The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Photo by: Ken Shepherd
Week 4 Coffee With Coach Transcript: No. 15 Tennessee
9/15/2025 3:26:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team travels to Knoxville this Saturday, Sept. 20, for a non-conference game at No. 15 Tennessee with kickoff scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET/11:45 a.m. CT on SEC Network.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
HEAD COACH TRENT DILFER:
Opening statement:
"Well, good morning. I am excited that we were able to get a win in front of our home crowd. We found a way, and it was ugly at times, but I am proud of our guys for responding well to adversity. It is what we have preached more than anything else and there is going to be adversity in every game. I thought we responded really well, especially defensively in the second half. We have a lot to get better at. That has been the theme here. I knew these first four weeks were all about getting better every single week and this is a great opportunity this week to get better during the week of practice and get better as we play the game in Knoxville.
On the defensive effort against Akron:
"I think effort, there was tremendous effort. I thought there was an awareness of situational football, especially deep in the red zone. We were able to anchor down a couple of times deep in the red zone. I think adjustments in the secondary, we took away some things. We gave up some things, but we took away some things that they were trying to do. I thought our coaches and secondary players did a good job of recognizing where they were trying to attack us. In the run game, outside the leakiness, it got leaky in the second half in the inside. For the most part, the inside of the run game was handled with a light box. We did not have to recruit extra players to handle the inside of the run game. There are some positives, we played a ton of people. I think we played six safeties, we played five linebackers, we played the entire defensive line, I think five different corners played significant snaps. I do think we got better. I think Isaiah Crozier and Delvon Gulley both showed up, played significant snaps, and played well. Tamarion Crumpley got a little beat up, so it was good for them. Roy Williams bounced back after getting beat earlier in the game. I thought the safeties, they all played, they all showed some traits that are positive that we can build off of."
On what prevented the offense from performing to expectation against Akron:
"It was the same old taking the turn, making a mistake. We have a lot of plays in the second half where 10 guys are doing it right and one guy, unfortunately, is making a mental mistake, or is not sticking with the discipline of the play. We did have some physical breakdowns more so than we have had in the first two games, but really it was the mental stuff. It was stuff we have done a lot of times that have been repped relentlessly and for whatever reason, we do not do the right thing. It was a light game plan; it is not a volume thing. It is the least amount of plays we had ever carried into a game, so it is not a "we have too much stuff" or "we were trying to do too much" it was more of a lack of focus. Offensively, it is a game where you cannot get away with one guy messing up an assignment because it takes 11 guys doing the right thing all the time. Mentally, we have to clean it up."
On what would be a successful outcome against Tennessee:
"You are always trying to win the game. I have been in a lot of games where you are a big underdog and nobody gives you a chance, and as a competitor, you are still trying to find a way to win. But I think we have to get better, and that is why I said that in the beginning of the season. I have been saying to the team is this first third of the season is really finding out who we are and making sure we are getting better and making sure we are correcting mistakes and nothing becomes habitual that we are identifying people that fit into the systems the best, people that are playing the hardest, people that are the most invested. Without preseason football, you cannot really know. It is not like we have had a lot of these players for two or three years and know their DNA, so we are finding out their DNA as competitors as the season goes on and you are seeing how they fit into the system. I think a victory in this game is what you are looking for but there are other victories, too. You want to be emotionally sharp throughout the game in a climate that is going to be difficult to handle your emotions. You want to be mentally sharp and clear of thought in an environment that is going to be hard to be clear of thought because it is going to be so loud and so intense. And then physically you want to compete through the whistle against a team that is very physical, very fast, and very explosive that is going to compete as hard as you, if not harder. I think you look for the victory in the game, but you also look for the victories emotionally, mentally, and physically in individual matchups and units."
Coach Dilfer on the benefit of playing a Power Four opponent: "It is a great opportunity for your players, and I will be very honest about this with them. Those who have dreams of the NFL, this is the game the scouts will watch. They will not even watch the other ones. They will watch this one first. They watch this one and if they like what they see, then they will dig into the other ones. If they do not like what they see in this game, you have no chance. You will not get on a board, you will not be looked at, they will not come to our practices and keep watching you, they are just going to write it off because this is the kind of game that is every week in the NFL. Every single week in the NFL, you are playing somebody who is as good as you or better. How you think, how you act, and how you compete physically will determine whether you can survive and thrive at the highest level.
"I think as a team, it is a great opportunity to go and show up and dress for success so to speak. Make everything you do, how you act, how you compete, how you think, how you respond, making plays, show up and let your light shine. Not to be cheesy but be somebody that somebody who has never watched UAB Football watches the game, and they are like, "dang, that offense can really go." "Man, that defense plays hard." "Man, they are really good on special teams." People take notice of what you have worked so hard to build."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- Saturday's contest pairs two high-powered offenses against each with two elite quarterbacks under center. Tennessee ranks sixth nationally in total offense (568.7), while UAB is 40th with an average of 451.7 yards per game. UT quarterback Joey Aguilar is 11th nationally in passing yards per game (302.0) and UAB's Jalen Kitna is two spots behind him ranking 13th nationally at 297.3 per game. Kitna is completing 70 percent of his passes as well.
