<a href="https://www.on3.com/college/uab-blazers/">UAB</a> has fired coach <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/trent-dilfer-175014/">Trent Dilfer</a> on a day in which multiple other college football coaches were canned, according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos. Dilfer had led the Blazers to a 2-4 start to the season in his third year in charge.



The team dropped its third straight contest on Saturday, falling to <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/florida-atlantic-owls/">Florida Atlantic</a> 53-33. The loss moved UAB to 0-3 in conference play. UAB confirmed the firing on Sunday evening in a statement from athletics director Mark Ingram:



“We have made a decision to part ways with Head Football Coach Trent Dilfer,” <a href="https://x.com/UAB_FB/status/1977502608790110312">the statement read</a>. “We agree that — unfortunately — our on-field performance has not lived up to the standard of winning we have for the program. This decision will allow us to move forward in the best long-term interest of the program.”



Offensive coordinator <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/alex-mortensen-3234/">Alex Mortensen</a> will take over as the interim coach, UAB announced. Mortensen was appointed the program’s offensive coordinator by Dilfer when he first took the job.



The season started promising enough for Trent Dilfer and UAB, who were hoping to reverse the trajectory from the first two seasons. The program knocked off <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/alabama-state-hornets/">Alabama State</a> in the season opener, dropped a road game at <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/the-mid-report/">Navy</a> and then beat <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/akron-zips/">Akron</a> to reach 2-1.



But it’s been all downhill from there. The team lost games to <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/tennessee-volunteers/">Tennessee</a>, <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/go-black-knights/">Army</a> and <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/florida-atlantic-owls/">Florida Atlantic</a>. That came on the heels of two relatively subpar seasons in 2023 and 2024.



Trent Dilfer managed to go 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the American Conference in 2023. Then the team went 3-9 overall and 2-6 in conference play last season. This year was not showing signs of much improvement overall.



So Dilfer finished with an overall record of 9-21, with a 5-14 mark in conference action. A former NFL player and broadcaster, Dilfer got into coaching in a major way in 2019 when he worked at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tenn. He put together a 44-10 record there, with three straight conference titles from 2020-22.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trent-dilfer-joins-trent-bray-james-franklin">Trent Dilfer joins Trent Bray, James Franklin</h2>



On a bloody day for college football coaches, nobody was safe. <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/penn-state-nittany-lions/news/penn-state-fires-head-coach-james-franklin/">Penn State fired James Franklin</a>, while <a href="https://www.on3.com/news/report-oregon-state-fires-head-coach-trent-bray/">Oregon State fired Trent Bray</a>. Both had varying levels of success.



<a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/">Penn State</a> fired <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/james-franklin-131195/">James Franklin</a> following a 3-3 start to the 2025 season. In the middle of his 12th season at the helm, Franklin saw his tenure end after a loss to <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/northwestern-wildcats/">Northwestern</a> over the weekend.



Franklin leaves State College with a 104-45 record since 2014 when he took the job. He is 128-60 overall as a head coach, which includes his three-year stint at <a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/the-dore-report/">Vanderbilt</a> (24-15). <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/terry-smith-131093/">Terry Smith</a> will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season.



<a href="https://www.on3.com/sites/beavers-edge/">Oregon State</a> fired head football coach <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/trent-bray-132371/">Trent Bray</a> following the Beavers’ 0-7 start to the season, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed the news.



Bray went 5-14 in a season-plus with the team. He took over for former head coach <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/coach/jonathan-smith-134890/">Jonathan Smith</a>, who departed the program for <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-state-spartans/">Michigan State</a> ahead of the 2024 season.



On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this report.

UAB coach Trent Dilfer during a college football game between Tennessee and UAB at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sept. 20, 2025. (© Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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