Nigel Tate Returns to Practice With Big Expectations for UAB Defense
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 3, 2026
Nigel Tate practiced football on Monday morning.
That’s a big deal for the 6-foot-3, 330-pound defensive tackle. It’s also a big deal for the UAB defense as a whole.
Before Monday, the last time that Tate participated in a UAB football practice was when he suffered an Achilles tendon injury during non-contact work early in fall camp before the 2025 season.
So you can see why it was a big deal for Tate to take part on Monday during the first day of 2026 fall camp for the Blazers.
“I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nerve-wracking,” Tate said following Monday’s practice. “About a year ago today, I actually tore my Achilles doing individual drills. So, yeah, it was kind of nerve-wracking hearing that I'd be back out here today. I just attacked it though. Started off with indy (individual drills). Indy felt good, I was happy about that. Did some one-on-one, not pass rush, but just run fit (and) certain things like that. Trying to drive, trying to get off the ball, just get back to my normal self with that. But it went well. I'm very proud of myself, for how I handled it and we going to keep on going.”
Tate said afterward that he considers himself about 90 percent healthy.
“I’m confident, definitely by the first game, I can be 100 percent,” Tate said. “Biggest thing right now is strengthening but mechanically and structurally everything is fine. The weight is good. Conditioning, got to get better on that as well but that’s what training camp is for. But, yeah, I do feel very good.”
Tate was slated to play nose tackle a year ago but said he now slid over to defensive tackle. Cam Cunningham, a 6-foot-1, 325-pound transfer from Youngstown State, was the first team tackle during spring practice and maintained that role on the first day of fall camp.
“That boy Cam’s a monster,” Tate said. “We gonna do some things. I love it. It’s funny too because he’s playing the nose. That’s what I was gonna primarily play last year. I know Cam at the nose, he’s gonna be stout. So I play that (three technique), I’m gonna do my thing.”
Tate said that he believes the defensive front should be very deep if everyone remains healthy. On Monday, Cunningham and Chris Spencer lined up with the first defense while Tate and Raymond Macias, a transfer from Campbell, who missed spring practice, were with the second defense. Sterling Sanders and Noah Nelson were with the third team.
It’s early in fall camp but Tate left no doubt he has lofty expectations for the defense.
“Man, we could be the best defense in this conference,” Tate said after being asked about his expectations for the defense. “I don’t say that lightly at all. I’m not one to BS. I ain’t going to blow smoke or nothing but I really do think we can be the best defense in the conference. I don’t really see no reason why not. We have all the pieces. We got our linebackers, our DBs, our safeties. Our edges, I’m excited to see Marlin (Dean), (Elijah Hall), (Blanche) Gold and all of them as well. I really do think we could be the best defense in the conference.”
Other notes:
*Recently added offensive lineman Amos Talatele was at practice but spent most of the time working on conditioning. The 6-foot-4, 380-pound California native spent two seasons at USC and was at Kansas State last season.
*Quarterback Ryder Burton on receiver CJ Smith, who played at Georgia, Purdue and Memphis before coming to UAB: “He's awesome. I think what CJ brings is he's a veteran (with a) presence that not a lot of guys have. Pro's pro. He's very, very disciplined, works really hard. He just understands football, which is rare to find in receivers a lot of times because a lot of college offenses, they spread you out and you have three or four routes that you run. Whereas CJ, part of his advantage of playing at multiple schools is he's learned a lot of offenses, a lot of schemes. He's a guy that I'm just really excited about because he's going to continue to grow in this offense but he already has understanding of football in general.”
*Wide receiver AJ Johnson said there is an important difference in the UAB offense this season.
“We're a lot faster,” Johnson said. “We've got some fast guys, especially KJ (Daniels), his blazing speed. We're a lot faster this year. That's what I love.”
*Linebacker Ike Esonwune on the keys to having a productive fall camp: “I feel like the key is consistency. Persistency as well. I feel like just knowing that it’s going to be hard but this is what prepares us for a championship. If we’re in week nine, week eight, you got to remember ‘Week one, this is where we started at. We built the stepping stones to this.’ It’s baby steps. It’s not just a 100-meter race.”