Dave Adams to depart Bluffton for homecoming as Prep’s football coach

In the context of a career coming full circle, it would be hard to imagine a more precise fit.

Dave Adams arrived at May River Academy in 1977 to coach football and other sports, forging success as the school transitioned into Hilton Head Prep. He left in 1986 for Hilton Head Island High, where he was a longtime assistant before moving to Bluffton High as head coach and athletics director.

Now the South Carolina native is getting back into coaching — at Hilton Head Prep.

“Who would have thought it?” Adams said Thursday after his hiring was formally announced. “Really, who gets the chance to do that? I couldn’t have written the script any better if I had done it myself.”

Adams will leave as Bluffton’s AD at the end of the school year, ending a 12-year run in a job that has known no other. He was interim AD as the school was laying the groundwork in 2003, even helping design the Bobcats’ athletic facilities and uniforms.

He also was Bluffton’s first football coach, juggling both duties for three years before stepping aside to focus on his administrative tasks. Even as he did, though, he never lost the passion to coach.

“I’m so excited,” Adams said. “Even the first three years at Bluffton High when I coached football and did the AD job at the same time, I couldn’t wait to put the whistle around my neck and get on the field. That’s always been the fun part.

“When people (tell me) congratulations on the new job, I say, ‘What job? I’m going to play now.’ ”

Adams replaces Kevin Wald, who departed in January to take the John Paul II program through its transition to 11-man football. Wald compiled a 26-17 record in four seasons at Prep, reaching the SCISA Class 1-A semifinals last fall.

When Wald informed Prep officials of his departure, athletics director Rich Basirico didn’t wait long before reaching out to an old friend.

“I knew he missed the coaching piece,” Basirico said. “He’s done an outstanding job as athletic director at Bluffton, but I knew he missed coaching. We had talked over the years that one day maybe we could make this work together again.”

Adams and Basirico go all the way back to the May River Academy days, where Basirico was Adams’ assistant during football season. In the winter, Basirico coached boys’ basketball while Adams coached the girls, and Adams coached track in the spring while Basirico handled baseball.

“We were a two-man show,” said Adams, who won a state football championship in 1981 and took two other teams to the title game. He also guided Prep to track championships in 1981 and ’82.

They discussed the job for the first time in February, but Adams couldn’t fully commit at that point and Prep still wanted to talk to other candidates. As time went on, though, Adams started to wonder if waiting was the right move.

“I had an uneasiness,” Adams said. “It was getting to the point where you say, ‘I made a wrong decision here.’ Within that four- or five-week period, I was not comfortable.”

On Monday, Basirico called to ask Adams to a meeting with Prep headmaster Jon Hopman. When they emerged, both men were smiling.

“I asked Dave, ‘Is this going to happen?’ ” Basirico said. “He said yes, and I gave him a big hug.”

Said Adams: “I was 100 percent certain about it by then.”

Adams also noted he’s reaching the end of his term under the district’s plan that allows employees to file retirement papers but stay on for an additional five years. At that point, further tenure is at the recommendation of the school principal.

Bluffton High principal Mark Dievendorf, though, is retiring himself and Adams would have to wait for a new principal to be hired.

“That’s where I said I need to be at Hilton Head Prep,” Adams said.

Now Adams will dust off his old playbooks, take insight gleaned from skull sessions over the years with Bobcats coach Ken Cribbs and get ready for his own spring practice next month.

“When I first retired from football nine years ago, I couldn’t watch football,” said Adams, who produced two playoff seasons at Bluffton after an 0-10 beginning. “I couldn’t watch on TV, I could hardly watch our own games. It was too painful. After a few years, I got back to watching.

“I missed the kids. Even though I was around all the games (at Bluffton), it’s not the same relationship as when you’re coaching the kids. I really look forward to getting back into that relationship with kids and being with them. That’s what I got into this whole thing for.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Dave Adams to depart Bluffton for homecoming as Prep’s football coach."