1– Radford native Cleive Adams has been named the head football coach at Ferrum College.
Ferrum College Director of Athletics John Sutyak has announced the hiring of Radford native Cleive Adams as the college’s new head football coach.
Ferrum is a private college in Ferrum, Va. The Panthers play their athletics in the NCAA’s Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference,
Adams has spent the past six years as head coach at Averett University. In his six seasons at Averett, he posted a 30-29 career coaching record, including a 26-14 mark in his last four seasons. He coached 49 USA South All-Conference, 22 VaSID All-State, 13 D3football.com National Player of the Week, 11 Roanoke Times All-State, six CoSIDA Academic All-District and three VaSID Academic All-State selections. Adams also coached two D3football.com All-Americans and one USA South Defensive Rookie of the Year.
"I am excited to welcome Cleive Adams back to Ferrum as our new head football coach," said Sutyak. Adams had previously served two stints (2003-2004 and (2207-2013) at Ferrum as an assistant coach. His second stint was spent as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator.
"It was critical that we identified someone who is of high character, that can positively mentor our current and future football student-athletes and who not only knows Ferrum, but embraces who we are and can effectively recruit and retain high level students and football players to the college,” Sutyak said. “Cleive fits those traits and has a proven record of success in his tenure as the head coach at Averett. We are excited that he will be leading the Black Hats into the future and work toward our ultimate goal of competing for the ODAC championship."
Adams also served as an assistant football coach and special teams’ coordinator at Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) member Washington and Lee University from 2005 to 2006.
"It’s an absolute honor to be named head football coach at Ferrum," said Adams. "To be a part of a program with such a rich tradition represents an awesome opportunity. I’m looking forward to a new beginning with my alma mater and a productive partnership with the Ferrum athletics department and campus community."
A native of Radford, Adams played football at Ferrum under legendary Coach Hank Norton in 1988 and 1989. Both seasons culminated with the Panthers making appearances in the NCAA Div. III national semifinals.
After stepping away from school to start a family, he returned to Ferrum in the late 1990s to resume work on his degree, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation and leisure with a minor in psychology in 2002. In 2019, Adams was named to the Ferrum College Alumni Sports Hall of Fame.
Adams becomes Ferrum’s eighth head football coach in the 65-year history of the program. He succeeds Rob Grande, who stepped down earlier this month to accept a position with the Iowa State University football coaching staff.
