After engineering an impressive rebuild at Division II Miles College (AL), Sam Shade is making the jump to the Division I level.
Shade, an eight-year NFL veteran, just finished his third season at Miles where they finished 10-3.
This past fall marked the culmination of a quick and impressive turnaround.
In his first season as a college head coach, Shade went 1-9, and followed that up with a jump to 7-3 in his sophomore campaign at the helm in a season that saw them beat FCS foe Alabama State.
The 10-win season this fall included a first-round playoff win in a 14-13 nailbiter against Carson-Newman before falling to national runner up Valdosta State in the second round.
He took the job after two seasons as a head coach at the high school level at Pinson Valley (AL).
There, the former Alabama Crimson Tide team captain led the program to a state title at the 6A level in his first season back in 2020.
Earlier in his career Shade worked in the secondary and with special teams at Samford before moving on to Georgia State. He also spent some time in the NFL as an assistant special teams coach with the Browns before taking over the Pinson Valley program.
As we shared yesterday, Alabama A&M's search also included former NFL safety and Hall of Famer Ed Reed as well.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.