Alabama A&M Transfer Looks To Help UAB Beat Alabama State

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 26, 2025

On Thursday, the 84th edition Magic City Classic will be 58 days away from kicking off. However, that annual tussle between the biggest HBCU institutions in Alabama will be fresh on Delvon Gulley’s mind when he begins his first season at UAB with Alabama State on the opposite sideline at Protective Stadium.

In a way, Gulley looks at it as his own Magic City Classic.

“Revenge game,” said Gulley. “Really in truth, they beat me last year. I came up a little short. It's revenge. When I'm in the game, I want it all.”

Gulley was a standout true freshman cornerback at Alabama A&M last fall. He was accustomed to playing in big games after attending Saraland High. He was part of a state semifinalist in 2021, a state champion in 2022 and a state runner-up in 2023. So, big crowds and electric atmospheres aren’t uncommon to Gulley.

But the Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State, played annually at Birmingham’s Legion Field, is an entirely different experience.

“Big experience, big crowd,” Gulley said. “Different type of experience, too, though. Something I wasn't used to. In high school, I had a crowd. We had crowds at our games, but nothing like that. You saw it as soon as we pulled up. Oh man, it's kind of like we had just the next game up mentality. So it wasn't really not nerve-wracking in my head. But you can say I did come in not knowing what was up.”

Not even a banquet earlier that week with both of the teams in attendance prepared him for what to expect.

“You know, it was a little aggression,” Gulley said. “It's going to be aggression anytime opponents meet up. But really, we got along well, nothing happened.”

What happened on game day, in front of more than 69,000 fans, was Alabama State came out punching, building a 17-0 lead by late in the second quarter and had a commanding 27-3 advantage at the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs clawed back with a pair of touchdowns and two-point conversions in less than five minutes to cut the deficit to 27-19. The Alabama A&M defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back to the offense. But an interception two plays later ended the final threat and  a 61-yard third down run to deep in the Bulldogs territory put the game on ice.

Gulley is still clear on the details of what happened in a game that he finished with five tackles and a pass breakup. In case he forgets, though, UAB cornerback coach Ryan Lewis Sr., who was Alabama State’s defensive coordinator in that game and the previous two seasons, is happy to remind him.

“Coach Lew gonna beat my head in about the loss,” Gulley said. “He gonna talk about it every time I see him. Soon as he realized I came from A&M, my first day seeing him, he was like ‘How you like them Hornets?’”

Now both of them are working toward beating Alabama State to start the 2025 season. And the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Gulley is set to play a big role after establishing himself at the FCS level last season. He had 29 tackles, three interceptions and four pass breakups in 11 games to earn FCS Football Central Freshman All-American honors and a spot on the All-SWAC second team. It was a pretty good college start for Gulley, who was a high school safety until his final season at Saraland.

“It wasn't really hard because corner was my favorite position from the start,” Gulley said. “We just had a deep corner room (in his first two varsity seasons at Saraland). So we needed some guys in the back end. So corner is my position, but safety I adapted to it.”

He turned down some P4 interest to come to UAB. Gulley, who was a spring portal signee, quickly earned a spot in the rotation during fall camp. He is listed behind returnee Tariq Watson at one of the cornerback spots and will see plenty of snaps in the crowded rotation. The opening game assignment was definitely part of his fall camp motivation.

“It means a lot more to me, I can’t even lie to you,” Gulley said. “Me losing to them is me coming in with a little more grit to the season. My DBs know. I got another SWAC guy with me – Donald Lee (from Grambling). It’s also a revenge game for him because when he was in the SWAC, he lost to them too. So, the DB room, we know.”