Samford Embraces a Fresh Start Under John Grass
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 15, 2026
Certainly the disappointing 2025 season endured by the Samford football team not has completely melted away.
“You know, we went 1-11 and they're kinda using that to push us a little bit,” said Samford center Noah Watts, a Thompson High product, who started the first eight games last year before getting hurt. “But also, like, we gotta forget about it, 'cause our DNA is not in 1-11. It's in God.”
Samford head coach John Grass wasn’t in Homewood for the difficult season. Grass took over after the season following the firing of Chris Hatcher after 11 year at the school. He hasn’t spent much time dissecting what happened a year ago.
“We just look forward,” Grass said on Friday during the Bulldogs Media Day press conference. “We kind of have a windshield mentality and you don't look in the rearview mirror, you know? So, you know, we just move forward with everything. Me and Coach Hatcher and a lot of that staff are great friends, kind of lifelong friends. I think he's a great coach. I mean sometimes things just don't go your way, ball don't bounce your way. I think they had a really young football team last year and I'm not gonna sit here and analyze the season they had or anything. I said we've not talked about that.”
Instead, they’ve talked about a new beginning.
“It's a new era and we've built on the positive because the only thing you're ultimately in control of is the day you got,” Grass said. “You can't worry about tomorrow. You can't worry about yesterday. Yesterday's gone and tomorrow hasn't got here. We just kind of live in the present and I think this bunch has done a really, really good job of living in the present and maximizing just winning the day and getting better every day. That's where development happens. It doesn't happen overnight. You don't get a 50 percent better. You get a lot better by getting better one percent every day and this bunch has bought into that. I love the mentality of this team. You know, the effort's great. Our attitude, I couldn't ask for it to be any better. And, and our toughness, we're developing that every day mentally and physically.”
Grass returns to the head coaching world for the first time since ending a successful eight-year run at Jacksonville State in 2021. Before that he spent 22 years as a head coach and assistant in the Alabama high school ranks. After leaving Jacksonville State, Grass worked with the offense under Dabo Swinney at Clemson for four seasons.
Now he’s back to leading a program.
“You can't really sum it up into words, but it's been really good to be back in the head coaching position,” Grass said. “That's where I've been most of my career and just felt like it's a calling to me to be leading people. It's been really, really fun to do that and get a staff together that are all like-minded pulling the rope the same way. They're a pleasure to work with. I got some really good young rock stars (on the staff). I got some older veteran guys that are, really good mentors for those guys.”
His staff includes veteran coaches like defensive coordinator Mickey Conn, a former University of Alabama player who had a successful high school coaching career in Georgia before moving on to Clemson as an assistant coach, and former Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow, who serves as the Chief of the Offense. The “young rock stars” include coaches’ relatives Drew Swinney (wide receivers), Cally Chizik (safeties), Tyler (nickels) and Jake Venables (strength and conditioning) and Paul Tyson (quarterbacks).
Put it all together and there is plenty of optimism coming out of Grass’ first fall camp at Samford. Thoe work will be on display when the Bulldogs open the season on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. against UNA at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville.
“It's been good, it’s been a long camp,” Grass said. “We’ll start school a little bit later on the week we play UNA, so it's a long camp. Guys have done really, really well. The transformation since January has been really unbelievable, physically, mentally, just everywhere with all the work these guys have put in. One of my more favorite groups that I've worked with in 38 years of coaching. It's a pleasure to work with them every day, make my job easy. Our staff's done a tremendous job of just developing these young men and the buy-in has been unbelievable. It's been hot. It's been one of the hotter years in recent past that I can remember. I think a couple of days we practiced on that turf, it was about 150-160 degrees. They've just done really, really well.”