Sports

Tulane Football Coach Ridicules Trent Dilfer While Confirming NIL Superiority

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UAB football coach Trent Dilfer pictured beside Tulane coach Jon Sumrall.

Getty Image / iStockPhoto


UAB football coach Trent Dilfer made waves this week with his comments on NIL in college football. He claimed that league rivals have been poaching players from his roster in an attempt to keep the Blazers from sustaining success.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall responded a few hours after seeing the remarks go viral. He ridiculed Dilfer while seemingly confirming his program’s NIL superiority.

Dilfer spoke with Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic on Tuesday morning to discuss the future of his Alabama-Birmingham squad. After back-to-back losing seasons, he’s looking to turn things around.

Unfortunately, he’s found it difficult to lock down top talent. Roster management and recruiting have been subpar, and Dilfer says a lack of NIL support is to blame.

“How do you have no money and go into the portal and create more talent?”

-Trent Dilfer on his NIL situation

He went a step further in the interview, calling out a pair of conference rivals for their shady recruiting tactics. Not only does he accuse them of pilfering his roster, but he claims that they’re offering unmatchable NIL deals just to put former Blazers on the bench.

“We have two teams that will go to our roster and sign double or triple what these guys can make on our roster and make them backups on their roster so that we can’t have them.”

-Trent Dilfer

Dilfer didn’t name names, but a handful of potential culprits stood out. Tulane was one of them. Head coach Jon Sumrall responded to the insinuation after the fact.

In doing so, he also tagged USF football coach Alex Golesh and Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield. It’s worth noting that the Tigers have picked up two UAB players in the transfer portal this offseason.

The Green Wave have seen some of their top talent leave New Orleans following a nine-win season. Most notably, starting QB Darian Mensah bolted for Duke after receiving a reported $8M deal.

Still, Tulane remains one of the top dogs at the Group of Five level in terms of both NIL and recruiting. Look no further than this transfer portal cycle.

Jon Sumrall is having no trouble finding new talent for his Tulane football program. UAB, meanwhile, continues to fall further behind. NIL status is a contributing factor. Sumrall separated the “haves” from the “have nots” when it comes to the AAC.