We started with UAB. Ryder Burton and Kaleb Brown were the first Ghost Alert this brand ever ran. so when the program that gave us our first breakout goes and hires a defensive coordinator with a Georgia championship résumé and an NFL pedigree that runs through the Cowboys and the Saints... that's not a random program to check back in on. that's a full-circle file. UAB fired Trent Dilfer mid-season on October 12, 2025. offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen took over as interim and, in his very first game running the program, upset a ranked Memphis team on national TV — with Ryder Burton, the same quarterback from our first Ghost Alert, throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns to seal it. UAB went 2-4 the rest of the way to finish 4-8 overall — rough record, but the tape was loud enough that UAB canceled its coaching search and made him permanent in December.
Mortensen's own background matters here: nine years at Alabama under Nick Saban, three national championships on staff, and a UAB offense that averaged 415.6 yards per game under his three seasons as coordinator. this isn't a young coach guessing. it's a Saban-tree offensive mind who just got full control.
Then came the real headline. in January, Mortensen hired Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator — and the two go back further than the press release let on: they worked together as analysts on Nick Saban's Alabama staff in 2022, which is exactly why Mortensen went and got him. Grantham's résumé is not typical Group of Five hire material. defensive coordinator at Georgia (2010-13), building a defense that helped the Bulldogs to a 12-win season and finished a stretch allowing just 19 points combined over three straight SEC wins. DC stops at Louisville, Mississippi State and Florida after that. on the NFL side: defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys (2008-09), where his unit led the league with 59 sacks... defensive coordinator in Cleveland (2005-07), taking the Browns from 4-12 to 10-6. after Alabama, he spent two seasons as Saints defensive line coach, then one year as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2025 — a rough stop, with the Cowboys finishing 1-11 and near the bottom of the country in scoring defense before Mike Gundy was let go. UAB is the bounce-back spot, working for a head coach who trusts him personally.
That hire reshaped the whole roster fast. UAB signed 41 transfers this offseason — the 4th-ranked transfer class in the American Conference and 8th among all non-power programs nationally. 27 of those 41 are Grantham's defensive additions. this is a program that decided, in one offseason, that defense wins the rebuild.
The catch: the offense lost pieces while the defense was reloading. Iverson Hooks, the leading receiver (72 catches, 927 yards, 7 TDs in 2025), entered the portal. starting right tackle Logan Moore left for Baylor. Mortensen's offense has to replace real production at the same time Grantham's defense is getting the headlines. this is a defense-first IDP profile — Grantham's track record says the unit improves fast, and 27 new defensive transfers means real competition for early snaps. Ike Esonwune (LB, Oklahoma State transfer, 31 tackles last season in a rotational role) is the closest thing to a plug-and-play IDP add in a system that historically produces disruptive fronts under Grantham.
On offense, caution before investing — UAB just lost its clear WR1 and a starting tackle to the portal, and it's fair to wait through fall camp before trusting any skill-position volume projection. Roderick Robinson II, a running back transfer from Georgia, is the name worth stashing speculatively; a Power Four back landing at a Grantham-built program with an offensive-minded head coach is a profile worth tracking before the season, not during it.
Players to watch
• Todd Grantham — not a player, but the reason this file exists; his units have historically turned around fast, and year one is exactly when to start watching
• Ike Esonwune — LB, Oklahoma State transfer, the most immediate IDP-relevant piece of the defensive overhaul
• Draden Fullbright and Jotavion Pierce — DBs, both also from Oklahoma State, part of the same defensive pipeline Grantham built
• Roderick Robinson II — RB, Georgia transfer, the offense's answer to the production UAB lost in the portal UAB isn't rebuilding with hope — it's rebuilding with résumés. a Saban-tree head coach who already proved he can win a signature game, and a defensive coordinator whose name alone would be a headline at a Power Four program, both landed at a Group of Five school that went 4-8 last year. the offense has real questions after losing its top weapon. the defense has real answers already hired. We found this program before anyone else did. Now it's worth finding out if the hire matches the hype before week one makes it obvious. Scouting the future · @draftuncut