Samford hopes early practices will lead to early success in 2025 season

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 1, 2025

Samford football is beating the heat this week with early practices during the opening of fall camp. In fact, the Bulldogs are through with the on-the-field practice sessions not long after the sun has risen.

Samford head coach Chris Hatcher felt the early practice showed it was helpful on Wednesday.

“Looked a lot better than we did on day one,” said Hatcher, whose team opened fall camp on Monday. “We knew where to go, we started faster in our transitions though the course of practice, got good competition, a lot of learning. Right now we went a little earlier today due to the heat advisory this afternoon. I think that helped us a little bit towards the latter part of practice. And (we’re) still early working ourself into shape. But all in all a good second day, much better than day one.”

Samford is looking to bounce back from a 4-7 season that included several close losses. Quarterback Quincy Crittendon, who is returning for his second season as the team’s starting quarterback, is a member of the Walter Payton Award watch list. The award is given to the country’s top FCS offensive player. Crittendon accounted for 3,075 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.

On the other side of the ball, Fordham graduate transfer cornerback Nahil Perkins was placed on the Buck Buchanan Award watch list earlier this week. The award is given to the top FCS defensive player in the quarterbacks. Perkins was also selected as a preseason All-America by Stats Perform earlier this month. The 6-foot, 178-pound Perkins, who is from Douglasville, Ga., has 129 tackles, nine interceptions and 40 pass breakups in his career. He had five interceptions last season.

But preseason watch lists aren’t the focus right now. Getting better is the task, beginning with Friday morning’s practice.

“Just continue to improve,” Hatcher said when asked what areas his team needed to work on. “There's nothing in particular. We need to improve real physicality or execution. We'll put the pads on. So we'll get to see what a few guys, especially the front line, O-line and D-line, can do.”