Alabama A&M head coach Sam Shade believes the Bulldogs are better positioned for a breakthrough entering his second season on the sidelines.
Shade saw firsthand at Miles College how much a program can change between its first and second seasons. Now he hopes to replicate that formula at Alabama A&M.
“There are some similarities between myself and my coaching staff,” Shade said Thursday during the MEAC/SWAC Challenge press conference. “Our first year at Miles and the first year here at Alabama A&M.”
Shade went 1-9 in that first year at Miles in 2022 before going 7-3 in 2023 and then leaping to 10 wins and a Division II postseason appearance in 2024.
Currently, the Bulldogs are coming off a 4-8 season and just one win in SWAC play a year ago.
Are there any similarities and differences between the programs that could signal another jump?
The biggest difference, Shade said, is having an entire recruiting cycle to build the roster.
Shade arrived at Alabama A&M in January last season, after the early transfer portal window had already begun. That left him and his staff scrambling to fill roster needs with limited time.
This offseason was different.
The Bulldogs had an opportunity to recruit throughout the full cycle, allowing Shade’s staff to target junior college players, high school prospects and additional talent from the transfer portal.
“I just feel like once you go through an entire cycle, things have a chance to be better,” Shade said.
That additional time has already translated into a roster Shade believes can compete at a higher level.
Alabama A&M added a host of FBS transfers this offseason, compared with only a smaller class during Shade’s first season. Several of the newcomers are expected to contribute immediately, particularly at linebacker, offensive line and wide receiver.
“They’re going to play for us,” Shade said. “They’re going to have an impact on our team.”
Still, Shade knows adding talent is only part of the equation.
The Bulldogs spent training camp working through situational football, penalties and execution — three areas Shade believes can determine the outcome of early-season games.
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The second-year coach also emphasized the importance of getting his players to “gel and mesh” after entering his first season with plenty of unanswered questions.
That process, Shade said, is now further along.
Alabama A&M enters its season opener against Howard with a team that has had more time to learn Shade’s system, more time to develop chemistry and, perhaps most importantly, more time for the coaching staff to build the roster it envisioned.
Shade isn’t promising an immediate turnaround.
But he believes the foundation is considerably stronger than it was a year ago.
“We feel like we’ve laid a really good foundation in this training camp with this team,” Shade said. “We feel like that’s going to carry us into the season.”
