Alabama A&M’s Sam Shade addresses rough 2025 season, the future ahead

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Alabama A&M’s Sam Shade addresses rough 2025 season, the future ahead

Randall Barnes, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Fri, Jul 17, 2026 ·

4 min read

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Sam Shade isn't shying away from what happened during his first season at Alabama A&M . Instead, the Bulldogs' head coach believes the adversity his team faced in 2025 laid the groundwork for a stronger future. Speaking with WJAB-TV during SWAC Media Day, Shade reflected on a season that began with promise before injuries derailed Alabama A&M's momentum.

"First season, it started out pretty good. We were 3-1, and then after that we had some injuries and lost some guys and the season started to take a turn," Shade said. "We didn't finish, obviously, as well as we wanted to finish. But it felt like…we did lay a foundation for seasons to come, particularly this one."

Alabama A&M opened the 2025 season with victories over Alcorn State, Tennessee State and Lane College before injuries began to mount. The Bulldogs struggled down the stretch but still managed a Homecoming victory over Mississippi Valley State before closing the season with losses to Alabama State in the Magic City Classic and other SWAC opponents.

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One of the biggest setbacks came at quarterback. Veteran QB Cornelius "Quad" Brown started four games before suffering an ankle injury that ultimately led him to take a medical redshirt. Before the injury, Brown threw for more than 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns while helping stabilize Alabama A&M's offense.

Shade believes Brown's return extends beyond his production on the field.

"He's back. He's ready. He's excited," Shade said. "The thing about Quad, he brings a lot of energy to our team. He brings great leadership. When he went down last season, the leadership part of it was just as big as the quarterback part of it for us."

While Brown's return is significant, Shade said the Bulldogs have spent the offseason addressing the physical shortcomings that surfaced during his first year. He credited strength coach John Williams with helping reshape the roster since players returned in January.

"I feel really good about how the off-season training, the getting bigger, faster and stronger has gone," Shade said. "I thought we were more physical as a team. That's something that we had to work on."

Shade acknowledged Alabama A&M struggled in two critical areas during the 2025 season.

"We didn't stop the run well defensively last year," he said. "We gave up too many yards in the run game. And we weren't able to run the ball as well as you need to run it to be one of the top teams in the conference."

He also pointed to mental toughness as an area the Bulldogs have emphasized throughout the offseason.

"The biggest thing about playing the run and stopping the run and tackling is wanting to," Shade said. "I feel like we were maybe lacking a little bit of mental toughness last season."

Despite returning several key contributors and placing five players on the preseason All-SWAC teams, Alabama A&M was picked fifth in the SWAC East preseason poll.

Shade said preseason predictions carry little weight inside the Bulldogs' locker room.

"We've got an opportunity to change that predicted order and to move up," Shade said. "I think it's motivation for us."

Instead of looking ahead to rivalry games later in the season, Shade said Alabama A&M's focus remains squarely on its season opener against Howard in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

"We've got a huge game over in Atlanta Aug. 29 where we're going to be playing on prime time on ABC," Shade said. "That's really all we're thinking about right now… We feel like we've got to start off well. We've got to focus on Howard, our first game."

Shade said the opportunity to play on a national stage is one his players have embraced as they attempt to begin Year 2 of his tenure with a statement victory.

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