27 strangers, one defense: How UAB’s rebuilt unit found its identity before the opener

Ike Esonwune does 500 sit-ups every night. Two hundred push-ups on weekends. He started the routine in high school and never stopped.

"Not trying to be perfect, but just with the thought of trying to be perfect, I feel like I can just exceed somebody else," Esonwune said. "I'm just trying to get 1% better every day."

When quarterback Ryder Burton saw him doing sit-ups at the American's preseason media day, he told Esonwune to rest.

"I was just like, 'It's like a natural thing for me. Once I get on the ground, it start going,'" Esonwune said.

That discipline is why Todd Grantham wanted him at UAB — and why Esonwune has led both by example and by experience — and the defense he anchors will open the Alex Mortensen era Thursday night at Illinois (8 p.m. CT, Big Ten Network).

Esonwune, a redshirt junior linebacker, played for Grantham at Oklahoma State. When Grantham took the defensive coordinator job in Birmingham, Esonwune followed — the only defensive player who arrived already knowing the system, the calls and the standard. In a defense built from 27 portal additions pulled from nine different programs, that continuity made him the leader from the first day of spring practice.

"He's always been a coach that's gonna get on your butt," Esonwune said of Grantham. "Doesn't matter who you are. Doesn't matter how many stars you came in with. Doesn't matter if you're All-American."

"If you can't be a team player to the defense and combine your players with the players along with you, then you won't be able to fit in the program."

UAB's defense was the program's identity under Bill Clark. The Blazers won two conference titles between 2017-2021 and reached the conference title game in another season. They were a unit that made offenses earn every yard. Then Clark stepped down for health reasons. The decline set in under interim Bryant Vincent, and the bottom fell out under Trent Dilfer. By 2025, UAB allowed 38.3 points per game in conference play. ESPN SP+ ranked the defense 132nd nationally heading into this season. Phil Steele counted two returning starters.

Alex Mortensen and Grantham used those 27 portal additions to overhaul the roster. They brought in players from Oklahoma State, Boston College, Marshall, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee, Morgan State, Campbell, Eastern Washington and more. None of them had played a snap together in a game that counted.

With Thursday's opener at Illinois approaching, the question is not talent. The question is whether 27 strangers from nine programs can communicate, trust each other and play as one defense under the lights of a Big Ten stadium.

The players say it already happened — on the practice field.

The bond

Noah Nelson arrived at UAB from the defensive line portal wave and quickly figured out what made this group different. The room competed hard and went home together.

"This has probably been one of the most tight-knit groups I've ever been a part of," Nelson said, "especially for us starting from such a short time."

The redshirt senior has been in multiple programs, working his way up from Division II Clark Atlanta, to FCS Grambling, to the Sun Belt's Georgia State and now UAB in the American. He knows what a disconnected locker room looks like. What he found at UAB was the opposite.

"We got young guys, we got old guys, we got fast guys, we got strong guys in the D-line room," Nelson said. "We got some with every single thing I just said."

"We compete, but we love each other like our mothers had us."

The bond, Nelson said, came from the work.

"Because we all grinded so hard and so tough, and really know each other's whys and why we doing certain things has brought us together and bonded us in a way that no other group can really be bonded," he said.

"Nobody's taking anything with a grain of salt. Every one of you say something to them, it's never taken to the heart."

Esonwune described the same arc from the linebacker room — strangers in the spring, a team by fall camp.

"Spring was really a get-to-know-each-other," Esonwune said. "Us going into fall camp as a new team, the first week of the game, I feel like everyone now wants to put it on the line."

He keeps coming back to a phrase Mortensen repeats.

"Our coach always says, put on film who you are. Not just who you are as a player, but who you are to your team," Esonwune said. "'Cause when we watch that film the next day, are we gonna see that you gave it your all? Are you willing to put it on the line for your next teammate who's right beside you?"

Depth up front

The defensive line was a problem for UAB in the Dilfer years — too few bodies, a weak pass rush and no resistance in short yardage. Opponents pushed the Blazers around at the line of scrimmage.

Grantham fixed the roster. The front now includes graduate Cam Cunningham (Youngstown State, 6-1, 325), redshirt senior Christopher Spencer (Old Dominion, 6-5, 290), graduate Marlin Dean, redshirt sophomore Chris Burge and Nelson — among others. The depth chart on the game notes lists starters and backups at every position. What it does not convey is how deep the rotation goes.

