Alabama A&M Opens Spring Practice Under Coach Sam Shade's Rebuilding Vision

Football returned to The Hill last Friday when Alabama A&M kicked off its 15-practice spring slate at Louis Crews Stadium in Huntsville, launching what head coach Sam Shade has framed as the foundational work of building his program's identity.

"We're excited to get back on the field and begin the work that defines who we are as a program," Shade said in the university's announcement of the spring schedule.

The 15-practice window runs through the annual Maroon & White Spring Game, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, at Louis Crews Stadium. The spring work connects directly to a 2026 regular season that features six home games at Louis Crews Stadium.

Shade's emphasis on competition and intensity has been a consistent theme since he arrived at Alabama A&M. When the Bulldogs opened fall camp ahead of the 2025 season, Shade set a deliberate tone from the first whistle. "We wanted to come out and start fast," he said at that initial fall practice. "That sets the tone, and we want a team that will start fast and finish. We are always looking for competition and build competition. The more competition we are going to get, the better we are going to be. I like the competition we were in this morning, even though we were in helmets. In t-shirts and shorts, sometimes you can't go as hard as you want to go. We've got two days of this before we put the pads on. Then I think the competition level will heat up a bit more."

That approach carried through his first spring with the program. In a prior Maroon & White game that capped his initial spring season, Team White claimed bragging rights with a 38-12 victory over Team Maroon in what was the 15th and final practice of that spring slate.

With the 2026 season on the horizon and six home dates at Louis Crews Stadium to fill, the work Shade began last Friday represents the next phase of a program he has been methodically reshaping since his arrival in Huntsville.