There’s something missing as teachers and students return to the hallways of Nottingham High this month. Things seem just a bit quieter. More quiet, in fact, than they have been in 33 years.
Oh wait. That’s right!
For the first time since 1990, the gregarious personae of Jon “Big Dawg” Adams is no longer blanketing the school. The booming voice that was so familiar on the football field, track, basketball court and all throughout the corridors has gone quiet after Adams stepped down as Nottingham’s athletic director in June. He is now serving as an assistant Ewing football coach under former Northstars player Ross Maddalon.
After 29 years of coaching, the Cowboy fan enjoyed his four years as AD as much as watching an Eagles highlight film. And while he won’t miss the job, he will surely miss the school.
“It is very tough to leave the students, parents and families, staff and administration of Nottingham,” the Big Dawg said. “Those folks were my extended family. I love that I worked in the very neighborhood that I grew up in.
“I was teaching the children of people I grew up with, and then started teaching and coaching their kids. I grew up on Klockner Road. I played my little league football games at Nottingham (in the Hamilton Football League). It is a special community and I love the people. I am the original Klockner Road Kid.”
The only thing that made his departure bearable was exiting a job he disliked.
“Leaving was very hard as far as the school is concerned,” he said. “As far as AD is concerned, it was the right move because I was miserable! I was there more than when I was coaching three sports. On weekends the phone was always ringing or beeping with 25 text messages. It was just not for me.”
Coaching has always been in Adams’ blood. After playing wide receiver/tight end at Steinert and Glassboro State (now Rowan), Adams immediately became a volunteer assistant coaching defensive backs at Glassboro. He returned to Steinert and was head freshman football coach from 1987-89. He also coached wrestling and track.
From there, he was strictly a Blue & Gold man, and admitted that he doesn’t really feel like a Steinert grad after all those years up the street.
“No, I don’t, but those friendships and the connection I have with (former Steinert coaches) Steve Simek, Roger Bigos, David McWilliams, Del Hood, Ralph Delibero and Jim Fazzone can never be broken,” Adams said. “They took care of me. They were my mentors. They helped me all throughout my career. I am not where I am today without those men.”
“We had 645 seniors in my graduating class (there was no Nottingham then) and it was hard to feel like a part of the school when you only spent mornings there. I was on the practice/game field or in the weight room the other part of the day.”
In 1990 the Big Dawg moved up Klockner Road and took over for Glenn Sliker, who had run the varsity football program for all but one year since the school opened in 1982. No one could guess that the Northstars wouldn’t need a new man for the next three decades.
That’s what happens when a guy creates an atmosphere that folks enjoy.
“Jon meant everything to Northstar football and to the school,” long-time assistant Keith Zimmerman said. “Before I got to Nottingham to coach, the stories I’d hear from his former players about the love and passion he had for it is what brought me to coach there. I wanted to be around a program that was a family and Jon instilled that, from the coaches to the players.”
Head football coach Milo McGuire, a former assistant who took over in 2019, felt that “Jon taught me the multi-faceted approach that you needed to be equipped with in order to thrive in the Nottingham culture. When he brought me in, he taught me valuable lessons about life, coaching, and how to exist within both.”
He taught his players the same thing. When asked via Facebook to provide a few comments on Adams, former star receiver Robert Wiggs responded with a short novel. He couldn’t say enough good things.
“He was like a father figure to many of us; from what he taught us on and off the field, how to be a man, how to present yourself in public and if we didn’t do those things there were consequences just like there would be in real life,” said the two-time Mercer County Player of the Year. “He prepared us for life after football. A lot of us didn’t have that kind of figure in our life and he helped fill that void.”
Melissa “Shop ‘N Bag” Persichetti has been a student and coach at Nottingham since 1997 and worked with Adams on the track & field team. She saw his impact as a student and colleague.
“His commitment to the Northstar community is admirable,” Persichetti said. “He devoted over 30 years to Nottingham student-athletes. He has encouraged, supported, and inspired many.”
Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick, who has taken sports photos at Nottingham since before Adams arrived, became one of the coach’s best friends. The two visited faraway stadiums for big-time college football games and have an unbreakable bond. Kirkpatrick echoed Wiggs’ thoughts.
