The Boyle principal said the new coach not only needed to work well with other coaches, but he needed to fit in well in the overall school system.
"We wanted someone interested and willing to work with other programs. We want him to be visible at band competitions or out in the community promoting Boyle County," Thomas said.
Adams, a 1979 Mercer County graduate, was impressed by what he heard when he met with Boyle's interview committee that consisted of Thomas, football coach Larry French, and parents Nan Givhan and Glynn Perry.
"I was especially impressed with the parents on the committee. If that is indicative of parents in the community, that's great. They were both very personable and nice. Sometimes these interviews are not always nice, but this one was," Adams said. "There were questions they had that I anticipated knowing what I did about Boyle and what led to this point."
The path to coaching
Ronnie Bottoms resigned as Boyle's coach after the season. He led Boyle to the 2006 12th Region title but cited a lack of administrative support as a major reason for resigning.
Adams did his student teaching at Boyle, coached and taught three years at Harrodsburg High School and has been an athletics director at a Florida high school. He coached at Tennessee Wesleyan in Athens, Tenn., for 10 years before accepting a job offer four years ago to go into private business.
"He's had previous coaching experience with high school kids and him being out of coaching for four years was not a concern for the committee," Thomas said.
Adams said the interview committee, as well as Superintendent Steve Burkich, made it clear they felt Boyle should be an "elite team" in the 12th Region and one of the top two or three teams annually.
"I don't know if that is realistic or not because I have not seen the kids, but I would like to think it is realistic. But you want to go into a situation where there are expectations of success rather than find apathy," Adams said.
Others known to have interviewed for the job were former Boyle players Greg Edwards and Derek Springate, Mercer assistant coach Spencer Tatum and Henry County head coach Jason Holland. One other candidate also was interviewed but Thomas would not say who he was and logistics could not be worked out to interview a seventh candidate.
"The whole process was good. We had a good number of applicants for the job," Thomas said.
The principal said the ties Springate, an assistant coach at West Jessamine, and Edwards, an assistant at Boyle, had did not hurt or help them in the process.
"I think everyone with local ties had an equal opportunity. We stayed positive with everyone and took time to ask the same questions of each candidate," Thomas said. "We looked more at the attributes we wanted in the coach than we did at local ties."
Adams isn't sure what he'll do about a staff. He plans to ask Edwards, who worked under Bottoms at Boyle, to stay on staff.
"I would definitely want him if he's interested. He would bring a lot of positives," Adams said. "But things happened so quickly that I don't even know where things stand with a staff."
Adams planned to go to Boyle's baseball doubleheader Saturday to meet some players. He hopes to have a more formal meeting with players and parents this week.
"I'm anxious to get started and have a chance to meet the players and parents," Adams said. "There are a lot of things to get worked out and get going, but I'm happy to have the job and happy to have the opportunity to come back to this area and work.
