Sam Shade and his Miles Golden Bears were hit with a nearly perfect storm during the 1-9 2022 season.

The former Pinson Valley High coach found the cupboard was missing the running back tandem that helped Miles to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game the season before.

“There were just a lot of pieces that were not there when I got there, and then you top that off by losing some guys in the transfer portal,” Shade said. “That hurt us, and also coming in late. Taking the job right before signing days (meant) not really being able to go out and recruit, not just high school kids but also some of those January transfers like we were able to get this year.”

College football season is approaching, and Alabama News Center is previewing the 2023 season. Next up is Miles College.

Alabama NewsCenter: What are the prospects for this season?

Sam Shade: I think we’re pretty optimistic. … We picked up some players in some of our needed positions. We had some holes and some needs after last season that we feel like we were able to go out and address through mid-year guys in January. We also signed some high school guys in February that we feel like are going to help us as we move forward. The question is, how soon will that happen? When you’ve got a lot of new faces, trying to get those guys to get on the same page and gel and come into our culture and start living and breathing that culture.

ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?

Shade: I feel like our offensive line. We only lost one starter from last year’s offensive line. He actually could have come back and played, but he graduated in May and decided to go off and work. But we’ve got a good group coming back. We’ve got some experience there and some leadership out of that group also, particularly out of a guy like Ty Lowery, who’s our center. He didn’t play last year, but he’s back. So that’s the group on offense that we feel like is going to have to lead us. On the opposite side of it, our defensive line played well at times. We had a lot of injuries in that group. That was one of the things that hurt us. After the first couple of games, we were kind of playing musical chairs.

Jaih Andrews, Miles’ leading receiver, is a preseason all-conference player. (Miles College Athletics)

Tackle Roosevelt Thompson is part of a strong defensive line for Miles, coach Sam Shade says. (Miles College Athletics)

Defensive end Jamichael Rogers was second in the conference in sacks last year. (Miles College Athletics)

Center Ty Lowery is a leader on this year’s Miles Golden Bears squad. (Miles College Athletics)

Tight end Travaunta Abner, a transfer from Carson-Newman, should give Miles a dimension it didn’t have last year, coach Sam Shade says. (Carson-Newman Athletics)

ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?

Shade: Obviously, those guys up front are big. I feel like it starts up front. Individually, Ty Lowery, who’s our center … is a leader who had a really good spring when I first got here and had another good spring. He’s all ready to go. He’s ready to come back and chomping at the bit to play. Also offensively, Jaih Andrews had a pretty good year for us at receiver. He’s a preseason all-conference guy. He was pretty much our leading receiver last year. We feel like he’s gonna pick up where he left off last year. At running back, we’ve actually got kind of a committee of guys, a couple of transfers that we feel like are really gonna help us. We signed three high school running backs that are all pretty good running backs. At the tight end position, we were able to bring in Travaunta Abner. He’s a transfer tight end that we feel like is gonna give us another dimension that we didn’t have last year at that position. In our quarterback situation, we went through spring practice and had some guys competing for that position. We still haven’t made a decision at that position after we lost Claude Newell last year in the first ball game for the season. He had an injury to his foot. We pretty much just played musical chairs with our guys as far as quarterbacks and just never really found that guy that could be consistent enough to help us win. This year, we’ve got a local kid, Kam Ivory from Ramsay High School in Birmingham. He actually transferred back to us from Alcorn State. We’ve also got Dexter Scott, who was on the team last year as a young quarterback. Dexter had a pretty good spring. He’s out of Mississippi. And then there’s also Edwin Kleinpeter, a grad transfer. Kleinpeter transferred this summer from Arkansas Monticello. Those three guys we feel like are gonna be competing for that starting job. I’m excited about the competition. Defensively, I really like our front four. At defensive end, Jamichael Rogers was second in the conference in sacks last year. He actually didn’t start the season right away. But after some injuries to a couple of seniors that were playing, he had to play a lot of football. We really liked the way he responded down the stretch. We feel like we got some bookends. We’ve got Baraskious (Roc) Dowdell. He’s an Alabama kid from Lanett, Alabama. He’s the other defensive end. Zion Sharpe is a local kid from Ramsay High School. He’s one of our defensive tackles; the other defensive tackle, Roosevelt Thompson, is from Dixons Mills, Alabama. Both of those guys are very athletic inside.

ANC: What game(s) do your fans have circled on your schedule?

Shade: Obviously for Miles fans, they’re always gonna have Tuskegee circled because they know we’re gonna play them every year. It’s kind of like Alabama-Auburn. It’s one of those rivalry games, so obviously the fans have that one circled. This will be the third year in a row that we go down to Montgomery and play Alabama State. That’s a local game with a lot of Miles people and Alabama State people. Obviously, I think that’s a game that people enjoy traveling down, maybe not just for the game but maybe for the festivities and all that stuff. For myself, the biggest one I’ve got is September 2, up in Memphis going up against Lane in a Labor Day Classic.

ANC: What is your lingering question?

Shade: I mentioned one earlier, the quarterback position. That’s still a competition.

Alabama News Center is posting season previews for all 16 college football programs in Alabama. Read previews for Birmingham-Southern College, the University of West Alabama, Jacksonville State University, the University of North Alabama, the University of South Alabama, Tuskegee University, UAB, Huntingdon College, Faulkner University, Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University and Samford University, and look for a new football preview each day through Friday.