Salukis hope to spoil home debut of new Samford head coach John Grass
- Tom Weber
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 55 minutes ago
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — New Samford head coach John Grass (rhymes with with moss) grew up on a dirt road 40 miles from campus and said the program can recruit all the players it needs within a three-to-five hour drive. At his opening press conference last December, he declared, “you can win and play for championships at Samford.”
Grass should know. He brought home six conference championships during eight seasons as head coach at Jacksonville State (2014-21). His 72-26 record at JSU included a trip to the FCS championship game in 2015, a season in which he was named national coach-of-the-year. He also recorded a stunning upset win at Florida State in 2021. Grass has spent the last four seasons on the staff at Clemson.
“I have tons of respect for their coaching staff,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “Coach Grass is a veteran coach, who’s taken over a team with a lot of new players. They're going to show a lot of growth from game to game. They're going to be a disciplined, well-coached team. He calls the plays on offense and has always done a great job.”
Grass is the 37th head coach for a program that began in 1903. Samford was Division III until joining the FCS in 1989. Since that time, the Bulldogs have made six playoff appearances, most recently in 2022, in which they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to North Dakota State.
Game Facts
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
Kickoff: 6 PM CT
Location: Birmingham, AL
Facility: Pete Hannah Stadium (6,700)
Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM
TV: ESPN+
Series: First meeting
Spread: Southern Illinois -26.5
Weather: Low 90s, partly cloudy, winds 7 mph
First and Ten
Samford is a private Christian university in an inner suburb of Birmingham with an enrollment of 6,324.
The school has produced a pair of NFL quarterbacks. Kansas City Chiefs backup Chris Oladokun played three seasons for the Bulldogs (2019-21) before transferring to South Dakota State. Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Devlin Hodges started four seasons at Samford (2015-18) and won the Payton Award in 2018.
The Bulldogs were independent members of the FCS from 1989 to 2002. Since that time, they have been members of the Ohio Valley Conference (2003-07) and Southern Conference (2008-present)
Football coaching legend Bobby Bowden played at Samford in the 1950s.
Samford plays two guarantee games this season — at UAB (Oct. 3) and at Auburn (Nov. 21).
SIU is making only its second trip to the state of Alabama. In 1991, the Salukis lost at Troy, 37-13
Samford Notebook
The Bulldogs fired head coach Chris Hatcher following a 1-11 season in 2025.
Samford has lost its last six games, including their 2026 opener at North Alabama, 22-10
Oregon State transfer Gabarri Johnson is the team’s starting quarterback and completed 19-of-33 passes for 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception at UNA. He also ran for 34 yards.
Johnson started three games for the Beavers in 2025 and completed 61-of-99 passes for 503 yards.
Grass brought an elite weapon with him from Clemson in WR Marquise Henderson. The sophomore caught five passes in the opener for 151 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown reception.
Preseason all-conference WR Preston Bird had four catches for 32 yards.
Samford finished with minus-10 yards rushing in the game. Johnson was sacked six times for a loss of 44 yards, which accounts for the negative rushing yards.
Quoting Samford Coach John Grass
On the North Alabama game: “It's a good indicator of where we're at. Ability-wise, I was concerned coming in, where do we stack up talent-wise? We're not far off. I felt good about that. Our guys played the game like we wanted to play it. We played physical. We played tough. We played with great effort. I'm excited about this team and what they're doing. We're not necessarily disappointed in our start.”
On QB Gabarri Johnson: "I don't think Gabarri could have played much better. He protected the ball. He made some throws. When he had time, he was very efficient. He's an accurate guy, a good decision-maker, gets the ball where it's supposed to go. They gave us a little problem with twists and stuff up front, but he made some plays with his legs scrambling.”
Southern Illinois Notebook
The Salukis dropped to No. 25 in the AFCA poll after losing their opener at West Florida, 34-31.
SIU out-gained the Argos, 403-335, but lost the turnover battle, 4-3.
Last season, Southern scored a touchdown on its opening drive in 11 out of 12 games. At West Florida, the Salukis were held to three, first-half field goals.
Starting QB DJ Williams left the game with a knee injury, early in the second quarter. He rushed for 46 yards and passed for 19 yards in the contest.
Jake Curry relieved Williams and was 13-of-29 passing for 153 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs.
Southern trailed at one point, 27-9, before cutting the deficit to 27-24 on a Curry 19-yard touchdown run.
LB Ben Fiegel led the team with 8 tackles. He also forced a fumble, recovered two fumbles, and broke up two passes.
Making his Saluki debut, K Seth Adams was 3-of-4 on field goal tries. He hit a 50 yarder to become the 11th player in school history to make a field goal from 50+ .
Eight players made their first-career start at SIU: WR Allen Middleton, WR Kyle Thomas, C Ethan Goodin, LG Kellen Francis, DE Ibrahim Sanogo, DT Lance Bassett, CB Cam Cason and S Rue Jackson. Thomas recorded his first two career touchdown catches.
Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill
On DJ Williams: “He’s week-to-week. He'll be back sometime in the near future and we'll be behind DJ and support him.”
On Jake Curry: “He's the ultimate competitor. He reminds me of Nic Baker. Smaller in stature, but is just a competitive guy. He started five games as a freshman, and he took all the “1” reps last spring, so he has a lot of banked reps. I think that gives him a lot of confidence.”
On LB Ben Fiegel: “He just has the football mentality, and he's super coachable. Football's a developmental sport, and he's just honed in and gotten better each year.”
On K Seth Adams: "He's probably got the strongest leg of any kicker that we've had here. The 50-yarder would have been good from 60. He hit from 62 twice in warmups.”
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