Samford Football: A New Chapter
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and it’s a new life for the Samford football program. For the first time in 11 years, Samford football has a new leader. Chris Hatcher, Samford’s all-time leader in wins, was dismissed with two games remaining in the 2025 season right before the Bulldogs finished 1-11. Now, John Grass takes over.
Grass spent the previous four seasons at Clemson as a senior offensive analyst, but he is best known for his eight-year run as the head coach at Jacksonville State from 2014-21. Grass went 72-26 at Jax State with six FCS Playoffs appearances including a trip to the national championship game in 2015.
It is a renewed energy around the program with Grass and the coaching staff he has brought to Homewood. None of the position coaches from last year’s staff were retained, meaning nearly everything is new in Homewood. Grass brings nine position coaches with him from Clemson including former Clemson safeties coach Mickey Conn as his defensive coordinator.
Conn spent 10 seasons on Clemson’s staff and worked under multiple defensive coordinators, including former Clemson defensive coordinator and current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables. He has a mix of young and experienced coaches working on the defensive staff including coaches with famous last names like Nickels Coach Tyler Venables and Safeties Coach Cally Chizik. Plus more experienced coaches like Cornerbacks Coach Aashon Larkins, Defensive Ends Coach Rory Segrest, and Linebackers Coach Chuck Dunn.
On the offensive side of the ball, former Alabama running back Andrew Zow is listed as the Samford chief of offense plus tight ends coach. Grass will still handle the playcalling on gamedays but Zow is the head coach of the offense. Zow was on staff at Clemson for the last five seasons. Everyone else on the offense comes over from Clemson, including quarterbacks coach Paul Tyson, running backs coach Montralius Mosley, wide receivers coach Drew Swinney and offensive line coach Brandon Thomas.
It is a completely new staff tasked with developing a young roster. Samford has just 17 seniors on the 2026 roster, making this unlikely to be the most experienced team of the Grass era. Grass was excited however about the team’s development since his staff arrived in Homewood physically.
“You look at our before and after (in the weight room) astonishing,” said Grass. “When you look at these developmental pictures, you look at the pictures of guys, a front shot, and a back shot in January. We took them before we started fall camps. So really in six to seven months of development, they've all just physically changed so much.”
Samford defensive tackle Hank Weber put it great saying that Samford strength and conditioning coach Jake Venables is a “madman” but “we all love it for him though.” Offensive lineman Noah Watts put his summer as “the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.”
So there’s improvement in the weight room, check there. Transitioning to on the field, well we have to play the games first. Noah Watts is one of four Bulldogs named to the All-SoCon teams. Wide receiver Preston Bird is on the first team while Watts, defensive back Jalen Nelson, and long snapper Aidan Barr were on the second team. The other SoCon coaches picked Samford to finish eighth in the conference.
Offense
The Samford offense was the worst of the Hatcher era a season ago, scoring just 14.5 points a game while allowing the most sacks in the entire country. Samford also was last in rushing with just 69.5 yards a game on the ground. Quarterback Quincy Crittendon started the season but was replaced by freshman quarterback Brady Stober midway through the season. Neither of them had a chance of survival behind the Samford offensive line.
New offensive line coach Brandon Thomas, who spent six seasons in the NFL, has had his work cut out for him in rebuilding the Samford offensive line. John Grass said that this offensive line unit has improved the most from the spring to now.
“Our offensive line has really improved probably the most, because they were a weak link,” said Grass. “That first two weeks of spring, I was talking about, they were a weak link. And so and they knew that. I mean, I think they embraced that and kind of the flip, you know, the light switch flip and it kind of changed and they’re a physical unit, they've gotten better. And that's where it starts, at both sides of the ball up front. So, if you want groups to improve, it would be that group. But I say the most improved group is that O-line group.”
Offensive lineman Kaleb Pearley, who played in 10 games last season, said there has been an attitude change in that position group and the buy-in has been good. They have responded well to being called a “weak link” early in camp.
“I mean, it is humbling,” said Pearley. “It's like a strike to the chin, but we needed that because when you hear weak link, it shows that we need to be better, and we need to be the leaders of this team because we’re the front line. We're the first to go out. We're the first to do everything, so it really demands that you be great. It really elevates your standard, and we check each other. We hold each other to that standard so we can be the strong link of this team.”
