In a period of constant change, Jonah Delange has been UAB's constant

Everything around Jonah Delange has changed.

UAB changed head coaches. The roster turned over. The transfer portal reshaped college football itself. In four years at UAB, Delange has kicked in front of 92,746 at Georgia as a freshman and handled the opening kickoff. He went to Tennessee last year and called it the loudest stadium he's ever been in.

Through all of it, Delange stayed. And he kept getting better.

"I think it definitely feels a lot different, just especially being at the same school for four years," Delange said before last week's season opener at Illinois. "I'm so used to being in this building, the fall camp, the spring, like every, just doing everything here. And so I think that makes me a lot more comfortable just to work on my craft and get a little bit better every single day."

Delange was a soccer player at Davidson High School in Mobile. He wasn't heavily recruited as a kicker.

"I wasn't super scouted coming out of high school," he said. "I played soccer in high school, and so I wasn't super focused on kicking as much in high school."

What changed was college — and specifically, UAB alum and former NFL kicker/punter Ty Long, who has worked with the kickers.

"Just getting to college, meeting a lot of other kickers, meeting with Ty Long, the alum here — he's coached us a lot," Delange said. "So just knowing a lot more about kicking in general I think has really made me better every single year."

The numbers back that up. Delange handled kickoff duties as a true freshman in 2023, averaging 55.1 yards per attempt. By 2024, he was the AAC Special Teams Player of the Year and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist after going 21-of-24 on field goals and 31-of-31 on extra points. His 21 made field goals were the second most in a single season in UAB history. He was 2-for-2 from beyond 50 yards, with a long of 52 against Tulsa.

He dipped to 10-of-14 in 2025 but was still perfect on extra points at 29-of-29. He enters 2026 on the Groza Watch List.

Thursday night at Illinois, UAB's offense moved the ball but couldn't finish drives in the end zone. Penalties and red-zone mistakes turned touchdowns into field goal attempts. Delange converted all three — from 26, 23 and 35 yards — and kept the Blazers within striking distance in a game that was 14-13 late in the second quarter.

It wasn't the kind of night that shows up on a highlight reel. It was the kind of night that shows up in the box score when a team needs every point it can get.

The consistency extends beyond the kicks. Delange broke in a new holder this offseason after working with Pat Foley for two years. He also adjusted to a new long snapper, Evan Bishop.

"We worked on it a lot in the spring, a lot in the summer," he said. "And then now in fall camp we've gotten so many reps, and so I feel pretty confident in it."

His range has grown, too. In fall camp, Delange hit from 56 yards in live practice. He thinks he can go further.

"I think depending on the circumstance and everything, I think we go probably closer to 60," he said. "Hopefully maybe we'll get to use that in a game, situation comes up. But I feel pretty good about it going into the season."

Delange will try to add to his totals Saturday when UAB (0-1) plays Louisiana-Monroe in its home opener at 2:30 p.m. CT at Protective Stadium.