The Alabama A&M Bulldogs (SWAC) hired Sam Shade as head coach of the football program. Shade was most recently the head coach of NCAA Division II Miles College where he compiled an 18-15 overall record in three seasons.
Shade played college football at Alabama and was a fourth-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995. He spent a total of 8 seasons in the NFL with two four-year stints on the Bengals and Washington Redskins. He began coaching in 2004 at Briarwood Christian High School in Birmingham, Alabama as a volunteer coach for five seasons. In 2009, he became Samford’s special teams and defensive passing game coordinator. After seven seasons with the Bulldogs, he was named the cornerbacks coach at Georgia State for the 2017 season.
Shade returned to the NFL for one season in 2018 as the assistant special teams coach with the Cleveland Browns. He then returned to the high school ranks where he coached Pinson Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama for two seasons, winning a state championship in 2020. Shade’s next move was within Alabama as he was named head coach at Miles College in Fairfield in January 2022.
Shade’s first season wasn’t great as the Golden Bears went 1-9 overall and 1-6 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). Miles improved the next season to 7-3 overall and in a tie for second place in the SIAC at 6-2. In 2024, Shade led Miles to a perfect SIAC record at 8-0, won the SIAC Championship Game against Clark Atlanta 53-25, and reached the D-II playoffs. The Golden Bears won the first round game 14-13 against Carson-Newman, which was their third all-time appearance in the D-II playoffs, first playoff home game, and first D-II playoff victory. Miles lost the second round matchup against eventual runners-up Valdosta State.
Shade is replacing Cornell Maynor who went 40-32 overall and 28-21 in the SWAC over his seven seasons. Maynor and the Bulldogs captured the 2021 Spring SWAC Championship for the school’s first conference title since 2006. Sam Shade’s Alabama A&M debut is currently scheduled to start at Arkansas (SEC) on Saturday, August 30, 2025.
Photo Credit to Alabama A&M University Athletics
