Trent Dilfer

Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is an American football coach and former player who is the head football coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Dilfer played as a quarterback for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

He was selected sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1994 NFL Draft.

He then declared himself eligible for the 1994 NFL Draft, forgoing his senior season.

He also won the Sammy Baugh Trophy for top collegiate passer.

Dilfer's professional football career began when he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their first pick in the 1994 NFL Draft (sixth overall, and the second quarterback taken in the draft, after Heath Shuler and ahead of Perry Klein) after his junior season at Fresno State.

When the Indianapolis Colts passed on Dilfer in the draft in favor of Trev Alberts, ESPN Draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr. heavily criticized their decision.

This led to Colts GM Bill Tobin responding on television by asking "Who in the hell is Mel Kiper" and challenged Kiper's credentials to evaluate the draft.

This exchange is often shown as one of the classic moments of ESPN draft coverage.

Enlisted as the starter in his second year, after seeing spot duty in his rookie year, Dilfer struggled during what was still a dark period for the Buccaneers as a whole, when in 1995 he threw only 4 touchdown passes but 18 interceptions.

The following year, he showed moderate improvement by upping his touchdown production, but failed to improve his turnover numbers (recording a career-high 19).

The following season, a year that Tampa's offense was aided by the arrival of rookie Warrick Dunn and the emergence of Mike Alstott, Dilfer was the first Tampa Bay quarterback to ever go to the Pro Bowl, which some say was a reward for a highly efficient season in the Buccaneers' limited offense.

In the first 12 games of that year Dilfer passed for 2213 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions.

However, Dilfer's performance was perceived to decline in his last four games.

In the playoffs, the Buccaneers defeated their NFC Central rivals, the Detroit Lions, before losing to their long-time division rivals, and defending Super Bowl champions, the Green Bay Packers.

While with the Bucs, he won more games than any quarterback in franchise history and took the team to their first playoff game in 15 years.

In a 1995 game against Minnesota at the Metrodome, Dilfer was ejected for throwing a punch at Vikings defensive lineman John Randle.

In NFL history, he was the only quarterback by far to be ejected.

In the 1996–1999 NFL seasons, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dilfer averaged 2,729 yards a season and had a total of 58 touchdowns.

He spent his first six seasons with Tampa Bay, earning Pro Bowl honors in 1997, but was released due to inconsistent play.

Dilfer threw for 21 touchdowns with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in both the 1997 and the 1998 NFL seasons.

His inconsistent play continued and in Week 10 of 1999, he was injured severely, missing the rest of the season.

In 76 games as a starter for Tampa Bay, he went 38-38, with his wins being the most for a Buccaneer quarterback.

He achieved his greatest professional success as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens during their Super Bowl-winning season in 2000.

Dilfer played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, winning the Sammy Baugh Trophy as a junior.

Dilfer signed with the Ravens in 2000 as a backup before becoming the team's starter midway through the year, which concluded with the franchise's first Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl XXXV.

Despite the championship, Dilfer was not re-signed by the Ravens, becoming the first starting quarterback to be released after a Super Bowl win.

Dilfer signed with the Ravens on March 8, 2000, and became the backup for Tony Banks.

After two straight losses and four straight weeks without an offensive touchdown, the Ravens replaced Banks with Dilfer.

The Ravens would lose their third straight game and fail to score a touchdown for the fifth straight week.

He also set the NCAA record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception (271) that stood until 2007, when Kentucky quarterback Andre' Woodson broke it.

His next four seasons were spent primarily as a backup with the Seattle Seahawks and he had short stints with the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers before retiring in 2008.

Shortly after announcing his retirement, Dilfer was hired by ESPN as an NFL analyst, a position he held until 2017.

He is also the head coach of the quarterback camp Elite 11.

Dilfer became the head football coach at UAB in 2023.

Dilfer attended Aptos High School in Aptos, California.

Dilfer attended Fresno State, starting at quarterback for 2 1⁄2 seasons.

Dilfer helped Fresno State win or share the conference title for three straight seasons and started in two bowl games.

In his junior season, Dilfer led the nation in pass efficiency en route to being named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year.