Gold Making His Case for a Starting Role

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 25, 2026

Change wasn’t common for Blanche Gold when he arrived at UAB in January.

In a day when high school transfers are far from uncommon, the Maryland native spent four years at C.H. Flowers High School in Prince George’s County. In the ever-changing world of college football, where it seems that players always have one foot heading toward the door, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive end was at Morgan State for four years. He didn’t leave Morgan State, which is less than a hour away from his home, until he finished work on his degree.

“Once I graduated from Morgan State, it was more so like ‘Do I want to get my master's here or get my master's elsewhere?’” Gold said. “I was always taught when I was younger, if you have the opportunity go out after you've accomplished something to see what the world has to offer. I followed that, along with wanting to take a step a step up in competition. I’ve always sought out competition, ever since I was a young kid. I always wanted to race the fastest, arm wrestle the strongest. I just wanted to take a step up in competition as high as I could go and UAB presented the best fit. They say football's better in the South, so why not come to the South?”

It didn’t take Gold long to climb to the top of a crowded and talented group on the edge for the UAB defense. He finished spring running with the No. 1 defense and appears to have stayed there to this point in preseason practice. Chances are good that he will be in the game on the first defensive play in the Blazers’ season opener at Illinois on Sept. 3.

The journey to this point in his football career has been far from conventional. His first athletic love was soccer and he was set on playing basketball at one point. His basketball career was hampered by his approach to the game.

“I'd get the ball and nobody's getting the ball but me, you know?” Gold said with a laugh.

It wasn’t until he reached high school that one of his teachers – who also happened to be one of his basketball coaches – suggested he give football a shot. He joined the team as a 10th grader but Covid-19 restrictions wiped out his junior season. He was able to participate in track and field during the spring and picked up boxing to help stay in shape. He eventually had a standout senior season on the football field with 14 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.

Recruiting attention was sparse with limited high school experience. Morgan State, a FCS school playing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, was the lone Division I school to offer a scholarship. Towson, another FCS program, wanted Gold to walk on and some Division II schools offered him a spot. He chose Morgan State but there was a question what position he would play.

“It's crazy because it was kind of backwards (from high school),” Gold said. “In high school everybody was like, ‘Play D-end, you're gonna grow (taller).’ To this day I still have long arms, so I guess they were just assuming I'd keep growing. But once I got to college, it was like, "You should play linebacker.’ By that time I was already rolling. I was kind of still feeling new to football, so I didn't want to learn one thing and then have to learn something new. I already built the foundation for defensive end. I was like there some short end rushers out there. I still had some people to look up to, even though they were the outliers. You know, Aaron Donald, Haason Reddick, there’s still (shorter) guys out there. I was always strong enough, fast enough, so I didn’t let that beat me up much.”

Gold appeared in 12 games over his first three seasons, fighting through injuries at times, and had 45 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss as a redshirt junior. Then it was off to Birmingham, where he had to make a couple of adjustments. The first, obviously, was the weather.

“I felt like I wasn't ever adjusted until I went back home for the break we had before fall camp,” Gold said. “I went back home and then I was like, ‘Wow, it's really cool up here.’ And then all my homeboys were like, "No, it's hot, like it's really hot.’  I'm like, "Nah, this is a cool breeze.’ And I'm not gonna lie, I do kind of like playing football in the heat more. I don't know why, but I like the sweat aspect.”

The second adjustment came while trying to find food that he enjoys. This one might be a bit controversial for the folks in Birmingham.

“I will have to say the food is better in the North,” Gold said. “I'm not gonna lie. You know, Maryland is the home of seafood for a reason, so the food is better. Plus, I’m African, so my mom’s cooking, I don’t really have that here.”

On the field, though, the adjustment has gone extremely smoothly. Gold had two sacks in the team’s first fall camp scrimmage and added 2.5 sacks this past Saturday night in the second scrimmage. He’s also shown the ability to remain on the field in any situation.

“Blanche is a smart kid,” said UAB defensive end coach John Jones. “He’s another one that works really hard at making sure he knows the whole concept of the defense. He wants to know the ins and outs. He really loves the game. He's a student of the game. He studies other guys. He's a guy that you want to challenge to consistently be on the field on all three downs. So far, he's been able to get out there in those different situations and operate.”