Burge Credits Teammates For Strong Start
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - September 19, 2025
Chris Burge has cemented himself in the defensive line rotation as a UAB redshirt freshman. This past Saturday, Burge was the defensive representative in the postgame press conference because of his performance in the win over Akron.
The path that led to this moment started long before an important prayer and some frustrated tears about six weeks ago.
“I ain't gonna lie, in the beginning of the camp, I had like a mental breakdown because I wasn't doing my job,” Burge said. “I was having a terrible camp. I wasn’t doing nothing for real. But then I just sat there and prayed about it and asked Jesus and God to help me.”
The prayers didn’t come behind closed doors and the comfortable feeling of his home. Instead, they came in the chaotic aftermath of the UAB locker room following an early fall camp practice.
“I came in, sat down at my locker and I just put the towel over my head and cried,” Burge said. “Like I was to that point. My teammates were helping me. It was in my head that I was just a practice player, they don’t believe me. My teammates, they were encouraging me. As time went on, I started listening to it and shot up from there.”
Things changed immediately, Burge said.
“The next day, I just felt relieved,” Burge said. “I just felt like I had to do my job and do everything right. After that, I just started consistently stacking days.”
Through three games, no other UAB defensive lineman has been more consistent on game day than the 6-foot-3, 260-pound redshirt freshman defensive end. He is third on the team with 16 tackles, which is one tackle ahead of defensive tackle Eamon Smalls. Burge leads UAB and is tied for sixth in the American Conference with 2.5 sacks. He is 34th in the country in sacks per game and third among freshmen in that category.
All of that began in training camp and continued into the season when he had the opportunity for an extended role, partly because of the injuries suffered by JaMichael Rogers and J’Quan Mason. Burge hasn’t started in any of the first three games but has played 95 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, including a season-high 42 against Akron.
“He didn't get caught up in the things he couldn't control,” said UAB head coach Trent Dilfer. “He could control how he practiced every day. He really was not a starter, even a high-rotation guy, until the last part of camp. And then it's just his consistency showed up. Everybody went, ‘Huh, if we’re looking for consistent football players, that's the one that keeps showing up as being consistent.’”
Burge was a highly-regarded defensive lineman at Leeds High. He played on the defensive front with four-star recruit Kavion Henderson, who was a three-time all-state player and eventually signed with Arkansas. Burge was a three-star prospect, who earned all-state mention his final two seasons and helped the Green Wave finish a combined 20-4 in 2022 and 2023.
UAB assistant coach John Jones, who coaches the defensive ends and is the special teams coordinator, was at Moody High, which Leeds nearby rival, when Burge was in high school. He knew all about Burge’s ability and wasn’t surprised with what he saw on a recruiting visit to watch the athletic defensive lineman play basketball.
“We weren't watching him in the spring of his senior year play basketball and he's the only kid out there with no-show socks on,” Jones said. “(He’s) just blue collar, not flashy. Doesn't say a whole lot, doesn't get caught up in what's going on. He only controls what he can control and that's what I love the most about him. He just goes to work and handles his business and he continued to get better.”
That was an approach built on and off the athletic fields and courts. It was an approach built at home.
“I always have been dealing with stuff since I was in middle school,” Burge said. “I was always working and trying to find something to take home to help out. I was always consistent with trying to get an edge. I was working (different) types of jobs. My friend’s dad owned a construction company. I used to go there and do little jobs, really just to help out at home.”
Missouri, Maryland and North Carolina State were thought to be the favorites to land Burge after his senior season. Burge some most people expected him to pick among those three. He picked UAB instead.
“Well, I was close to home and I took care of my grandparents in high school,” Burge said. “I didn’t want to go too far off. So, I just said we have a good coach and a really good guy like Trent Dilfer here at UAB. He kept it real with me when I came down here. Then I committed and a lot of folks were shocked.”
His first year didn’t go quite as planned. Burge showed up with expectations of working his way onto the field during games. He made an impact but not on Saturdays. Dilfer said he lost count of how many times Burge was honored as the defense’s Service Team Player of the Week.
“He would go out there and, I mean, absolutely unload his tank every day versus our best players,” Jones said. “And in turn, he got better, and we're seeing the fruition of it now. Whereas, again, he's not the biggest, he's not the longest, he's not the fastest, but he works and hard work trumps talent all the time. He's getting rewards for all that he did last year versus those guys. Again, he would go and run every play of scout team and never come out, not get one break. He would be absolutely drained at the end of practice. But you never had to say ‘Hey, man, come on, can you press a little harder?’ You never ever worry about it because he went and went and went.”
Now that is paying off on Saturdays.