What happened with Trent Dilfer? Former NFL QB is in hot water over sideline incident
Trent Dilfer was the sixth overall pick in the 1994 draft out of Fresno State. He would play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers before his retirement in 2008.
He is the only NFL QB not to be brought back after winning a Super Bowl (2000 with Baltimore). After leaving his post as an ESPN analyst, Trent Dilfer took over as head coach of Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Just when Trent Dilfer thought his career-low was being the only QB to be let go after winning a Super Bowl, he had an incident caught on camera, and it has since gone viral.
Trent Dilfer criticized for sideline incident in HS football game
A recent video emerged of Trent Dilfer online on TikTok, and has been greatly criticized. It shows Dilfer shoving and screaming at one of his high-school players on the sideline.
Many people are probably going to call out Trent Dilfer for putting his hands on a student, and will want him fired from his position.
Twenty years ago, no one would have said a thing, and it would have just been a coach disciplining an out-of-line player. Today, everything a person does is under the microscope and caught on camera, and groups of people are quick to escalate the situation.
In reality, Trent Dilfer is only guilty of overreacting in trying to discipline his team and unfairly singling out a highly-regarded player in front of the crowd. Here is the story behind the clip that most people don't know about.
Trent Dilfer led the Lipcomb Academy Mustangs to a 2-0 record with a combined score of 138-14. In Friday night's game against Independence, a player was said to have spoken back to Trent Dilfer with attitude, which ignited the incident.
The player was TE Beau Dawson, son of NFL veteran kicker Phil Dawson. Phil Dawson happens to serve as the Mustangs' special teams coordinator. Both the Dilfer and Dawson families are very close on and off the field.
There have been reports from several Mustang players that Beau Dawson ran the wrong route on a play and back-talked and brushed off Trent Dilfer when returning to the sideline. Trent Dilfer highly regrets getting lost in his emotions, and has taken to Twitter to apologize.
Everyone can chill out about Trent Dilfer being fired, charged, or anything else negative. He did not strike the kid. He grabbed him by the pads as a blocker or defender would and directed him backwards to a vacant bench, so Beau could cool off.
Both Dawson and Dilfer were heated in the moment, but it's normal for a coach to discipline a player on the sidelines. In addition, Dawson is very close to Dilfer and his family, and Dilfer is regarded as a class-act player on the team.
Trent Dilfer may push Beau a little harder, as he's like a mentor/uncle to him. He's taking his team on an impressive journey this far, so his coaching style seems to produce results.