Former Tennessee player reportedly emerges as top candidate in UAB coaching search
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Former Tennessee player Casey Woods is now a leading candidate to replace Trent Dilfer as the head coach at UAB, according to a report by FootballScoop on Friday afternoon.
Dilfer was fired on Oct. 12, a day after the Blazers lost their 3rd game in a row and allowed 53 points to FAU. It dropped UAB to 2-4 at that point in 2025 under Dilfer, who went just 9-21 in his 2-plus seasons as head coach. Nearly a month later, it appears that a name with a lot of SEC flavor could be Dilfer’s replacement going forward.
According to the report, UAB’s coaching search has included candidates at the FBS and FCS levels. But Woods, who is currently the offensive coordinator at SMU, has apparently jumped to the front of the line in the Blazers’ search. Woods’ possible ace in the hole in getting the UAB head coaching job stems from Blazers athletic director Mark Ingram also being a Tennessee graduate and, like Woods, a former player for the Volunteers.
Woods and Ingram didn’t play together in Knoxville, with their time there being separated by about a decade, but those Tennessee bonds are still strong between them. When Woods finished his time as a wideout at Tennessee in 2007, Ingram was in Knoxville, too, as a senior associate athletic director at Tennessee.
In addition to Woods and Ingram sharing history at Tennessee, Woods also has some history at UAB. Woods was an assistant under former UAB head coach Bill Clark, at which time Woods was the Blazers’ recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach for 3 years.
Now, it appears Woods has a great chance to return to UAB, only this time as the man in charge of the football program.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
