Georgetown coach Adams could be departing for Union County job

Bradley Adams let the call from Union County officials informing him he had been approved to take over the Yellow Jackets’ football program go to his voicemail.

The most successful football coach in Georgetown High School history was back in his native Loris for the funeral of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Pastor Owen Johnson. The intersection of life, death and football had crossed paths for Adams in a very short span. Just three weeks ago, Adams said, Johnson had told the football coach that something big was on the horizon.

And then last Friday, approximately 30 minutes before Johnson died, another conversation between the two included talk specific to the Union County opening.

“It is the right time when they’re calling and you’re pulling out of a funeral where they’re laying a man [in the ground]. It gives you chills,” Adams said. “It is a bittersweet day. This is someone who mentored me a lot. Now you have to go switch gears and get ready to take over a new job.”

Johnson’s obituary included his professional baseball career, and his passion for sports continued long after his time in the church began. In fact, he was instrumental in Adams instituting a week-long preseason camp at Grace Tabernacle each August.

Some of those days were certainly why Adams is leaving Georgetown in better shape than when he arrived in May 2010.

In his six seasons with the Bulldogs, Adams won more than twice the number of games than any other of the school’s previous 11 coaches, steered the team to the playoffs four times and had two of the best three individual seasons in 35 year of Georgetown football over the course of the last two falls.

It gained him some notice from around the state, including from the Union County school board. The Spartanburg Herald-Journal, first to report Adams as a finalist on Monday, also reported that the board unanimously approved Adams with 6-0 vote.

Georgetown Principal Craig Evans did not immediately return messages from The Sun News seeking comment as to the future of the school’s football team. However, former longtime Hemingway coach Ken Cribb is already on the staff, and Evans told The Georgetown Times that Cribb would assume the duties on interim basis. Cribb left Hemingway after 11 seasons as its head coach and 19 years overall last summer to become a Bulldogs assistant football coach and co-athletics director.

At Union County, Adams will be leading a program that will be in Class AAAA starting this fall as part of the South Carolina High School League’s initial year of a five-class system. The Yellow Jackets are in Class AAA this term. He will also serve as the school’s athletics director, something he did at Georgetown, while receiving a substantial pay raise.

After playing for the Class AAA state championship in 2012, the Yellow Jackets advanced to the Upper State finals last season after starting 0-4. It was announced in January that coach and famed former South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill would not be retained after going a 22-27 overall in four seasons. The search left Adams as a finalist alongside Chesnee’s Bill Owens and Hillcrest’s Greg Porter.

By Tuesday morning, reports circulated that Adams was the pick. It was a product of what was deemed a strong interview and a productive stint at Georgetown.

Almost immediately after he was hired away from a coordinator position at West Florence, Adams turned around a program that had won eight games in the three previous year. The Bulldogs went 5-5 in Adams’ inaugural season and were 40-27 overall in his six seasons. No other coach had spent more than four seasons at Georgetown, which opened in 1982. The three playoff victories – all of which came in the past two seasons – were also more than any of the school’s previous coaches.

Georgetown had five players named to the North-South All-Star football game between 2011-2014. That run included Michael Billings, Jordan Ward, Dillon Alford, Anthony Blair and Leeshawn Cromedy. Alford and Blair made the South team in 2012, the only time in school history two players made it in the same year.

Adams will have top-flight talent already on the roster at Union County. Rising senior Shi Smith is considered one of the best receivers in the country by multiple recruiting sites and currently holds offers from Clemson, South Carolina and Alabama.

There will be some logistical items for Adams to sort out, including his current contract and whether he will finish out the school year. He intends to start working at Union County as soon as possible, although he said it may be a few days before his timeline becomes more clear.

After all, less than an hour after Johnson’s funeral on Wednesday, Adams was still trying to tie all his emotions together.

“I’m just excited about the opportunity, just the level of football at Union that we’re going to be playing on is a great opportunity for me and my family,” Adams said. “Not only for my family, but everybody who has been involved in my life. … I feel like everything in your life happens for a reason.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Georgetown coach Adams could be departing for Union County job."