There are some transfer additions that carry a little more weight. Alabama’s latest roster addition comes with a backstory far heavier than the usual transfer-portal shuffle. Kalen DeBoer is bringing the Birmingham native to Tuscaloosa just months after a traumatic end to his time at UAB.
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According to Bama247’s Mike Rodak, Alabama has added former UAB DL Josh Underwood to its roster. The 6’2, 315-pound sophomore entered the transfer portal in January. Now he is back in the state, only this time wearing crimson and white.
Underwood was one of two UAB players injured in a stabbing at the team’s football operations facility on Nov. 22, 2025. Former UAB OL Daniel Mincey was charged in connection with the incident involving Underwood and fellow DL JaSire Peterson.
It was something no player ever expected to experience. Underwood had arrived at UAB as a walk-on and quickly found his place in the defensive line room. That group, he said, became particularly close.
“We have a motto in our room, we protect our guys,” he said. “The D line I know for sure, we were all very close, talked on the daily, I consider JaSire my brother.”
Given what happened later that season, it carries a different kind of weight. Underwood and Peterson were taken to UAB Hospital following the November incident with injuries initially described by the school as non-life-threatening. Both were eventually released from the hospital and continued their recovery, but the episode abruptly interrupted what was supposed to be Underwood’s first college football season. Now, he gets another start.
There is also a little extra intrigue because of where he came from. Alabama and UAB are both FBS programs located in central Alabama, with campuses roughly an hour apart by car. Yet, the Tide and Blazers have never played one another in a regular-season football game. That unusual scheduling gap has long been a source of discussion around the state.
Josh Underwood, meanwhile, is making the much more straightforward trip from one program to the other. As for Kalen DeBoer, the move also comes at an important point in the season. Alabama opened 2026 with a 48-10 victory over East Carolina and now faces Kentucky in Lexington for its first road test.
Alabama has been much harder to beat at home during Kalen DeBoer’s tenure, but the Tide finished last season by winning five consecutive true road games, including a CFP victory at Oklahoma. The Kentucky trip will present a different challenge, particularly with QB Keelon Russell making his first road start.
Where Josh Underwood fits into Alabama’s defensive rotation remains to be seen. There is no reason to assume an immediate starring role just because his name has appeared on the roster. For now, the move means something simpler. After an experience that could have derailed his football career, he has another locker room, another coaching staff, and another chance to play the sport that brought him here in the first place.