Trent Dilfer breaks ranks from selfish coaches with refreshing NIL take for UAB football | Toppmeyer
Trent Dilfer didn't need long as UAB football coach to discover a Group of Five reality: A school like UAB can't keep up with the Joneses in the SEC in the NIL marketplace.
Dilfer took it a step further while speaking at a recent NIL summit in Atlanta: Is it a problem that UAB can't match top-dollar offers?
In discussing how UAB could be expected to retain marquee players if they are offered a six-figure NIL deal elsewhere, Dilfer admitted UAB can't go dollar for dollar with deep-pocketed Power Five collectives. Then he raised this point: Why should he wish to stop a UAB player who gains the opportunity to play at a school like Alabama or Georgia and pocket six figures in the process?
"Do you even try to retain that player?" Dilfer said, according to On3's onsite coverage. "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)?"
What a rare, refreshing perspective amid a coaching community whose thinking usually is clouded by so much paranoia, self-preservation and desire for omnipotence that little thought is spared for what's best for athletes.
As coaches stump for federal NIL regulation, bemoan the transfer rate and complain of tampering, here's Dilfer swimming upstream and saying there's no shame in an athlete uprooting for a better, more lucrative opportunity.
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Spoken like a guy who understands the business side of football. Dilfer played for five franchises across 14 NFL seasons. He won Super Bowl XXXV as the Ravens' starting quarterback. He's entering his first season at UAB after previously coaching Lipscomb Academy in Nashville.
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How Trent Dilfer can use this as a pitch for UAB
UAB is among six former Conference USA schools joining the AAC this season. I could see Dilfer's words being crafted into a recruiting pitch for the Blazers: Come play for a coach who understands the business, who will develop your talents, and if you grow your abilities to the extent that a well-heeled SEC program takes notice, he'll applaud your success and support your future.
Dilfer highlighted a caveat to his perspective: Accepting a richer NIL deal from some Power Five collective won't be the wisest career move in every instance. Remain mindful, he said, of which avenue provides the best route to the NFL, where top dollar still resides. Pro evaluators leave few rocks unturned in search of talent. Thirty-four players from Group of Five schools were selected in the NFL Draft in April. A UAB player was drafted in each of the past three years.
If the choice is shining at a Group of Five and earning NFL attention or getting lost on some SEC team's depth chart, then maybe it's better to stay at a school like UAB. NIL isn't the only factor for players to consider when weighing a transfer.
"It’s a case-by-case (situation)," Dilfer said.
If Dilfer is honest with his athletes and earns their trust, he can help them navigate stay-or-transfer decisions.
What others say about NIL marketplace
If you spend much time under the hood of College Athletics Inc. and get a whiff of the usual polluted discourse surrounding NIL, you'll notice how Dilfer's comments cut against the grain.
Here was a recent doozy: Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek lamented that NIL deals encourage athletes to – get a load of this – stay in school and further their education.
"Young men and women are making decisions not to go to Major League Baseball or the WNBA or the NBA because they can make more money in college," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette quoted Yurachek as saying during a speaking engagement at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.
"Does that make any sense, that you can make more money by staying in college than you can by going and being a professional athlete? That's where we have some issues in college athletics."
Yessiree, we've got a problem here. College athletes delaying the pros? Mercy, someone call the constable!
Meanwhile, Tommy Tuberville, a former college coach turned Republican senator from Alabama, is working with Nick Saban's pal, Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), on a bill aimed at providing a federal solution for NIL. Tuberville describes current NIL rules as "a disaster" and complains of players being allowed to transfer freely.
"We're looking out for the sanctity of college sports," Tuberville said of his legislative efforts with Manchin.
Their NIL bill has not been made public, but I have a sense it will look more like a solution to coaches seeking to regain power rather than the college athletes who finally gained earning potential through NIL.
As lawmakers and coaches spin their tires through the NIL waters, Dilfer offered a commendable outlook centered on helping athletes obtain their brightest future. Sometimes, that will mean playing for a school like UAB. Other times, it means transferring for greener pastures.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Trent Dilfer: Coach breaks ranks for refreshing NIL take at UAB football
