UAB LB hopes to Transition FCS Success to UAB

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 6, 2025

If his health is measured by football stats then Eli Ennis was completely healthy in the fall of 2024.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker led Nicholls State with 111 total tackles and 53 solo stops. He also filled the stat sheet with 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions, three pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. He was 20th in the country in tackles by a FCS player and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the nation’s top FCS defensive player. He had double digit tackles in six of 12 games, including a 13-tackle game at LSU. When the season was complete, he earned mention on a pair of All-America teams.

Some suggest that stats often lie. That’s not the case in this situation. It was a special season for Ennis. However, stats certainly don’t tell the entire story. They don’t tell a story of enduring pain that began in his thigh and radiated down the leg and accepting the unknown to get through a season. Most weeks his practice schedule consisted of sitting out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and participating in the non-strenuous walkthrough days on Thursday and Friday. Adrenaline was his friend on Saturdays.

“I definitely knew it wasn't just a sore muscle or a tight muscle, but I didn't know it was going to be bad,” Ennis said.

Fast forward to UAB fall camp and the pain, for the most part, is gone. Ennis is running around the football field making tackles, which is what he does best. There was a time – a dark time – when Ennis questioned if he would ever have the opportunity do that again.

Ennis was in the weightroom not long after arriving at UAB in January. The pain increased while doing squats during a team workout. Ennis approached the training staff to let them know what was happening. Not long afterward, an x-ray showed a growth on the upper part of his femur, which is the largest and strongest bone in the human body. Questions about what was causing the pain were answered but there was a new unknown.

“It was pretty rough because in the beginning because we didn't know if there was a tumor or what it was,” Ennis said. “The doctor was having to give me the whole rundown of the worst that could happen, and he was like, you could get the part of your femur cut out or it could be this or that. I didn’t know if I could play football anymore. I think that week or two (after that) was rough. Then I went and got an MRI so they could look at it a little bit better. They looked at it and then they were like, hey, we might have to do a biopsy to test it. I'm like, I hate needles. I was not okay with that at all.”

Before it got to the biopsy, however, it was diagnosed as a bone cyst that had probably been growing since January of 2024.

“They went in and I had surgery (to remove the cyst),” said Ennis, who has a long scar on his upper leg from the surgery. “I thought it was crazy whenever he told me, ‘I'm surprised you didn't break it that junior year.’ My mind flashed to at least five different scenarios where it could have broken. That was kind of scary because that really would have messed me up big time. But I'm glad they found in time before it grew too large and really did some damage.”

Ennis was unable to participate in spring practice because of the surgery. So, it wasn’t until fall camp begin on July 28 that he got the taste of his first UAB practice.

“I think you come to the point where you realize football can be taken away at any point,” said UAB linebacker coach Jonathan Celestine. “So I know he's very grateful to be back on the grass, very grateful to be in a role where he can impact his team. He just continues to stack days. Every day he's just thankful that he's able to play football again. He loves the game, so it gives him even more desire and fire inside to wanna be great.”

His success on the football field began in Ohatchee, a town in northeastern Alabama with a population in the neighborhood of 1,200 people. Ennis’ scouting report on his hometown says that “we have a grocery supermarket, we have a red light, we have a fast food restaurant and that's about it. And we have two gas stations. That's about Ohatchee.”

Ennis was part of teams that compiled a 45-7 record, according to Alabama High School Football Historical Society, during his time at Ohatchee. He earned Class 3A All-State mention as a junior and senior while playing running back and safety. As a senior, he rushed for 2,287 yards, scored 39 touchdowns, including a punt return, kickoff return and fumble return, and contributed 83 tackles, five interceptions and nine tackles for loss. He had 307 yards rushing with five touchdowns in a playoff win over Geraldine as a senior.

However, the recruiting attention didn’t match his on the field accomplishments. He said he had two or three options before choosing Nicholls State. He was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, which is given to the top FCS freshman, and had 99 tackles over his first two seasons combined. He was moved from Sam linebacker to the middle before last season and flourished despite playing with pain. It wasn’t until late December that he decided to enter the portal. It didn’t take him long to choose UAB.

“Well, I think the distance from home, it was perfect,” said Ennis, whose hometown of Ohatchee is 17 miles from Anniston and about 60 miles away from Birmingham. “I grew up an hour away from here. I lived an hour away and I've never been to Birmingham. I’ve passed through Birmingham a few times but had never been inside the city. Then when I came here, the visit was great. UAB was only my second or third visit but I kind of shut it down after that.”

Ennis was considered one of the proven gems of UAB’s recruiting class. Ennis and two other transfer portal additions, Calvin Pitcher and Devin Hightower, bolster a linebacker spot that need depth. If early fall camp is any indication, Ennis will be an important part of the rotation.

Strangely enough, particularly in a sport where the participants wear helmets, his hair will also be part of the story. Ennis estimates the last time his hair was cut in any sort of way, including small trims, came during his 10th grade year at Ohatchee High. To save those doing the counting, that was approximately six years ago. Ennis said it began with bad haircut and now his curly black hair – think Pittsburgh Steeler Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu – cascades out the back of his football. It’s grown – literally – into not part of who he is but also a conversation starter.

“I think, when I'm out a lot, it's probably a minimum at least 15 times,” Ennis said when asked how many comments he gets about his hair from strangers on a weekly basis.” It never gets old, I kind of like it. I try to take care of it to keep it healthy, so when somebody congratulates me on my hair it’s a good thing.”

He said the only time it affected him on the football field was in his 11th grade season. He estimates his helmet came off “at least 40 times”  because his hair wasn’t long enough at the time. That problem was solved, Ennis said, once his hair continued to grow.

“Now, I just let if flow and it’s not a problem,” he said.