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Alabama A&M University officially introduced Sam Shade as the 22nd head coach of the Bulldogs’ football team on Monday morning.

According to athletic director Dr. Paul A. Bryant, Shade met all of the requirements during their coaching search -- a list that included NFL and HBCU experience.

"John French Sloan said, 'In the hands of a master, light and shade is one of the great qualities of art,'" Bryant said. "Now, imagine the light that we have on The Hill partnered with the Shade that we just hired, can you imagine the quality of the young men that are gonna be on that football field?"

Shade, who won a national championship as a player at Alabama and played several seasons in the NFL, comes to The Hill after a successful run at Miles College.

"Ultimately, my vision for [the] Alabama A&M University football program is to develop a championship football program, on and off the field," Shade said.

Among the goals Shade set out for 2025 are winning the Magic City Classic, winning the division, winning the SWAC title and then the Celebration Bowl.

"We will always be striving for excellence and chasing perfection," Shade said. "The chase will always be on."

Shade went on to explain that he's a big fan of acronyms and will use "Da chase" to define his core values:

D: Discipline

A: Accountability

C: Character

H: Habits

A: Attitude

S: Sacrifice 

E: Expect excellence 

Shade also made it clear he plans to recruit local talent.

After his playing days ended in 2002, Shade said he wasn’t initially interested in coaching.

“It’s a long process,� he said. “It started back [in] 2004 when I moved back to Birmingham after playing in the NFL for eight years and I actually got my insurance license and thought I was gonna go do financial services the rest of my life and get into investments and all that. But that was my plan and God had a different plan for me.�

Shade takes over for Connell Maynor, who led the Bulldogs from 2018 to 2024.

"I heard that we've had 22, now, head coaches. We've had 12 presidents," university president Dr. Daniel K. Wims said. "That means that there are some expectations, right?"

"Athletics is our front porch," Wims said. "If we have a clean, nice, sparkling front porch, it helps the rest of the house to function a little better, a little easier with little less stress." 

Now with a new head coach in place, the team will turn its focus to building the coaching staff and assessing the current roster.

"Da chase is on, let's go hunt. Go Bulldogs," Shade said to close his introduction.