# Sam Shade

Samuel Richard Shade (born June 14, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Alabama A&M University, a position he has held since 2025. He played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2002 as a safety for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins. Shade played college football at the University of Alabama and was selected in the fourth round of the 1995 NFL draft.

## NFL career statistics

Legend :
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 1995 | CIN | 16 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | CIN | 12 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | CIN | 16 | 12 | 96 | 81 | 15 | 4.0 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | CIN | 16 | 15 | 78 | 60 | 18 | 1.0 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 55 | 1 |
| 1999 | WAS | 16 | 16 | 115 | 89 | 26 | 1.5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | WAS | 16 | 14 | 98 | 83 | 15 | 1.0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2001 | WAS | 16 | 15 | 90 | 76 | 14 | 0.0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | WAS | 9 | 3 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | 117 | 77 | 528 | 429 | 99 | 8.5 | 10 | 85 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 9 | 56 | 1 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 1999 | WAS | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Coaching career
### Samford

Shade was the Special teams and defensive passing game coordinator at Samford, where he helped mentor current NFL defensive backs Corey White, Jaquiski Tartt, and James Bradberry.

### Georgia State

On December 15, 2016, Shade was added to the staff at Georgia State as the cornerbacks coach.

### Cleveland Browns

On February 7, 2018, it was announced that Shade had joined the Cleveland Browns' as an assistant special teams coach.

### Pinson Valley High School

In February 2020, Pinson Valley High School named Shade as the replacement for Patrick Nix. In his first year as head coach, he helped bring the team back to a successful 12–2 season, including the state championship.

### Miles

On January 26, 2022, Miles College introduced Shade as the head football coach.

### Alabama A&M

On December 29, 2024, Alabama A&M University hired Shade as the school's 22nd head coach in program history.

## Head coaching record
### College

| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AFCA$^#$ | D2$^°$ |
| Miles Golden Bears (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (2022–2024) ||||||||
| 2022 | Miles | 1–9 | 1–6 | 5th (West) | | | |
| 2023 | Miles | 7–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd | | | |
| 2024 | Miles | 10–3 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Second Round | 22 | 19 |
| Miles: | Miles: | 18–15 | 15–8 | | | | |
| Alabama A&M Bulldogs (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (2025–present) ||||||||
| 2025 | Alabama A&M | 0–0 | 0–0 | (East) | | | |
| Alabama A&M: | Alabama A&M: | 0–0 | 0–0 | | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 18–15 | | | | | |
| National championship  Conference title  Conference division title or championship game berth ||||||||