Former Alabama football star and NFL veteran Sam Shade has lived a football life full of twists and turns. From SEC glory to an NFL career, from hauling uniforms to laundromats as a high school coach to hoisting an SIAC trophy at Miles College, Shade has taken the long road to becoming a Division I head coach at an HBCU.
“I’m always going to be where my feet are, and I’m going to do the best job I can do, no matter where I am,” Shade said in an interview with the HBCU Coaches Corner.
That mindset has carried him through a career defined more by persistence than privilege — a grind that prepared him for his new challenge at Alabama A&M.
Alabama Football Roots and an NFL Grind
Shade made his name as a hard-hitting defensive back at Alabama football. He earned respect in one of the nation’s most demanding programs and won a national title in 1992. That toughness carried him to the NFL, where he built a career with the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington.
Looking back, Shade says his journey was guided by faith.
“When I played pro ball and people say, ‘Hey man, how did you play so many years?’ I tell them, look, that wasn’t my plan. That was God’s plan,” he said.
Still, Shade didn’t lean only on his NFL résumé after retiring. Instead, he started as a high school coach, a move that shaped his philosophy and prepared him for bigger opportunities.
Laundromats, Lessons, and Miles College Glory
After leaving the NFL, Shade returned home to Birmingham to lead a high school program. The job demanded humility. “When the washer breaks down and you’re taking clothes to the laundromat to wash ’em for practice…that definitely teaches you some things,” he said.
At first, he thought that role might be his last. “I took that job thinking, okay, I’m going to do this till I retire,” Shade recalled. “A lot of people don’t believe that, but that’s the truth.”
However, when Miles College — just minutes from where he grew up — offered him the head coaching position, he knew he couldn’t resist. “I said, man, I can’t pass up this opportunity. I can always go back and be a high school head coach,” he said.
Shade rewarded that leap by turning Miles into a contender. In only his third season, he led the Golden Bears to the SIAC championship. “I wanted to take it places it had never been. I thought it might take a little while to do that, but we had success,” Shade said.
A Different Road to the SWAC
That success brought Shade to Alabama A&M, where he now leads one of the most historic HBCU football programs. “There are some things, some experiences I had at Miles that I’m quite sure will help me tremendously here at Alabama A&M,” he said.
Shade’s climb has looked different from some of his peers. “Sometimes when a guy jumps straight out of the professional ranks as a player and is thrown into a head [coaching job]…that’s tough,” he explained. “For me, it was the right way to go step by step.”
Still, he holds respect for rivals who took alternate routes. He praised Alabama State’s Eddie Robinson Jr., another NFL veteran who became a head coach. “Some guys just have it, man. Coach Rob was one of those players who wanted to know what everybody was doing, why we were doing it. He’s carried that into coaching,” Shade said.
Ready for His Biggest Test
Shade believes every stop along the way prepared him for this moment. “I’m a lot better coach now than when I first got into it,” he reflected. “And I’m a lot better head coach at this point too.”
From Alabama football Saturdays in Tuscaloosa to grinding in the NFL, from washing uniforms just to keep practice alive to celebrating a championship at Miles, Shade has lived every rung of the coaching ladder. Now, he steps into the spotlight of the SWAC with Alabama A&M, determined to show that the long road is the one worth traveling.
“That wasn’t my plan. That was God’s plan,” Shade said.