Pinson Valley's Sam Shade Named 6A Coach Of The Year

PINSON VALLEY, AL — After leading his team to a state championship earlier in the month, Pinson Valley head coach Sam Shade was named the Class 6A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Football Coaches Association.

In Shade's first year as head coach, he led the Indians to a 12-2 season, culminating ion a 23-13 victory over Spanish Fort in the state championship game in Tuscaloosa.

Shade will be honored at the annual ALFCA Coach of the Year Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 11:15 a.m. The banquet will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Montgomery

The winners were nominated by their peers, recommended by a committee and certified by a vote of the ALFCA Board of Directors.

After a standout collegiate career at the University of Alabama, Shade was drafted in the fourth round in the 1995 NFL Draft. Shade played defensive back for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins from 1995-2002.

After retiring from playing, Shade began a coaching career that included college assistant coaching jobs at Samford University and Georgia State University. Before joining Pinson Valley, Shade had been an assistant with the Cleveland Browns.