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National Signing Day for football was much different in 2023 than it was last year for Miles head coach Sam Shade.
"What a difference a year makes. I officially became the head coach here at Miles College on Friday January 28, 2022. Signing day was five days later. So, we did not sign anyone on February 2, 2022," Shade said on Thursday. "We took our time and tried to find the best available players that had not signed. It was really tough putting a class together last year. However, having a full recruiting cycle was huge for us this year."
Given the opportunity to compete for some of the top players in this year's recruiting class, Shade and his staff are satisfied with their current haul of student-athletes who have signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Golden Bears program
"We are very happy with our 2023 signing class. We signed 19 new student-athletes on yesterday and today. 17 of those players are high school seniors and two are junior college transfers. Back in December during the early signing period we signed 13 other student-athletes. One of those was a high school senior that graduated in December and enrolled here at Miles College in January. I am still a big believer in recruiting high school student-athletes and then shaping, molding ,and developing them into the players that you want them to be."
Coming off of a tough 2022 campaign, Shade knew there were a lot of areas where the Golden Bears could use the infusion of new talent.
"Our focus in recruiting was to fill the needs that we had talent-wise and depth-wise at certain positions. However, we did not just go out and sign guys off of their high school game film and highlights," Shade said. "Our goal was to sign talented football players that would be a good fit for our football team and Miles College, not only athletically, but also academically and socially. We talked to as many people as we could during the recruiting process. We talked to coaches, principals, school counselors and even school resource officers."
Of the 19 that signed with Miles this week, offensive line, defensive back and tight end were the most populated positions. But in building his class, Shade delved into other positions with his mid-year transfers that came from other four-year colleges, two-year colleges and prep schools.
"I always enjoyed that process (of recruiting high schoolers) as a college assistant coach for nine years. However, at some positions we needed some immediate help so, we signed transfer student-athletes with post high school football playing experience that we feel can come in and play for us now rather than later."
2023 SIGNING CLASS (links are to player highlights)
NAME POS HT WT HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Nick Brown DB 6-1 165 Atlanta, GA/South Atlanta HS
Roderick Campbell OL 6-3 260 Birmingham, AL/Parker HS
Derrick Davis RB 5-8 185 Pleasant Grove, AL/Pleasant Grove HS
Terel Dewberry WR 6-0 175 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Martavius Evans DL 6-1 265 Waynesboro, MS/Southwest Mississippi CC
Ryan Hardman OL 6-2 260 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Damien Hart LB 6-0 195 Troy, AL/Charles Henderson HS
Jeremiah Hudson DB 5-10 175 Fairfield, AL/Fairfield HS
Cameron Long ATH 5-7 170 Daphne, AL/Daphne HS
Jacob Mahand DB 6-2 175 Birmingham, AL/Shades Valley HS
Kyan Maloy DB 6-0 185 Tuskegee, AL/Beauregard HS
Marquez Mobley TE 6-3 210 Phenix City, AL/Central HS
TJ Murray TE 6-2 200 Marietta, GA/Kell HS
Jamari Riley RB 5-8 180 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Arnnell Person TE 6-3 220 Tallahassee, FL/Rickards HS
Roderick Thomas RB 6-0 205 McCalla, AL/McAdory HS
Sam Thompson OL 6-4 270 Pleasant Grove, AL/Pleasant Grove HS
Carmelo Turner OL 6-2 280 Atmore, AL/Escambia County HS
Malik Woods LB 5-11 190 Huntsville, AL/Huntsville HS
National Signing Day for football was much different in 2023 than it was last year for Miles head coach Sam Shade.
"What a difference a year makes. I officially became the head coach here at Miles College on Friday January 28, 2022. Signing day was five days later. So, we did not sign anyone on February 2, 2022," Shade said on Thursday. "We took our time and tried to find the best available players that had not signed. It was really tough putting a class together last year. However, having a full recruiting cycle was huge for us this year."
Given the opportunity to compete for some of the top players in this year's recruiting class, Shade and his staff are satisfied with their current haul of student-athletes who have signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Golden Bears program
"We are very happy with our 2023 signing class. We signed 19 new student-athletes on yesterday and today. 17 of those players are high school seniors and two are junior college transfers. Back in December during the early signing period we signed 13 other student-athletes. One of those was a high school senior that graduated in December and enrolled here at Miles College in January. I am still a big believer in recruiting high school student-athletes and then shaping, molding ,and developing them into the players that you want them to be."
Coming off of a tough 2022 campaign, Shade knew there were a lot of areas where the Golden Bears could use the infusion of new talent.
"Our focus in recruiting was to fill the needs that we had talent-wise and depth-wise at certain positions. However, we did not just go out and sign guys off of their high school game film and highlights," Shade said. "Our goal was to sign talented football players that would be a good fit for our football team and Miles College, not only athletically, but also academically and socially. We talked to as many people as we could during the recruiting process. We talked to coaches, principals, school counselors and even school resource officers."
Of the 19 that signed with Miles this week, offensive line, defensive back and tight end were the most populated positions. But in building his class, Shade delved into other positions with his mid-year transfers that came from other four-year colleges, two-year colleges and prep schools.
"I always enjoyed that process (of recruiting high schoolers) as a college assistant coach for nine years. However, at some positions we needed some immediate help so, we signed transfer student-athletes with post high school football playing experience that we feel can come in and play for us now rather than later."
2023 SIGNING CLASS (links are to player highlights)
NAME POS HT WT HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Nick Brown DB 6-1 165 Atlanta, GA/South Atlanta HS
Roderick Campbell OL 6-3 260 Birmingham, AL/Parker HS
Derrick Davis RB 5-8 185 Pleasant Grove, AL/Pleasant Grove HS
Terel Dewberry WR 6-0 175 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Martavius Evans DL 6-1 265 Waynesboro, MS/Southwest Mississippi CC
Ryan Hardman OL 6-2 260 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Damien Hart LB 6-0 195 Troy, AL/Charles Henderson HS
Jeremiah Hudson DB 5-10 175 Fairfield, AL/Fairfield HS
Cameron Long ATH 5-7 170 Daphne, AL/Daphne HS
Jacob Mahand DB 6-2 175 Birmingham, AL/Shades Valley HS
Kyan Maloy DB 6-0 185 Tuskegee, AL/Beauregard HS
Marquez Mobley TE 6-3 210 Phenix City, AL/Central HS
TJ Murray TE 6-2 200 Marietta, GA/Kell HS
Jamari Riley RB 5-8 180 Columbus, GA/Carver HS
Arnnell Person TE 6-3 220 Tallahassee, FL/Rickards HS
Roderick Thomas RB 6-0 205 McCalla, AL/McAdory HS
Sam Thompson OL 6-4 270 Pleasant Grove, AL/Pleasant Grove HS
Carmelo Turner OL 6-2 280 Atmore, AL/Escambia County HS
Malik Woods LB 5-11 190 Huntsville, AL/Huntsville HS