"That D-line room's deep," quarterback Ryder Burton said. "And that's something that has been missing here in years past."

"We're not relying on one or two guys to kind of run that front four. We got four guys that can play, legitimately play, and then when those four get tired, we got four behind them. So it's a really good problem to have right now."

Nelson would start at many Group of 6 programs. At UAB, he is part of a rotation — and he understands why that rotation matters.

"In order for my guys like Marlo and C-Burge to be able to get off the line and really get their pass rush off, they gotta have some type of guy to hold the guards and to hold the center's attention so they don't leak out and they keep the one-on-one," Nelson said. "And in order for that guy to be doing that, the guy inside has to be elite."

"We have an elite group of interior. It's not just our pass rushing downs — our run stoppers can get off and go pass rush when need to be and convert to pass rush when need to be."

"It has taken a lot of pressure off of our edge rushers this spring and it should carry on into the season because of how well we move and how mobile we are."

The depth carries a secondary benefit — it keeps the edge rushers fresh late in games, when pass rush matters most. Grantham said during fall camp that the development up front exceeded his expectations and confirmed the Blazers will rotate heavily.

The leader on the sideline

One piece of the defensive line puzzle is still a game-time decision.

Nigel Tate, a 6-3, 330-pound graduate defensive tackle from Boston College, was called "sensational" during spring 2025 before an Achilles injury ended his season before it started. He has not played in two years. The coaching staff has been careful with Tate in preseason camp, and he didn't suit up in either scrimmage. But Nelson said Tate's absence from the field has not removed him from the group.

"Even with him not being on the field with us, he still comes to stretch with us," Nelson said. "He still calls my phone. We still talk. I still see Nigel outside of the facility, so he's still a very involved person in our group."

"His leadership is very valuable to our group. He still pushes us. He still helps us with play calls."

During player-led spring practices, Tate was the one giving out the defensive calls. He could not play, but he could lead.

"Nigel's very much still involved and still a big brother to us," Nelson said.

When Tate returns — and the expectation is that he will — Nelson said the defense changes.

"It'll definitely be something that transcends the entire defense," he said. "Because right now we're lacking pieces that we have, and we're being very dominant. So when we get these pieces that we already have ready and mobile, it'll be crazy."

What the head coach sees

Mortensen did not hedge when asked about the defense during his Week 1 press conference. He praised the intangibles first.

"The thing I've been pleased with is just their intangibles," Mortensen said. "It's a hardworking group. They're tough. They've been competitive. They love football. They bring enthusiasm every day. I think they've responded really well to the demands of the coaching."

The competition between offense and defense in fall camp has been real.

"They've been a challenge to practice against for the offense," Mortensen said. "There's really been some iron sharpening iron there, where it's been very competitive every day."

The one thing Mortensen cannot fully evaluate yet is tackling. Camp is controlled. Scrimmages are limited. Game speed is different.

"We do tackle in camp. Most people do. But you have to limit it to a degree," Mortensen said. "And so that's the one thing that, real football, when you get to a game that you can finally really evaluate."

Thursday night will provide the first real answer.

"We're not gonna change it now"

Nelson said the nervousness is already gone in the defensive line room.

"Excitement has really passed for me. A lot of the D-line as well," he said. "We're really more so focused and ready to play."

He knows why.

"Because of the bond that we've created," Nelson said. "We got guys who know you can lean on this guy next to you, and you can lean on the guy that's behind you, the one that's in front of you."

"Because our bond is so strong, I can see the nervousness going away before we even get on the plane."

Esonwune put it in simpler terms. Asked what fans will see from the defense Thursday night, he did not describe a scheme or a personnel package. He described an attitude.

"I feel like we're gonna be very relentless," he said. "We're gonna come out aggressive. Our job always been to just attack fast, start fast."

"This been one thing that we never changed about us, and we're not gonna change it now."

Burton confirmed the shift from the other side of the ball.

"In years past a little bit, we've kind of played bend, don't break," Burton said, "whereas now it's, 'Hey, we're gonna attack. We're gonna play our stuff, and we're gonna make it hard on people.'"

"As a quarterback, I'm really grateful it's somebody else's problem for the next 12 weeks instead of mine."