Nahil Perkins Already Feeling Right At Home In Samford’s Defensive Backfield

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 24, 2025

The adjustment brought to Nahil Perkins complements of college football was much easier the second time around. That second adjustment began by moving to Samford University for his final year of eligibility. In terms of proximity to his hometown of Douglasville, Georgia, Homewood is much closer than where he spent his first five years of college football and he felt at home quickly.

“You know, it's a good group of guys (at Samford),” said Perkins, who is expected to be in the starting lineup in Samford’s season opener against West Georgia on Thursday night at Pete Hanna Stadium.  “I feel like I needed that atmosphere and that adversity (of a new program). I just love the team that I became a part of and everybody took me in with open arms. It was kind of easy adjustment, off the rip. It felt like home. I'm from Georgia, I went all the way up to New York and New York was a different adjustment.”

First things first. Perkins handled the move to New York well if you like at final results. He became not only one of the best cornerbacks at Fordham University but was also one of the best at that position in FCS football the past two seasons. Over five years at Fordham, the 6-foot, 178-pound Perkins had 129 tackles, nine interceptions, 40 pass deflections, eight tackles for loss, one sack and three forced fumbles. Most of that production came over the past two season when he was a two-time All-Patriot League performer and an All-America selection in 2024. He was second in the FCS in passes defended with 20 and tied for the Patriot League lead with five interceptions.

Now let’s get back to the adjustment aspect of his Fordham story.

“So my freshman year was COVID,” Perkins said. “So, having to deal with COVID and being in a new bright lights city and having to deal with all that adversity definitely was tough. But it built my character. It built me by dealing with adversity, you know. I had to learn really fast, I had to get my schedule right, get my eating right, juggle football and  school and I mean, I definitely love that I put myself through that because that build the character that I am today.”

The weather was another obstacle.

“Oh my goodness,” Perkins said. “Being from Georgia, you know how that is. Southern boys, we go up to that cold, we’re like, what did I get myself into? It was straight outside. I'm talking about shoveling the snow off the ground and practicing. We're not canceling practice because of snow. I’m just telling you. Outside of the weather, it was smooth sailing.”

Perkins comes to Samford as a graduate transfer after earning a Finance degree at Fordham. He arrived at Samford and made an impact in spring practice. The Bulldogs are inexperienced in the secondary, so adding an accomplished veteran was critical. Defensive coordinator Scot Sloan, who actually came to Samford after Perkins, said strong cornerback play opens up what the Bulldogs can do defensively.

“It gives you a lot of freedom,” Sloan said. “If you've got a guy that you don't have to protect, then you can utilize that safety in other ways, whether it's helping the linebacker in coverage or dropping him in the box to help stop the run. If you've got a guy that can live on an island and doesn't need help it’s big. Certainly you've got to give him help every now and then. You've got to give him a play or two off, where he's got some help. But if you've got a guy that can play really strong out there, it does give you a lot of flexibility to use that safety in other ways.”

He hasn’t seen it from Perkins in a game setting yet – that will come on Thursday. But from what Sloan has seen on and off the field, Perkins is ready to fill that role.

“The thing that really jumps out is how hard he practices,” Sloan said. “That's always a key ingredient because games are just a byproduct of what you do every day at practice.  I think he does well in the classroom as far as studying football, you know the installs, things of that nature. But then you see the carryover from the classroom to the field, which is always a key ingredient in having good football IQ. I always preach to the guys, this is about the game inside the game and those players that can process the game inside the game tend to be more productive and better players and he's one of those guys.