Grantham Building Depth, Competition on UAB Defense
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 13, 2026
UAB defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is the architect of a rebuilt defense heading into the 2026 season. The work began with filling the defensive side, largely through the transfer portal, and continued through the winter, spring and summer. Now, the Blazers are nearly two weeks into fall camp.
Grantham stopped by after Thursday’s practice to talk to reporters about the defensive progression and what’s ahead. He’ll be able to learn even more on Saturday morning in the team’s first fall camp scrimmage at Protective Stadium.
On Thursday’s practice: “Well, you know, I thought it was really good. I mean, there's some execution things we’ve got to clean up. We did have a little bit of a new install. But the thing I liked is our effort, our ‘compete and play the next play’ mentality. We were competing. I think from a team standpoint, we made some plays, (the offense) made some plays, which that's the way you want it in camp. We got to continue to work hard, give the people something to be proud of, give ourselves something to be proud of, but I like the way we competed in practice.”
On progression of defense in fall camp: “We're fine. As far as (how far) we've progressed, you know, nowadays you get so much time with them, like before spring ball, spring ball, summer. We look at is as we're just continuing. Like, we got some ideas on where some guys can play, but at the same time, you got to be ready if somebody went down, who's the next guy available and how they play. We'll continue to develop that over the next week and see where guys go. You know, we're going to make a big deal out of Saturday for the scrimmage because it's all about production, it's all about performance. That's what our job is. So we'll do that this Saturday and next Saturday, and continue to compete. But I really like where we are. I think the guys got a great attitude and they're working hard. We just got to continue to improve every day to give ourselves and our fans something to be proud of.”
On the players’ response to his coaching style: “Good. They want to get better. I mean, look, I’m going to coach them hard. That’s how you get better. Football is a tough sport for tough people. These guys have aspirations of developing and growing. If you've got aspirations of doing that, if you allow me to coach you, you're going to get better. That's been proven over my years in coaching.”
On his decision to come to UAB: “Well I had a relationship with Coach Mortensen. I have a lot of respect for what he does offensively. I knew the program and the kind of program it would be, being that I was with him in Alabama for a year, from a discipline, accountability, toughness standpoint. I like this part of the country and it allowed me to coach defense, which is what I love to do. So I look forward to being a part of making a difference here and working hard this summer and this fall to compete and make some things happen.”
On what he learned about Alex Mortensen when they were both at Alabama: “He's very attentive to detail, very good developer of quarterbacks, very good communicator. I knew all of those things coming in and I wanted to be a part of it.”
On UAB’s defensive front: “I think the guys are working hard. I think we've developed a little bit of depth with some guys that have improved. You know, defensive line is a position that you got to play a lot of guys because guys are going to get tired, and you got to keep them to a minimal (workload) because what's happening is at the end of the game, winning the game, you got to go finish with a rush. You got to put them in position to then go finish the game. You got to make sure you keep some gas in the tank per se. I think we've had a competitive deal up front with guys competing for reps. Really what you're doing is you're competing for playing time. But the way you play and your production and the way you perform, you'll earn your reps. We've got some guys that have done that and probably earned more reps than maybe I anticipated before spring ball started. We just got to continue to work hard, but we are going to play a lot of guys up front.”
On the difference in coaching in the NFL and college: “I'm the same guy. I mean, it's all about getting players better. I've been fortunate to coach the highest paid player in pro football a few times. I'm going to coach these guys the same way. It's about a certain way you got to play the game. And it starts with your ability to play with effort, to play with physicalness. And then from there, your ability to hone in on what you got to do and be your own worst critic. You know, you need to be your own critic on what's happening. If you do that, you make (yourself) better. As a coach or a player you never stay the same. You got to continue to work hard to develop and improve your craft. So that's what we're doing and these guys have really bought in and I'm very pleased with where we are.”
On his thoughts of UAB quarterback Ryder Burton: “Ryder's a really good quarterback. I'm glad he's on our team. I kind of knew that before I came because I wanted to make sure that you kind of align yourself with that. I think he's a guy that has leadership over there. He also makes the guys around him better, which is very important for a quarterback. He's a grinder. He's obsessed with it. He has all the making of what you want in your quarterback and I'm certainly glad he leads our team.”
On Alex Mortensen’s strengths as a head coach: “Communication. I think he is an attention to detail guy. He's exact. He's a really good communicator. He does a good job of balancing. Even though he's on the offense, he talks to the defense as well. You know, sometimes if you're an offensive guy, maybe you just talk to the offense. But he does a good job in our team meetings of balancing that out to be able to communicate with the whole team.”
On secondary depth: “You can never have enough depth because we're going to be in nickel, so therefore you're playing with three corners. And then sometimes a safety may go down to play a linebacker. So you need a lot of guys there. I think we got a group back there that (has) some talent to 'em. They do compete and I think the competition has made them each a little bit better. I think it gives us some flexibility moving into the season.”
On the leaders in the secondary: “I think as we've moved on, there's been a few guys. When you look at it (Anta’Veon McKenzie) is a guy that has done a good job leading. (Jeremiah Jordan), Diezel (Wilkinson) and (Jo’Tavion Pierce), all the guys there at the safety, those are the guys that really kind of talk. So they're kind of communicators anyway. I think all those guys at times have done a good job with their communication and their ability to lead our team.
On what motivates him: “I just want to play and win. Look, I just want to help guys get better, compete, develop and they're better at the end of the year. That's my motivation. I want to make our team better so that everybody associated with our program is excited to come to a game and watch us play.”
On the biggest strides from spring practice to now: “Communication (and) understanding the little things. There's been a lot of repetitive things. I think their ability to hone in on the attention to detail or maybe something that happened in the spring that we didn't fit well or adjust well, we've done it. But we've done it because repetition in walkthroughs and we've done it in the meeting room with the coaches communicating with the players and the players taking that to the field.”