Five other offensive lineman are back along with Pearley including offensive tackle Duncan Johnson and offensive guard Tyler Douthit. It remains to be seen who the first five will be out there in the season opener.
The quarterback room has undergone a near-complete overhaul. The aforementioned Crittendon has graduated and Stober is now over at Elon. Quincy Crittendon has graduated, while Brady Stober transferred to Elon. Returning junior Charlie Gilliam is competing for the starting job with Oregon State transfer junior Gabarri Johnson and Davidson transfer senior Coulter Cleland. Gilliam appeared in five games last season, completing his limited opportunities with 258 passing yards, one touchdown and five interceptions.
Both Johnson and Cleland do have playing experience at their previous stops. Gabarri Johnson, listed at 6-feet, 185-pounds, started his career at Missouri before playing the last two seasons at Oregon State. Johnson played in 11 games last season starting in three of them. In those games, he completed 61 of 99 passes with 503 yards and two touchdowns. His best game came against Sam Houston throwing for 286 yards. Johnson was a four-star recruit by Rivals out of Lincoln High School in Washington state.
Cleland has the most extensive starting experience of the three. He started 23 games at Davidson and threw for more than 2,100 yards and 20 touchdowns last season while completing 61% of his passes. He was also a two-time team captain.
He does have experience against a SoCon foe throwing for 132 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against Tennessee Tech last season. Grass has been consistent in one message throughout the quarterback competition: he believes all three can win games.
“We really, the constant theme has been, those guys can go win games for us”, said Grass. “You know, so it's still a three-man race. That'll be clear cut, you know, before we play. But like I said, very comfortable with anyone of those three going in right now in a game and moving the football and producing on offense.”
Grass did mention at media day that true freshman QB Will Shields pushed those three throughout fall camp. Shields, from Virginia, was committed to Albany before flipping his commitment to Grass and Samford.
“Yeah, and they got a young buck, they got a freshman pushing them now,” said Grass. ”Will Shields’ gonna be a heck of a player, man. That sucker is a, he is a player, man. He's got the mojo, and he's chasing those guys. And I usually, you don’t say that about a freshman coming in but man, you do the grades every day, man. He's up here at the top every day. And so the future looks bright for that room you know, just with him in it.”
Grass has not tipped his hand on who will get the nod against North Alabama and has not ruled out playing multiple quarterbacks. At one of Samford’s fall scrimmages both Johnson and Gilliam did lead touchdown drives.
Who the starting quarterback will be handing it off and throwing to is another unanswered question. Samford returns two running backs from last season in junior Kam Cherry and sophomore Cam Bland. The Bulldogs also added two transfers: graduate senior Domonique Thomas, formerly of Ole Miss, and junior Keion Dunlap, a converted linebacker from Troy who played running back in high school.
Thomas reunites with Grass and other former Clemson staffers as Thomas spent some time as a walk-on at Clemson. Thomas appeared in six games for Union College in Kentucky rushing for 527 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. He played some offensive snaps at Ole Miss but primarily was a special teams contributor. Thomas at 5-feet, nine-inches and 210-pounds is an Alabama native.
Cherry ran for 197 yards on 66 carries while Bland ran for 145 yards on 39 carries last season. Both also found the end zone once.
Now we transition over to the Samford wide receiver room who look to improve as a whole after 2025. Junior Preston Bird is the team’s leading returning receiver finishing 2025 with 53 receptions for 617 yards and four touchdowns. Bird was Samford’s offensive representative at Southern Conference Media Day. He had four games with 75 or more receiving yards last season.
Whoever wins the quarterback competition will likely lean heavily on Bird, who is the Bulldogs’ most proven playmaker.
The only other wide receiver who had some production and is returning is sophomore Nicholas Bookman. Samford did add two wide receivers via the transfer portal in sophomore Marquise Henderson and former Ole Miss walk-on senior Mac Owen. Henderson has shined since arriving on campus and Grass did mention Henderson as a player to watch out for at SoCon Media Day. Owen had a touchdown at one of Samford’s fall scrimmages.
Henderson is a former four star recruit ranked by 247 Sports and the fourth ranked overall player in the state of South Carolina in 2025. He signed with Clemson and was an early enrollee and practiced for a week at Clemson during spring football but was away from the team for the remainder of camp. Henderson was then dismissed from the team by Dabo Swinney for violating team rules. He then committed to Liberty but never made it to campus.
At Belton-Honea Path High School in South Carolina, Henderson ran for over 2,100 yards and 26 touchdowns on 10.1 yards a carry. He also ran track and ran a 11.2 in the 100-meters.
A position that was not featured in the passing game as much under Chris Hatcher is tight end. It is an overall young position group for TE coach Andrew Zow. We will see if they provide more of an impact in this system. Tight ends Maddox McKim and Cannon Pigg, both sophomores, saw time last season. 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) you say?
The Samford offense has to improve from last season. There are plenty of questions surrounding this offense. Can the offensive line really improve that much from 2025? Who wins the quarterback competition? And beyond Bird, who emerges as a consistent playmaker? A lot of unknowns with Samford as a whole and the offense is no exception.
Defense
Samford defensive coordinator Mickey Conn has worked with multiple styles of defenses while at Clemson and in multiple roles. He has been a position coach under three different defensive coordinators in Brent Venables, Wes Goodwin and Tom Allen. Prior to joining the Clemson staff in 2015, Conn was the head coach at Grayson High School for 15 seasons winning a state championship in 2011. Conn was the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach last season.
Clemson used a base 4-2-5 under Venables and Allen, while Goodwin operated primarily out of a 4-3 with some 4-2-5 mixed in. Conn now has the task of bringing that experience to Samford. Both have their different advantages and the Venables defense is well known as one of the more complex systems and takes time to install. Conn was not made available for Samford’s local media day.
The Samford defense struggled in 2025 giving up 454.7 yards per game which was third worst in the Southern Conference. That included giving up the most passing yards per game in the conference at 282.5 yards per game. Former Western Carolina QB Taron Dickens did throw for 582 yards on the Samford secondary. The rush defense for Samford also struggled giving up 172.2 yards a game which was fourth worst in the SoCon.
However, Samford does lose a few key pieces from that defense. Leading tackler linebacker Jaden Mosley is gone and is currently waiting to see if he is eligible for a fifth season of college football. Mosley had 107 total tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss last season. His running mate at linebacker, Carson Sloan has transferred to Appalachian State. Sloan had 82 total tackles last season.
Also gone via the transfer portal is defensive end Donovan Grayson. Grayson led Samford in sacks with seven. That along with 43 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss earned Grayson a first team All-SoCon honors. Grayson is now at Coastal Carolina. Mosley and Grayson are the two biggest losses from a season ago.
There are not all losses along that defensive line as some with some level of playing experience return. Defensive ends, sophomore Jackson Bussey and senior Andrew Jordan are back to Homewood. Bussey saw action in 10 games finishing last season with nine total tackles. Jordan also recorded nine tackles last season.
Defensive tackles Hank Weber, Joseph Shannon, and Maxton Woodward are all back for another season. Woodward appeared in every game last season finishing with 31 total tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss and also had three sacks. Shannon had 16 total tackles while Weber had 11 total tackles last season.
Samford does return three contributors in the safety room in seniors LaShon Young and Jalen Nelson and sophomore Trey Lendhart. Young represented Samford at SoCon Media Day with Preston Bird. Young was Samford’s third leading tackler and Nelson was Samford’s fifth leading tackler last season.
Lendhart was a member of the All-SoCon freshman team after transferring in from Appalachian State.
Junior linebacker Jacob Johnson is also back after transferring from Southern Miss. He recorded 27 tackles last season.
Samford was busy in the transfer portal on the defensive side adding multiple transfers in each level of the defense. Two are coming from the same school in Fordham with senior defensive tackle Aidan Jeter and junior defensive end John Scott III. Scott started 10 games for the Rams last season recording 27 total tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He started 11 games in 2024 and played in 11 games in 2025.
The Bulldogs also added Alabama State defensive tackle Dezmon Thomas, who redshirted last season and brings considerable size at 6-foot-2 and 315 pounds.
Moving to the next level of the defense, Samford added two projected starters in Murray State linebacker redshirt freshman Spencer Conn and UAB senior linebacker Brandon Franklin. If that name sounds familiar you are correct as Conn is the son of new Samford defensive coordinator Mickey Conn. Then Brandon’s brother, Bradley, is a star track athlete at Samford.
Spencer Conn is excited about the work that the Samford defense has put in up to this point.
“I feel like we're all one heartbeat,” said Conn. We’re physical, we pursue the ball, and we tackle well. You know, I mean, those are the three most important things, the defense, in my opinion. I think we're gonna be, like, really, really, really good this year, and we're gonna make a lot of plays, have a lot of turnovers, hopefully.”
Samford’s defense forced 13 turnovers last season. Franklin appeared in five games over his career at UAB.
While Samford has a good set of returners at the safety position, the cornerback room has plenty of new additions. Samford added three transfers into that room in Tulane junior cornerback Jayden Lewis, Georgia Southern junior cornerback Elijah McDowell, and Clark Atlanta sophomore cornerback Vaughn Mitchom. All three have some level of prior playing experience while McDowell and Lewis were three-star recruits out of high school.
Mitchom has the most production of the three playing in nine games at D-II Clark Atlanta finishing with 21 total tackles, one interception and four PBUs.
Take the same approach for the offense as you would the defense. There are unknowns on this side of the ball as well. Can Samford’s pass defense improve from a year ago? The Samford defense has been ahead of the Samford offense through part of camp so how much of that can translate to the field. The defense still has plenty to prove but with the Samford front seven, albeit with losing two key pieces, should provide a sense of optimism that this unit has the potential to be good.
Special Teams
While there is a quarterback battle going on, there is also a battle for who will be Samford’s kicker. Both sophomore kickers Jake Garner and junior Ty Ippolito return from last season. Garner was 10-13 with his longest at 40 yards. Ippolitio was just 1-2 last season.
Punter Noah Jones has graduated so redshirt senior Will Thorley will be Samford’s primary punter. Thorley averaged 38.2 yards a punt in 2024 with his longest at 51-yards. He placed 24 punts inside the opponent 20-yard line.
The Schedule
Last season, Samford traveled to the state of Texas for two buy games. In 2026, Samford does not have to leave the state in the non-conference. Samford will head down to the Plains to take on Auburn for the fifth time since 2011. That will be Samford’s regular season finale.
In week five, Samford will travel 5.2 miles to take on the UAB Blazers. For the first time since 1991, Samford and UAB will share the same field. The in-state matchup is finally having and will also take place on the basketball court this upcoming season.
Samford opens the season on a neutral site against North Alabama in Huntsville. Samford and UNA have also only played once in their history with that matchup occurring in 2002.
The Southern Conference welcomes a new member to the conference in Tennessee Tech this season. Tennessee Tech won the OVC-Big South the last two seasons and were picked to finish second in the SoCon preseason poll. That’s who Samford plays in their first conference game traveling up to Cookeville to play the Golden Eagles.
Samford’s SoCon opener will be against VMI and the schedule for the rest of the season is below.
Aug. 29: vs. North Alabama — Huntsville, Ala.
Sept. 3: vs. Southern Illinois
Sept. 12: at Tennessee Tech
Sept. 26: vs. VMI
Oct. 3: at UAB
Oct. 10: at Chattanooga
Oct. 17: vs. Mercer
Oct. 24: at Furman
Oct. 31: vs. Wofford
Nov. 7: at ETSU
Nov. 14: vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 21: at Auburn
The wait is almost over.
In just days, Samford fans will finally get its first look at the Grass era on the field. There is reason for optimism. The coaching staff is new and the players believe they are physically stronger than they were a year ago. But John Grass has a tall task ahead as he works to rebuild a program coming off the lowest point in recent memory — a 1-11 season in 2025.
For Grass and Samford, the first goal is establishing a new standard. The new team motto is DNA, Do Nothing Average.
Vibe-wise, Samford is feeling good as to where the program is heading but will that translate to on-field success in year one? An FCS Playoff appearance is a considerable long shot in the first year under Grass. That doesn't mean this first season can't be a building block for the future. Let’s see what this team can do with the opportunity.
