John Hobbs Adams (November 2, 1902 – September 24, 2002) was an American college football player and coach.[2] He served two tenures as football coach for the Kansas State Wildcats (separated by his service in World War II) and also coached high school football in San Diego.[2]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 2, 1902 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 24, 2002 (aged 99) |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1925 | USC |
| Baseball | |
| 1924–1925 | USC |
| Position(s) | End (football)[1] |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1935–1939 | USC (assistant) |
| 1940–1941 | Kansas State |
| 1942 | Jacksonville NAS |
| 1946 | Kansas State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 13–24–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
Playing career
editAdams grew up in San Diego and attended San Diego High School, where he starred in football, baseball, basketball and track, before graduating in 1922.[2] Adams went on to play at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he captained the 1925 Trojan football team and also played baseball.[3]
While playing on the USC football team in 1924, he was a key player[4] that helped the team defeat Syracuse by score of 16–0,[5] where future Kansas State head coach Pappy Waldorf was playing (Adams would later hold the head coaching position at Kansas State).
Coaching career
editAssistant coaching
editPrior to coaching at Kansas State, Adams was an assistant coach at the University of Southern California (USC) for five seasons[6] under Howard Jones.[7]
Kansas State
editAdams was the 18th head football coach for the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas and he held that position for three seasons: 1940, 1941, and then again in 1946 (Ward Haylett and Lud Fiser were head coaches from 1942 through 1945).[8] His overall coaching record at Kansas State was 4–21–2. The bright spots in his coaching career included a 1940 victory over the cross-state rival Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 20–0[9] and a 12–6 victory in the 1941 season over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.[10]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State Wildcats (Big Six Conference) (1940–1941) | |||||||||
| 1940 | Kansas State | 2–7 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1941 | Kansas State | 2–5–2 | 1–3–1 | 5th | |||||
| Jacksonville Naval Air Station Fliers (Independent) (1942) | |||||||||
| 1942 | Jacksonville NAS | 9–3 | |||||||
| Jacksonville NAS: | 9–3 | ||||||||
| Kansas State Wildcats (Big Six Conference) (1946) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Kansas State | 0–9 | 0–5 | 6th | |||||
| Kansas State: | 4–21–2 | 2–12–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 13–24–2 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ Berkeley Daily Gazette Nov 29, 1924
- ^ a b c "Hobbs Adams: San Diego Hall of Champions". Archived from the original (English) on July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ^ Berkeley Daily Gazette "Trojans to Start Baseball Practice" February 16, 1924
- ^ The Afro American "Colored Star Beat Syracuse" December 20, 1924
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Syracuse Yearly Results
- ^ The Rock Hill Herald[permanent dead link] "Birds-Kansas Clash Saturday" November 6, 1940
- ^ Berkeley Daily Gazette "Kansas State Hires Adams as Grid Coach" February 24, 1940
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Hobbs Adams Named Kansas State Coach" February 24, 1940
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine 1940 Kansas State Football results
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine 1941 Kansas State Football results