The transfer portal has always been around, but in 2018 when the rule was changed to allow players to not have to sit out a season after transferring it became an even more useful tool that coaches used to build their rosters. When NIL deals became a thing in 2021 it opened up the door for Power Five programs to take players from smaller Group of Five programs, FCS schools and many others. With the resources afforded Power Five programs it’s so easy to offer a player a nice NIL deal for them to enter the portal and come join your program.
And while that’s supposed to be against the rules, it hasn’t stopped the big boys from pretty much doing what they wanna do as it pertains to talking and eventually taking players from those smaller institutions. But, don’t tell that to first-year UAB head coach and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer, who recently sent out a warning to those aforementioned Power Five programs.
Dilfer Is Ready For Fisticuffs
During a recent appearance on the “Ricky and Bubba Show,” Dilfer a former ESPN employee from 2008-17, as well as a veteran od stints on the NFL Network and Fox Sports, let it be known that he isn’t afraid to call out anyone who attempts to poach his players from UAB.
“By the way, come try to take my guys,” Dilfer began. “I dare you Power Fives. I’ve got a pretty big platform that I can step on. And if I find you in my kid’s DMs, if I find you talking to high school coaches about my kids, if you’re in my roster I’m gonna call your a** out.”
“And I’m gonna say it by name to the biggest voices in television today, and it’s gonna make ‘College GameDay,’ and its gonna make ‘SportsCenter’ … because, by the way, those guys running ‘SportsCenter’ are still my friends. So, go ahead, I dare to jump into my roster.”
Strong words by Dilfer, who has yet to even coach a college game yet. It’s pretty sure he’s scared off the Power Fives — NOT! They’re gonna continue to do what they want, and, with little to no repercussions for their actions, they won’t fret at all.
Dilfer Has Different View Of Transfer Portal And NIL If Used Fairly
For Dilfer, joining a Group of Five program also bought a sense of reality that they don’t have the resources to match what the Power Fives can offer players to jump ship.
Dilfer believes if a school like Alabama or Georgia wants his players and goes about it the correct way who is he to stop them from leaving.
In an interview with On3 this month, Dilfer was pretty transparent in his response to the question.
“Do you even try to retain a player?” Dilfer said. “If you develop a player, and he’s good enough to make that type of money at a program that would be perceived up from us — economically, for sure — well, as a player-centric coach, isn’t it my job to encourage him to take that money, if he doesn’t hurt his chances of making generational wealth in the NFL?”
So, in theory Dilfer is saying if you want a player from his roster go about it the correct way and he wouldn’t try to stop that player from leaving. But if you do it illegally, by tampering before he hits the portal, he’s gonna basically blast your a**.
It’s safe to say these unprecedented changes in college sports have both good and bad things attached to them.
