Trent Dilfer turns around behind his desk and pulls out a green troll-like monster mask that covers the top half of his face. He wants to know: Does this look scary?

The UAB football staff has held a scare contest throughout spring camp. The goal is to sneak up on fellow staffers and spook them — preferably on camera for proof. There’s a bonus point for using a prop or for a multi-person scare. The winner gets a steak dinner. At the moment, quarterbacks coach Nick Coleman leads, in part because he uses an air horn, which seems kind of unfair.

Nevertheless, it’s midday, and Dilfer realizes that creating a fright in the daylight is difficult; it’ll be easier at night. In the corner of the room, next to a full-length window overlooking the practice field, Dilfer’s dog Nala yawns in her bed. Nala, the 4-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix found by Dilfer’s daughter as a puppy in Louisville, Ky., is here every day. The first question the coach asks anyone before they enter the office is whether they’re good with dogs.

This is the fun time of year for a new staff. It’s busy, undoubtedly, as coaches install systems and get to know their players, but, for at least a few more months, they’re undefeated.

Dilfer, 51, was by far the most surprising hire of the coaching carousel — he has never coached a college game. Outside of Deion Sanders at Colorado, he was the most high-profile name, too.

But Dilfer’s no coaching novice: He’s a 14-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion who coached the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp for more than a decade and went 44-10 at Nashville, Tenn., private school Lipscomb Academy with two state championships in four years.