“What has impressed me most were his former players coming back to see him,” the Mogul said. “They have the ultimate respect for the role he played in their lives. These are players he had from all 30 years.”
Along with shaping their personal lives, Adams was also a pretty good coach. He finished with a 157-147-4 record, guiding Nottingham to 13 state playoff appearances, two state sectional finals and one state sectional title.
The Stars played their first-ever playoff game in 1993. In 2005 Nottingham went 10-2 and made its first state finals appearance before losing to Ocean. The Northstars went 32-11 from 2010-13 and upset defending champion Neptune in the 2012 Central Jersey Group III title game. Nottingham won a school record 11 games that year. The Stars went 22-8 over Adams’ final three seasons, and his son Stephen played on the state championship team.
In a span of just six years — 2008-13 — Adams’ produced the Mercer County Player of the Year four times with Kendrick Williams, Wiggs (twice) and Saquan Hampton. He was named Coach of the Year by one Trenton paper or the other five different seasons, and won the distinguished Clarence O’Shea Coach’s Award in 2012.
Wiggs felt the secret to Adams’ success went beyond Xs and Os. He made players want to play for him.
“As a young guy you wanted to prove to him you were one of those dudes he could lean on,” Wiggs said. “If he asked us to run through five walls we all would line up to attempt it. Coach was very tough, he demanded greatness everyday on the field and off the field as a young man, because he knew in life you would be challenged.”
Adams said that without a doubt the football championship was his greatest accomplishment, and noted it was made extra special by the fact he survived a cancer scare the same year. With the aid of wife Elaine — a constant fixture at Nottingham athletic events — Adams came out on top.
“I needed two kidneys,” he recalled. “The first quack told me he was just going to cut it out. We left that appointment in shock. Elaine saved my life by getting on the computer that night and finding Dr. Allan Wein and before I knew it he had me back on the sidelines in time for seven-on-sevens at Notre Dame. Dr. Wein saved my kidney and thus, my life.”
And while football will be Adams’ main legacy, his impact on Nottingham went well beyond the gridiron. He had two different stints totaling 18 years as an assistant basketball coach, was boys head track & field coach for 10 years and assistant for another 11 and spent three years as head indoor track coach. Adams was also the volunteer strength program supervisor for 29 years.
Adams helped guide Northstar track & field teams to two outdoor Mercer County titles and one indoor, and two outdoor sectional championships. Persichetti was right there with him.
“His knowledge, passion and genuine care for his athletes is inspirational,” she said. “His core belief was always to improve the lives of his athletes and guide them to success. He has made a tremendous impact on the Nottingham community and furthermore on the lives of many Northstars.”
Adams went into his athletic director job with his usual zeal. But when Covid struck during his first year-and-a-half, the thrill was gone due to all the cancellations and restrictions. “I lost the excitement I had going into the job,” he said. “I knew my time was short. The pension numbers just had to work. Elaine finally agreed this (past) winter and I made the decision to retire and get back to doing what I love — coaching.”
He may be gone, but his influence will remain for some time.
“No question, he put Nottingham athletics on the map,” Kirkpatrick said. “His success in football and track took us from the bottom of the pile in all sports to one of the most respected schools in the area.”
Wiggs added that “I remember we used to get laughed at when we ran at track meets. Now everybody knows when Nottingham is running to find a seat to watch the show. You see his fingerprints all over the athletic programs. He was very supportive of other sports and made sure we supported other sports as well. We are thriving at an all-time high at Nottingham and have been producing athletes from the highest level on down.”
Adams did not want to single out any specific athletes or co-workers for fear of missing someone, but did provide a blanket thank you to all his “fellow Northstars.”
“I would not trade the past 33 years of my life for anything,” he said. “Nottingham is an awesome place to work. It never felt like work because of the people I encountered everyday. I love you all!”
McGuire probably summed it up best.
“Over the years, Jon has been synonymous with Nottingham,” he said. “You couldn’t think about Nottingham without thinking of him and the indelible mark that he has left on the school and the community.”
Jon Adams. (Photo by Wes Kirkpatrick.),
