Noah Nelson Finds His Footing on UAB’s Defensive Front

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 9, 2026

UAB defensive lineman Noah Nelson never took a varsity snap at Westlake High in Atlanta. Not one. His college football path has taken him from two seasons at Division II Clark Atlanta, one season each at Grambling and Georgia State and now to Birmingham.

Put all that together and, even in today’s transfer portal world, it’s an unlikely resume for the 6-foot-5, 295-Nelson, who is solidly in the rotation at a crowded interior defensive line position.

“My football journey wasn't like most,” Nelson said.

He says that with pride and no regret.

“It taught me a lot and it's definitely showed me some things I feel like God wanted me to see early on,” Nelson said. “I can appreciate my journey and appreciate that I'm here. I get up every single day thankful where I am now.”

Watch Nelson play now and you wonder why he chose not to play football in high school. He played basketball but the reason he didn’t also play football had little to do with love for another sport.

“Honestly, in my opinion, I thought over this a long time, it was a lack of maturity, lack of discipline,” Nelson said. “I was good at school, somewhat good at my grades. I felt like I didn't really need football. I didn't know that I even loved football until I got to college, which is somewhat crazy in my opinion now.”

So how does did Nelson go from not wanting to play football in high school to looking for a spot in college football?

It began with the decision to attend a prospect camp in Atlanta that was mainly attended by Division II coaches. At the time, Nelson said, he was about 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds and a past playing soccer and basketball had made him “light on his feet.”

He drew enough attention during the camp to get several Division II offers. He chose to stay at home to play at Clark Atlanta. He played as a true freshman in 2022 and redshirted after an injury in 2023. He headed to Grambling to play in the SWAC in 2024.

“(The Clark coaching staff) really taught me and grounded into me my basic fundamentals of football,” Nelson said. “What it took to learn, what it was I needed to know. When I got to Grambling it was more of a dominant (attitude) there and they showed me how to strike and how to do certain things a certain way to really excel in my football career.”

He played in five games at Grambling and seven games last season at Georgia State. He said he didn’t become fully comfortable on the football field until he got to UAB and began learning under defensive line coach Sam Mills III.

“Coach Mills has showed me a lot of things that no one else has showed me in a football aspect, a life aspect as a man and how they all tie together,” Nelson said. “He showed me that discipline takes a lot of effort and I have no problem putting in the effort now, especially for the people that's here. I think that's also a big thing for me, I don’t want to let the guys around me down.”

Cam Cunningham and Chris Spencer nearly the entirety of spring practice working with the first defense at defensive tackle. Spencer is working through a foot issue and Nelson was with the first defense alongside Cunningham late in the first week of fall camp. That is just the start of a deep position that includes a nearly-completely healthy Nigel Tate, transfers Raymond Macias and Sterling Sanders and returnees Kyle Mosley and Myles Cook.

“Every day we have multiple different group chats where we talk outside of the field, outside the facility,” Nelson said. “We do things outside so we understand that when we are pushing each other, it's all out of love. Nothing that we say to each other is ever malicious. So if they're telling me something, I know they're telling me for the goodness of their heart. And if I tell them something, it's vice versa.”