- Sophomore running back/kick returner Solomon Beebe is the reigning American Conference Special Teams Player of the Week following his standout performance against Akron in which he had 190 all-purpose yards and 154 kickoff return yards. Beebe returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to mark UAB's first kickoff return for a touchdown in six years. Beebe is second nationally with 303 total kickoff return yards and ranks third nationally in all-purpose yards per game (165.3).
- UAB's defense tallied five sacks, eight tackles for loss and eight pass breakups against Akron. Redshirt freshman Chris Burge led the charge with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks, which were both career highs. His second sack of the game came on third down in the waning moments to essentially seal the victory for the Blazers. Burge, who steadily moved up the depth chart throughout fall camp, is now third on the team with 16 tackles and leads UAB with 2.5 sacks.
HEAD COACH TRENT DILFER:
Opening statement:
"Well, good morning. I am excited that we were able to get a win in front of our home crowd. We found a way, and it was ugly at times, but I am proud of our guys for responding well to adversity. It is what we have preached more than anything else and there is going to be adversity in every game. I thought we responded really well, especially defensively in the second half. We have a lot to get better at. That has been the theme here. I knew these first four weeks were all about getting better every single week and this is a great opportunity this week to get better during the week of practice and get better as we play the game in Knoxville.
On the defensive effort against Akron:
"I think effort, there was tremendous effort. I thought there was an awareness of situational football, especially deep in the red zone. We were able to anchor down a couple of times deep in the red zone. I think adjustments in the secondary, we took away some things. We gave up some things, but we took away some things that they were trying to do. I thought our coaches and secondary players did a good job of recognizing where they were trying to attack us. In the run game, outside the leakiness, it got leaky in the second half in the inside. For the most part, the inside of the run game was handled with a light box. We did not have to recruit extra players to handle the inside of the run game. There are some positives, we played a ton of people. I think we played six safeties, we played five linebackers, we played the entire defensive line, I think five different corners played significant snaps. I do think we got better. I think Isaiah Crozier and Delvon Gulley both showed up, played significant snaps, and played well. Tamarion Crumpley got a little beat up, so it was good for them. Roy Williams bounced back after getting beat earlier in the game. I thought the safeties, they all played, they all showed some traits that are positive that we can build off of."
On what prevented the offense from performing to expectation against Akron:
"It was the same old taking the turn, making a mistake. We have a lot of plays in the second half where 10 guys are doing it right and one guy, unfortunately, is making a mental mistake, or is not sticking with the discipline of the play. We did have some physical breakdowns more so than we have had in the first two games, but really it was the mental stuff. It was stuff we have done a lot of times that have been repped relentlessly and for whatever reason, we do not do the right thing. It was a light game plan; it is not a volume thing. It is the least amount of plays we had ever carried into a game, so it is not a "we have too much stuff" or "we were trying to do too much" it was more of a lack of focus. Offensively, it is a game where you cannot get away with one guy messing up an assignment because it takes 11 guys doing the right thing all the time. Mentally, we have to clean it up."
On what would be a successful outcome against Tennessee:
"You are always trying to win the game. I have been in a lot of games where you are a big underdog and nobody gives you a chance, and as a competitor, you are still trying to find a way to win. But I think we have to get better, and that is why I said that in the beginning of the season. I have been saying to the team is this first third of the season is really finding out who we are and making sure we are getting better and making sure we are correcting mistakes and nothing becomes habitual that we are identifying people that fit into the systems the best, people that are playing the hardest, people that are the most invested. Without preseason football, you cannot really know. It is not like we have had a lot of these players for two or three years and know their DNA, so we are finding out their DNA as competitors as the season goes on and you are seeing how they fit into the system. I think a victory in this game is what you are looking for but there are other victories, too. You want to be emotionally sharp throughout the game in a climate that is going to be difficult to handle your emotions. You want to be mentally sharp and clear of thought in an environment that is going to be hard to be clear of thought because it is going to be so loud and so intense. And then physically you want to compete through the whistle against a team that is very physical, very fast, and very explosive that is going to compete as hard as you, if not harder. I think you look for the victory in the game, but you also look for the victories emotionally, mentally, and physically in individual matchups and units."
Coach Dilfer on the benefit of playing a Power Four opponent: "It is a great opportunity for your players, and I will be very honest about this with them. Those who have dreams of the NFL, this is the game the scouts will watch. They will not even watch the other ones. They will watch this one first. They watch this one and if they like what they see, then they will dig into the other ones. If they do not like what they see in this game, you have no chance. You will not get on a board, you will not be looked at, they will not come to our practices and keep watching you, they are just going to write it off because this is the kind of game that is every week in the NFL. Every single week in the NFL, you are playing somebody who is as good as you or better. How you think, how you act, and how you compete physically will determine whether you can survive and thrive at the highest level.
"I think as a team, it is a great opportunity to go and show up and dress for success so to speak. Make everything you do, how you act, how you compete, how you think, how you respond, making plays, show up and let your light shine. Not to be cheesy but be somebody that somebody who has never watched UAB Football watches the game, and they are like, "dang, that offense can really go." "Man, that defense plays hard." "Man, they are really good on special teams." People take notice of what you have worked so hard to build."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
Players Mentioned
RB
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DE
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CB
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CB
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CB
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QB
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CB
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