This Fall both Thomas Jefferson and Mills Godwin will have new coaches on the sidelines. Monday afternoon Mills Godwin announced the hiring of Coach PJ Adams as the 7th coach in the history of the program.

A great hire for the Eagles and a huge loss for the Vikings is an understatement but the move is not completely out of the blue. When the City of Richmond cancelled sports altogether during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Coach Adams like so many felt strongly against the move. While clearly no decision had been made until recently, he and his players knew his days at TJ were numbered. In fact, Coach Adams had been approached previously by other un-named schools but he was happy at TJ.

For Thomas Jefferson, this loss is huge as Coach Adams will go down as one of the most successful coaches in the history of the program, a history that dates back to the 1930's.

Keep in mind, the last time Coach Adams was on a sideline coaching, he was doing so in the state semifinals against Stuarts Draft. That 2019 season was a special season for the Vikings with a talented group led by Shamar Graham(Virginia Union) and Jalen Jones(Virginia Tech). This group won more games than any TJ team(11), won their first region tile ever while reaching the state semifinals for the first time ever. The team also scored 493 points, another feat not accomplished by prior TJ teams.

With a record of 25-13 Coach PJ Adams trails only Shelburn Carmack(89), Lloyd Swelnis(36) and Wat Fugate(28) in wins at Thomas Jefferson.

This is not the first time a coach has left Thomas Jefferson for another Colonial District team as Chad Hornik left TJ for Deep Run a year prior to Coach Adams arrival. These two resurrected a program that from 1998-2011 had 11 winless seasons and won no more than 3 games in a season.

For Coach Adams, leaving the program was not easy, he came to TJ with a 4-year plan and due to Covid-19 he was unable to complete the plan. He is however proud of not just the accomplishments referenced above but more for the fact of the young men he coached and helped get into college, not just Shamar Graham and Jalen Jones but so many others. As anyone knows, making that happen in the City of Richmond is a huge feat.

With what he was able to do in a short period of time, just 3 years he certainly leaves big shoes to fill and a certain expectation that students and fans did not have prior to his arrival.

The change in teams does not mean a change in color. Coach Adams sported red often at games and that is the predominant color at Mills Godwin.

Coach Adams is already looking forward to this coming Fall. I joked with him about scouting his opponents as he already knew the Eagles open the season against Patrick Henry. Coach Adams joked of never getting any easy openers, "my first game at TJ was against Goochland(perennial contender) and my first game at Godwin is against a tough and loaded Patrick Henry team". In the Patriots Coach Adams sees a team similar to that of Deep Run, a senior heavy team that will be a tough out for anyone.

But what about the Eagles? What was about it Godwin that made it attractive given they they are coming off two of their worst seasons in the history of the program?

Having coached in the Colonial, Coach Adams is very familiar with the program and remembers when they were one of the top teams in the Colonial.

"Coach Strine & Simonds did a great job at getting the numbers up over the previous seasons". Numbers that are translating to a strong group coming up. "Last years varsity team was young, only 6-7 seniors so there is potential" and couple that with a top-notch eighth grade class that will be coming up through the program over the next few years there is reason to believe better days are ahead for the program.

""At TJ there was a willingness to learn, I see that with the young men here(Godwin)".

It does not hurt that at Godwin there will be more players at the disposal of the coach and more resources that come from being at the county as opposed to the city.

Coach Adams will be going to work rather quick on turning this program around and it begins with a physical offensive line; something he saw in his last opponent, Stuarts Draft. He intends to run a pro based offense as opposed to the open spread we saw at TJ.

A simplistic approach to coaching, a simplistic plan that he hopes the kids will catch onto quick so that the Eagles can make the most of this coming Fall. With nothing to do this Spring but watch football games, Coach Adams observed many senior heavy teams within the Colonial. He looks to take advantage of the youth movement across the Colonial and be playing in November, something Coach Adams is very familiar with.

The future will Godwin and Coach Adams is looking much brighter with this union.