By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Sam Shade who led Miles College to a historic 2024 season and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title, will become the 22nd head football coach at Alabama A&M University, AAMU announced on Sunday.
Shade, 2024 SIAC Coach of the Year, led Miles to a number of firsts this past season including winning for the first time in the NCAA Division II playoffs, taking down Carson-Newman 14-13 at Albert J. Sloan-Alumni Stadium in November.
With 10 victories in 2024, Miles established a record for most wins in a season, eclipsing the 9-3 mark of the 2019 team. The team’s 10-game win streak was the best single-season streak at Miles, surpassing the eight-game string of 1950.
Shade spent the last three years as head coach with the Golden Bears.
AAMU Director of Athletics Dr. Paul A. Bryant said Sunday that Shade “brings a wealth of knowledge and proven success to a program ready to thrive. His vast resources in the State and impeccable relationships with his team made him the perfect candidate for Alabama A&M University.”
A product of Birmingham’s Wenonah High School, Shade was a standout football player who went on to win a national championship as a player for coach Gene Stallings at the University of Alabama.
In high school he earned the Bryant Jordan Scholar Athlete Award, given to the state’s top student-athlete and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama in business administration and finance.
After playing for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals between 1995–1998 and the then Washington Redskins from 1999–2002, Shade was a special teams and defensive passing game coordinator at Samford University, was cornerbacks coach at Georgia State and an assistant special teams coach with the Cleveland Browns before replacing Patrick Nix as head coach at Pinson Valley High. His Indians went 12-2 in his first season, which ended with a state title.
Following his retirement from the NFL, Shade began his coaching career as a volunteer coach at Briarwood Christian School in Birmingham, from 2004-08 before spending eight years at Samford, coaching the secondary and special teams. He would then move to Georgia State, where he coached cornerback. His career would send him back to the NFL as an assistant special teams coach for the Cleveland Browns before returning home to coach at Pinson Valley.
