Defensive tackles are used to the trenches.
With 36 games of collegiate experience, Albert Regis is well acquainted with them.
He's familiar with "being in the trenches," but he's now adjusting to a different meaning of the phrase — one that takes place at home.
Regis and his fiancée welcomed a newborn daughter on June 12, 2025.
"Me and Jacob Zeno, we've been talking just because his daughter was born recently," Regis said on Friday afternoon. "My daughter just hit two months. We've just been talking, conversating about newborn trenches because, oh Lord...
"When they called them the trenches, I was like, 'It can't be that bad.' I told my girl, 'I can see why some people have a baby and then they wait three, four, five years until they have another one because that takes a lot on you.' It has been a whole lot of fun being a dad."
His newfound perspective as a father is part of what led him to return for a final season at Texas A&M as a graduate student this fall.
In addition to helping the Aggies improve on last year's 8-5 finish before heading to the NFL, Regis knew he wanted to finish his undergraduate coursework. He accomplished that goal in May, graduating with a degree in Agricultural Leadership and Development.
"I just wanted to come back to add more status to my name, and then, plus, I had like half of a semester left to get my degree," Regis said. "Why not be the first person in your family to graduate college? I wanted to complete that too."
In April, he watched as fellow defensive linemen Shemar Stewart, Nic Scourton and Shemar Turner heard their names called in the NFL Draft.
After starting all 13 games and posting a respectable total of 36 tackles in 2024, he felt "underlooked" by NFL scouts, but that's not uncommon for the 6-foot-1, 317-pounder from La Porte.
"My whole athletic career, I've always been underlooked, so that's never been an issue for me," Regis said. "I'm going to keep it honest: I knew if I would've went sixth, seventh round, I wouldn't have cared. I know what I can do, so that wasn't the problem."
Perhaps part of the problem was the unfinished business on the field in Aggieland.
A year ago, A&M ranked 42nd nationally and ninth in the SEC vs. the run, allowing 135.2 yards per game. That average jumped to 200.0 in the Aggies' five losses.
This fall, Regis — the elder stateman of the bunch — will be surrounded by a new cast of characters.
Ends Cashius Howell and Rylan Kennedy figure to take on larger roles in the rotation. Tackle DJ Hicks enters his third year in the program, while Tyler Onyedim transferred from Iowa State to bolster the interior.
Then there's the crop of true freshmen, led by edge rusher Marco Jones, who impressed with five sacks in the Maroon & White Game. Landon Rink and DJ Sanders have also impressed throughout camp.
"I'm loving it," Regis said of the unit. "I've been loving what we're doing. Obviously, there's been ups and downs. We're not perfect, you know? Only Jesus was perfect, but I'm excited for this group. I'm really excited."
His excitement doesn't mean the grind is finished.
Saturday will be the Aggies' 14th practice of a long camp in the blazing Texas heat.
No doubt, getting up to work can't be easy for Regis and his teammates, regardless of whether there is a two-month-old at home.
Equipped with a heightened sense of happiness, the gridiron trenches have prepared him for those of fatherhood...to some extent.
"Trenches on the football field physically hurt. Trenches back at home, physically, they don't hurt," Regis said. "From the mental standpoint, it's football. If you don't got a strong mental, you can't last, but at home, the mental... You can have a strong mental, and you still don't last.
"Some mornings when I'm overly tired and like, 'I don't know if I can do it today,' and then looking at them before I leave. ... I can keep going because when I get home, they're going to be waiting on me, and it's all going to work itself out."
