the remainder of the contract.

He would receive $100,000 per month until Feb. 1, 2028, when his contract expires, if fired at the end of the 2024 season. Here is a full buyout breakdown:

+ Buyout drops to $2.4 million after the 2025 season
+ Buyout drops to $1.2 million after the 2026 season

Dilfer is paid $1.2 million per season. An annual raise is not included in the deal, however, he is eligible for merit raises determined by UAB athletic director, Mark Ingram.

The former NFL quarterback and ESPN commentator was hired in November 2022 after finding success coaching in the high school ranks at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville. A Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, Dilfer is only in Year Two of his five-year contract at UAB

Dilfer was hired in November 2022 after interim head coach Bryant Vincent went 7-6. The former NFL quarterback went 44–10 in four seasons at Lipscomb Academy, including two consecutive state championships.

UAB went 4-8 in 2023 under Trent Dilfer, with a 3-5 mark in the American Athletic Conference.

UAB’s decision to hire Dilfer was viewed as an outside-the-box hire. He had never coached at the collegiate level or recruited, taking over months into the NIL Era.

“I’ve got to admit that initially, like some of you probably, I thought, ‘I am not hiring a high school football coach,’” Ingram said at Dilfer’s introductory press conference. “I’m just not going to do that. Frankly, I was right. I’m not hiring a high school football coach. I’m hiring the No. 6 pick in the NFL draft. A guy who spent 14 years playing quarterback at the highest level.

“I’m hiring a guy that’s a pro bowler who was a starting quarterback on a Super Bowl championship team. A guy who spent nine years with ESPN doing analytics, commentary and draft coverage. A guy who’s the head coach of the nation’s premier passing academy, Elite 11, and has coached countless college and NFL quarterbacks.”

Ingram hired the former NFL quarterback six months after Bill Clark announced he was stepping down at UAB in June 2022, citing a chronic back condition that required surgery. Clark was 49-26 at UAB with two Conference USA titles.

The UAB program has gone through upheaval in the last decade. The football program was terminated after the 2014 season because of financial struggles. UAB reinstated football in June 2015 after public outcry, but the team did not return until 2017 as Clark rebuilt the program.

Dilfer’s contract calls for him to make $50,000 in radio and talent fees each contract year. He’s also paid $50,000 annually for promotional and fundraising fees.