Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Fresno State Legend Trent Dilfer Resurfaces in an Unlikely Role
GV-Wire
By Jody Murray
Published 6 years ago on
June 14, 2019

Share

Trent Dilfer is back. But it’s not the return anyone would expect.
The man considered one of the best quarterbacks in Fresno State history, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, and who forged a career off the field as ESPN analyst before being unceremoniously fired two years ago … is coaching. At a private, Christian high school. In Tennessee.

Trent Dilfer said he was driven by a need to do something meaningful with his life, and to honor the memory of his only son, Trevin, who died of heart disease at age 5 in 2003.
Six months ago, he took the job of head football coach at Lipscomb Academy, a K-12 prep school that shares the name of a college in Nashville. Lipscomb won a total of three games in the last two seasons. Dilfer, who had been largely killing time at his home in Austin, Texas, since ESPN cut him loose in a cost-cutting binge, has been working his new charges hard in spring practices.
In a remarkable story published Thursday by the Washington Post, Dilfer said he was driven by a need to do something meaningful with his life, and to honor the memory of his only son, Trevin, who died of heart disease at age 5 in 2003.

A Memorable Star for Fresno State

Dilfer says running these young men through drills and investing in their lives gives him a sense of what it would be like to have a son of high school age.
“It’s a cheesy way of us getting to see what it feels like, right?” Dilfer says. “I think that’s part of it. It’s not the part, but it’s a part of it.”

“I think this is the passion that’s been sequestered for a while.” — Trent Dilfer
As a college quarterback, Dilfer made an indelible mark on the Valley. He started for three seasons for the Bulldogs, throwing for 53 touchdowns and totaling more than 7,600 yards. He led the nation in passing efficiency in his final season, 1993, before deciding as a junior to go pro.
He was drafted in the first round by Tampa Bay, and six seasons later landed on the Baltimore team that beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. His final pro stop was in San Francisco, where he mentored a young Alex Smith.
Now, at age 47, he’s mentoring a bunch of 16- and 17-year-olds, directing passing drills and goal-line stands.
“I think this is the passion that’s been sequestered for a while,” Dilfer tells the Post. “I was passionate about my kids, there was purpose there — but professional passion, I think it’s all just kind of coming out now.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

DON'T MISS

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

DON'T MISS

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

DON'T MISS

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

DON'T MISS

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

DON'T MISS

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

UP NEXT

First At-Home Test Kit for Cervical Cancer Approved by the FDA, Company Says

UP NEXT

New Fresno Judge Baloian Uses Experience on Both Sides of Legal Table

UP NEXT

Leo XIV’s Service to Poor Propelled Him to Papacy, Cardinals Say

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Michael Lee Brewer

UP NEXT

Nitrous Oxide Recreational Use Risks: Brain Damage, Death, and Easy Access

UP NEXT

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican Who Became a Liberal Darling, Dies at 85

UP NEXT

Pope Leo XIV Celebrates First Mass as Pope and Calls His Election Both a Cross and a Blessing

UP NEXT

Visalia Smoke Shop Shut Down After Illegal Marijuana Sales Discovered

UP NEXT

How Much Has Central Unified Shelled Out to Get Rid of Its Superintendents?

UP NEXT

Selma Bear Sighting Prompts Police, Wildlife Response

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

3 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

3 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

3 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

3 hours ago

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

3 hours ago

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

3 hours ago

First At-Home Test Kit for Cervical Cancer Approved by the FDA, Company Says

3 hours ago

US to Accept White South African Refugees While Other Programs Remain Paused

4 hours ago

15 States Sue Over Trump’s Move to Fast-Track Oil and Gas Projects via His ‘Energy Emergency’ Order

4 hours ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

Elizabeth Smart was headline news more than two decades ago after she was abducted from her Utah home and held captive for nine months. On F...

45 minutes ago

45 minutes ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
2 hours ago

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

Fresno County authorities are seeking the public’s help to find the suspect who killed Jesus Adrian Amador Jr., 22, of Huron, in a 2017 shooting. (Fresno County SO)
2 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

3 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

Photo of the front of Fresno Police Headquarters
3 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

3 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

3 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

3 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend