Samford Football Head Coach Hot Board: Who Should Samford Target?

Samford is officially searching for their 37th football coach in their history following the firing of Chris Hatcher. Samford Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Martin Newton outlined one key factor in choosing his next head coach and that is head coaching experience no matter the level.

Here are eight potential candidates that Samford should contact.

Bill Clark - Former UAB Head Coach

If Samford wants a proven head coach with a proven track record look no further than Bill Clark. Clark retired as the UAB head coach in 2022 for health reasons. Clark, an Alabama native, went 49-26 overall and 32-12 in Conference USA play in six seasons. He led the Blazers when they resurrected their football program and he can bring Samford back from their worst season in school history.

Does Clark want to get back into coaching is the question? If he does, then why not stay in Birmingham and come lead the Bulldogs?

John Grass - Clemson Senior Offensive Assistant/Assistant QB Coach

Do you want a coach with head coaching experience? You want a head coach who has had prior success…and in the state of Alabama? Look no further in John Grass who has spent the last three seasons as an analyst at Clemson. Grass, 57 and an Alabama native, was the Jacksonville State head coach from 2014-2021 taking over for Bill Clark.

In those eight seasons, Jax State was in the FCS Playoffs six times. Grass finished with a 72-26 record with six OVC championships. He could be looking to move back to his home state and also spent 22 years coaching high school football in Alabama at schools like Hoover High School and Spain Park High School.

Sam Shade - Alabama A&M Head Coach

Shade, also an Alabama native played at the University of Alabama, then was selected in the fourth round of the 1995 NFL Draft. After playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins, Shade started his coaching career at Briarwood Christian School for four seasons. He then transitioned to college coaching coming to join…yes you guessed it, the Samford staff under Pat Sullivan.

He spent six seasons at Samford working with the special teams and was the defensive passing game coordinator. Shade is in his first season leading Alabama A&M after being the head coach at Miles College for three seasons going 18-15. Alabama A&M is 4-6 this season so you would like to see more success if you are Samford’s administration but it is Shade’s debut season at A&M.

Robert Evans - Vestavia Hills High School Head Coach

Samford has shown they are not afraid of selecting a head coach from the high school ranks (see McMillan, Bucky). Martin Newton wants a coach with head coaching experience no matter the level. Evans, a Samford alum, played football and baseball at Samford before playing in the minor leagues in the Boston Red Sox organization. Evans also coached under former Samford head coach Pat Sullivan at UAB.

He was the defensive coordinator for Hoover High School and Mountain Brook High School before taking over at Vestavia Hills. In four seasons at Vestavia, Evans is 30-17 and went 9-3 this season. The Rebels season ended in the quarterfinals of the 7A Playoffs this past season. It is a big jump from high school football to college, could Samford look to one of their own?

Jimbo Fisher - former Texas A&M Head Coach

Oh speaking of one of their own, here is Jimbo Fisher. Will Fisher be the next head coach at Samford? Probably not, but he has to be included. As part of the $77 million buyout that Texas A&M owes Fisher, he will get $7.2M annually until 2031. Fisher starred at Samford as a player where he holds multiple school records in just his one season in Homewood

What would be the Samford pitch to the 1987 Division III Player of the Year? Come save your alma mater and get to coach your son who is a kicker on the Samford team. You have to be sure that Samford called to gauge any interest whatsoever and that probably went nowhere. However, could you imagine Samford football head coach Jimbo Fisher?

Alex Mortensen - UAB interim head coach

Mortensen fits the mold of a young coach who has some head coaching experience. However that head coaching experience just includes four games of experience leading UAB post the firing of Trent Dilfer (you will not find Dilfer on this list, thanks but no thanks). Mortensen started his playing career at Arkansas. He then transferred to Samford and was on the Bulldogs roster for one season before he Marfo’d back to Arkansas.

He is 1-3 since taking over for Dilfer and could find himself in line to keep the job permanently at UAB. Could Martin Newton look the way of Mortensen who has been in the city since 2022?

Kaleb Nobles - West Florida (D-II) head coach

A name who probably is not on the radar of football fans in the state of Alabama is Kaleb Nobles. Nobles is in his third season at West Florida and 24-7 including a 9-0 record this season. He is extremely young at 31 years old but has West Florida rolling this season. UWF is ranked fourth in the country in Division II.

Nobles obviously has head coaching experience but may be too young to move up a level at this stage in his career. He played his final season at West Florida also so he is at his alma mater. Keep an eye out in the future for a coach like Nobles.

Russ Callaway - Florida Offensive Coordinator 

The only coach on this list without head coaching experience is Russ Callaway. Callaway is an Alabama native and played collegiately at Valdosta State (sound familiar?) He spent five seasons on staff at Samford under Chris Hatcher coaching wide receivers and quarterbacks. Callaway was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2018.

He may not have that coveted head coaching experience but players enjoyed playing for him. Callaway knows the Samford community and knows the surrounding areas for recruiting players. Also just look at how he helped develop Samford legend Devlin “Duck” Hodges when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

It remains to be seen where Samford will look to find their next head coach. It could very well come from this list or an outsider could emerge as the choice.

Remember the general public did not have any inclination on who the next men’s basketball coach was going to be before Lennie Acuff was announced.

Could the Samford Scoop Search Firm get another hit? We will all find out together.