Coaches look everywhere for new players each season, but the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff defense simply looked across the locker room for one of its newest pieces.
Defensive back Kristian Gammage said head coach Alonzo Hampton and new defensive coordinator Jeff Burrow talked to him about moving from offense to defense in January.
“(Hampton) just wanted to see, really, could I persevere and push through at a new position,” Gammage said. “Me and the D coordinator been talking, so he really felt like that was a good position for me, and it helped me be free on the field.”
Gammage played wide receiver for UAPB last season. His 16 catches, 223 yards and a touchdown made him the team’s fourth-leading receiver.
The Grenada, Miss., native transferred to UAPB from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. As a freshman in 2023, Gammage was the Boll Weevils’ fifth-leading receiver with 14 grabs for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Hampton said he believed defensive back could be a better fit for Gammage moving forward.
“Obviously, he’s a really good football player, got tremendous ball skills, and he had been saying, ‘Coach, I’m a DB, anyway,'” Hampton said. “When we started looking at who can help us on either side of the ball, he was a guy that we thought that could come over on the defensive side. He has a defensive mentality playing offense.”
Gammage said he has learned every position in the secondary but is primarily set to play nickelback.
He has been practicing as a defensive player since spring practice. In last week’s second fall scrimmage, he broke up a pass to help his defense force a field goal attempt.
Gammage said the transition has gone well.
“I got a lot of my safeties on the back end been helping me learn defense, like really, because I got real good route organization,” Gammage said. “That’s what my coach tells me. He tells me that helps in a big part of playing nickel. They just help me push through every day and learn something new every day.”
Redshirt senior Tavon Hardwick was the starting nickelback last season. He made 36 tackles with one interception and may be Gammage’s chief competition for a starting role.
They will be part of an experienced secondary for UAPB which also brings back its top safeties from last season, Quintin Sterling and Ja’Marlin Green. Both were among UAPB’s top three tacklers, and they combined for nine breakups.
UAPB also brings back starting cornerbacks Amyrion Mingo and Zach Williams, both sophomores, while adding junior college transfer Michael Henderson to a secondary that should have some depth this fall.
Hampton said in July at SWAC Media Day that Gammage was one of the players he was most excited about this season, but that move comes at a cost for the offense.
Gammage would have been UAPB’s leading returning receiver. Instead, thanks to the transfer portal and graduation, his move means the Golden Lions lose their top five wide receivers from 2024. The top two returning pass catchers are running back BJ Curry and tight end Jaxson Isaac.
UAPB has brought in a litany of new receivers to make up for it, including Maryland transfer Josh Richards and Arkansas Tech transfer Jordan Jackson. The Golden Lions also signed five high school receivers the coaches have raved about all camp.
Gammage goes against this receiver corpse in practice and said they have made him better every day.
“We got a lot of young cats that can really fly and catch the ball,” Gammage said. “We got a lot of new transfers that been helping me get better. I played against, like (Jackson), I been playing against him since before I came here. I was at Monticello. He was at A-Tech. So, yeah, they really been getting me better this spring.”
Gammage will make his defensive debut when UAPB opens the season next Saturday at Texas Tech.