Alabama A&M has discontinued Sam Shade He will be its next head football coach, the team announced Sunday. He is the 22nd coach in program history.

Shade was the head coach at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama for the past three seasons. He led them to an 18-15 overall record and won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship last year before advancing to the second round of the Division II playoffs.

Shade’s roots in the state run deep, as he won a national championship with the Alabama Crimson Tide as a player in 1992. He played defensive back and finished his college career with five interceptions before being selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft.

Shade went on to play eight seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington before retiring. He began coaching in 2004 as a volunteer assistant at Briarwood Christian High School in Birmingham.

His first college coaching job was in 2009, when he took over as special teams and defensive passing coordinator Samford. He remained in that role until 2015 before moving to cornerbacks coach State of Georgia in 2017.

Shade was also an assistant special teams coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2018. He later received his first head coaching job in 2020 when he took over at Pinson Valley High School in Alabama. In his first season he led the team to the 6A state championship.

“This is a new and exciting time to bring coach Sam Shade to the Hill,” said Athletic Director Paul A. Bryant. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and proven success to a program poised for success. His tremendous in-state resources and impeccable relationships with his team made him the perfect candidate for Alabama A&M University.”

Shade is from Birmingham and played his high school football at Wenonah High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Alabama.

Alabama A&M went 6-6 last season and competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference of the FCS. It will be interesting to see what Shade can accomplish in his first year with the Bulldogs, and he will certainly have plenty of people to help him succeed.