Tag: Trent Dilfer

Trent Dilfer thinks Tua Tagovailoa throws ‘better than Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino’

He called the kid a Hall of Famer already.

The NFL Draft is right around the corner, so we know exactly what that means.

All of the wild hyperbole and janky comparisons of prospects to NFL Hall of Famers are on the table right now. People always get super excited about the upcoming prospects in drafts — most times, a little too excited.

Trent Dilfer became one of those people today. In an interview with the Washington Post about Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the former 49ers quarterback was probably a little bit too complimentary.

He said that Tagovailoa was already surefire Hall of Famer without even having played a down in the NFL. He also said he throws better than two of the games best quarterbacks ever.

“If he would have never gotten hurt there would have been no discussion about who the best player in the draft is…He throws the football better than anyone throws the football. He throws better than Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino. Whoever gets him wins the draft because you are getting a Hall of Fame player.”

Calling that high praise is understatement. Now, there’s a caveat here. Dilfer actually trained Tagovailoa after he injured his hip in November. So, of course, he’s going to be partial to a player he’s worked with up close. And he’s also seen how skilled he is.

But, still, it’s way too soon to offer up this kind of praise. Let’s let him play a little bit before we ramp up the stakes like this.

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Add Trent Dilfer to the list of former quarterbacks campaigning for Jameis Winston’s return to Bucs

Add Trent Dilfer to the growing list of former NFL quarterback’s advocating for Jameis Winston’s return to the Buccaneers.

Super Bowl LIV is less than a week away as the San Francisco 49ers prepare to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami. Once the big game ends, teams around the league will start to look towards the offseason and free agency, hoping they’ll find that missing piece to their own Super Bowl puzzle.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who hold the 14th overall pick in April’s draft, there are a number of different ways they could go. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com may have had the most surprising selection in his first mock draft, with Oregon QB Justin Herbert going to Tampa Bay.

But, that scenario assumes that Herbert will not only be available at the spot, but that the Bucs would have definitively decided to move on from Jameis Winston, who despite throwing for over 5,000 yards this past season also became the first quarterback with at least 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season.

Winston was playing on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, and the Bucs still haven’t decided — at least not publicly — whether or not they’ll bring him back in 2020. Former NFL quarterbacks like Carson Palmer and Steve Young have advocated for Winston’s return, with Palmer saying it takes time to learn Bruce Arians’ system.

And now, you can add former Bucs QB Trent Dilfer to the growing list of former quarterbacks advocating for Winston’s return to the bay.

Per Dilfer (via the Tampa Bay Times):

“I think you have to bring him back for Year 2 under Bruce Arians. You’re not going to get anybody better for next year. Who are you going to get? Marcus Mariota? [Winston]’s just a high-ceiling, low-floor guy. If he was a mid-ceiling like I was and low floor, it makes sense (to get rid of him). His good is like what’s really good for other players around the league (better upside). And everybody understands Bruce needs to own some of this.”

Was that a little dig at Arians there at the end?

Either way, Dilfer is saying what most people are thinking: even if Tampa Bay got lucky enough to get a guy like Herbert, it’d just be a step back for the Bucs since they’d have to go through the growing pains of another quarterback learning Arians’ offense.

If Year 2 proves to be a bust for Winston, then the Bucs can part ways. Right now, it seems like the most logical landing spot in free agency for Winston is right back in Tampa Bay.

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Trent Dilfer: Giants should hire new coach from college ranks

Trent Dilfer believes the New York Giants need to break their traditional mold and hire a new coach from the college ranks.

The cry from the New York Giants fans base is clear… It’s time for the Giants to stop what they have been doing an try something completely different.

That means changing their philosophy of hiring familiar faces and retreads to run the front office and lead the team on the field.

Many Giants fans on social media have suggested the team should look to the college ranks for a new coach with a fresh approach and 21st Century ideas. Former NFL quarterback and television analyst Trent Dilfer also believes its time for the Giants to restructure their organization rejoin the rest of the NFL.

From NJ Advance Media:

“The most explosive offenses in the NFL, with the best quarterback play, most of those teams — if not all of them — have a Saturday coach on their staff with a lot of influence,” Dilfer told NJ Advance Media. “Meaning a coach that has studied the college football game extensively. You have to have college elements in the offenses right now.”

Dilfer is OK with the Giants hiring a CEO coach who doesn’t necessarily have an offensive/quarterback-developing background. But that coach would need to bring in somebody legit to handle those duties — and an emphasis on college football’s offensive influences is a must, said Dilfer.

“You have to take advantage of the [run/pass options], the line-of-scrimmage screens, some of the misdirection stuff, some of the creativity that the college game has kind of introduced to the NFL,” Dilfer said. “They don’t have to have coached in college, but somebody that has really taken a deep dive into the schemes and the creativity of Saturday football.”

We agree. What the Giants have been doing has obviously not worked. The handling of the Tom Coughlin-Ben McAdoo transition was a disaster. Jerry Reese’s personnel decisions were questionable and the hiring of the out-of-touch Dave Gettleman to replace him has set this team back even further.

Pat Shurmur is a wonderful man but his career arc stops at offensive coordinator. He is not an effective head coach and the decision to put this young team in his and his average staff’s hands has obviously been a mistake.

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Trent Dilfer discusses Jeremy Pruitt’s UT program that plays ‘a smart style of football’

Trent Dilfer discusses Tennessee football.

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NASHVILLE — Super Bowl champion quarterback Trent Dilfer is in his first season as head coach for Lipscomb Academy in Nashville.

Dilfer has guided the Mustangs to the playoffs in his first season.

Lipscomb Academy defeated Grace Christian Academy in the second round of the playoffs, 45-21.

Trent Dilfer
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Dilfer discussed becoming a head coach for the first time on Fox Sports Knoxville’s radio show ‘Tennessee Two-A-Days’.

The entire show with Dilfer can be listened to below.

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The former NFL quarterback also detailed his thoughts on Tennessee’s football program under second-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

“Give him a couple of more years and he will get this thing right where he wants it,” Dilfer said of Pruitt.

“They are tougher,” Dilfer continued. “They are better coached, more physical, they’re smarter. It’s a smart football team. They still do not have all their folks they need. I think it’s going to take a couple more years to get the ammunition, so to speak, but they play a good style of football – a smart style of football.

“They are well coached and you can see the toughness. That’s the biggest thing to me that jumps out under Jeremy’s leadership is how much tougher they are. That is probably the number one thing in the SEC, is you better be physically and mentally tough to go through the riggers of the SEC. That’s what I tell people and I think people are starting to see it.”