Josh Adkins didn’t like to dip his toe into the water as a kid.
“I was the first to run and jump in,” he said.
The former Gallatin assistant must keep doing that. He was announced as Franklin’s new football coach Wednesday and is now in charge of breaking Admirals from their 3-27 slump over the past three seasons.
“When you sit down and evaluate the talent and the facilities and the administrative support you have at this school, it’s not as big of a rebuild as it may seem,” Adkins said. “We want to focus on the little things that have prevented them from being successful in the past. I’m going to hang my hat on great effort and energy. We’re going to build relationships that last outside of football.”
Adkins, 34, replaces Alex Melton, who was fired in the middle of last season after the school’s 21st consecutive loss. Melton went 1-26 in two seasons.
That didn’t deter Adkins.
“(For) my first head coaching job I could’ve pursued a 2A or 4A school but that’s not who I am,” he said. “My wife (Jennifer) is from Franklin and her family is in Franklin, so to me it was a no-brainer to go all out for this position.”
Adkins has been Gallatin’s defensive and special teams coordinator the past five seasons while working as the school’s wrestling coach. Gallatin went 7-4 and lost to Class 6A state runner-up Oakland in the first round of the state football playoffs last season.
After college, he was co-offensive coordinator at Stratford for two seasons under Metro Nashville Public Schools coaching legend Maurice Fitzgerald. He also has worked with Fitzgerald’s son, Buck, at National Playmakers Academy, a business that trains high school football players.
Franklin received between 60-70 applications during its three-month long search, athletic director Jay Johnson said. Finding someone who could increase participation, which has fallen below standard, and inject energy back into the program was the primary goal.
“We are having trouble getting kids to play multiple sports,” Johnson said. “We think Josh will do a great job getting kids out there who need to be there.”
More: How Franklin football responded to a difficult week after Alex Melton’s dismissal as coach
More: Franklin football snaps 22-game losing streak by ending Mt. Juliet’s undefeated start
Johnson noted that “a lot of people in Franklin are really concerned about (kids playing college sports)” and that Adkins’ connections to college coaches gave him an advantage. He has been a graduate assistant at McNeese State and MTSU and was a full-time assistant at Florida Tech, which dropped football amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Admirals, who were Class 5A state runners-up in 2004 and 2008, will return their most productive offensive player, rising senior quarterback Brewer Wilson, who threw for 845 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions last season.
Adkins wants to keep current assistant coaches on staff. Among them are quarterbacks coach Kerry Collins, who led the New York Giants to the 2001 Super Bowl and finished his career with the Tennessee Titans.
Former Franklin head coach Donnie Webb, the Admirals’ coach before Melton, is also on staff. Webb went 59-43 in nine seasons, taking the Admirals to the state playoffs in seven of those years before stepping down as coach. He took over for the remainder of last season and the team snapped a 22-game losing streak by defeating Mt. Juliet.
“We’re in a group message right now and setting up meeting times to gauge their interest,” Adkins said. “The coaches who want to be here, I would be excited for them to be here. I’m not going to clean house or anything like that.”
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at [email protected] and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
2024-01-04 01:18:45
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