Sam Washington

Samuel Lee Washington Jr. (born March 7, 1960) is an American football coach and former defensive back who was the head football coach at North Carolina A&T State University. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Washington played college football at Mississippi Valley State. After signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent, he played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals from 1982 to 1985.

Washington has been a football coach since 1987, beginning as defensive backs coach at Bethune–Cookman. He later held defensive coordinator positions at multiple other historically black universities, including North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T, Mississippi Valley State, and Grambling State. Washington turned around a struggling defensive unit at Mississippi Valley State to one of the best in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and elevated the Grambling State defense to the upper tier of NCAA Division I FCS.

After seven seasons as defensive coordinator at North Carolina A&T, Washington became head coach in 2018. His first two seasons had a cumulative 19–5 record, back-to-back black college football national championships, and top 25 FCS rankings. After the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, the football program moved from its longtime home in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to the Big South Conference in 2021. Provided by Wikipedia