Why John Adams says time with ‘workaholic’ Dell McGee gives him an edge

Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Bradwell Institute coach John Adams, whose team is 4-2 in Adams’ first season after a 2-7 finish in 2025. Bradwell Institute defeated Brunswick 57-49 in overtime last week. Bradwell had not beaten Brunswick since 2018. Adams spent the previous two seasons on Georgia State’s coaching staff under Dell McGee. Before that, he was Cedar Grove’s coach for three seasons, winning Class 3A championships in two of them. Adams is a Southwest DeKalb and Jackson State alumnus.

1. Why was the Brunswick game big for your team?

“It was a special win. It was a situation where we had not beaten this team in a while. Brunswick was a team that won a region for a number of years (winning Bradwell Institute’s region four of the past five seasons). Honestly, it was just a good win against a good program that is a staple in South Georgia. The biggest thing for me was winning a tight game. When you can pull out them close games, it tells a lot about the resiliency of your team, the fight, the strain, the not-give-up attitude, the focus, just the willingness to compete and play four quarters and even overtime.”

2. What were some of the key moments in the game, and what do you feel gave your team the edge in the end?

“We went into halftime. I don’t want to give any secrets, but we made some really good adjustments on defense where we ended up stopping the run better in the second half and forced them to go on the perimeter and pass the ball. I think the kids did a good job taking the coaching. The halftime adjustments were really big for us. That’s all I will say. In the second half, we played with toughness and physicality, and I thought the kids believed. I still think we were down 14 at halftime, and nobody threw in the towel. I did a little speech. I wouldn’t say it was the best speech, but they listened and drank the Kool-Aid and came out and made plays.”

Note: Bradwell Institute trailed 35-21 at halftime and allowed 682 total yards in the game, but limited Brunswick to 14 points after the Kool-Aid break, including the overtime period. For Bradwell, Jah’Barri Felix passed for 355 yards and rushed for 123. Jacobi Pasley had eight receptions for 206 yards and two touchdowns.

3. What have you and your staff done that has made the biggest difference at and best explains the good start? What about the challenge at Bradwell was a little different from other places?

“We started off with about 22 players in the weight room at that first practice. Then, by some time in the spring, we were up to about 80. So it was a process, and that’s something I understood from the get-go. What I did, I stuck to my guns. I had a program that worked for me at Cedar Grove. I felt like all I had to do is get these guys to buy into it.

“But I just think it came from the players, those 22 that began. They got in the weight room and saw this thing is different. They would listen to the things I was preaching and relayed that message to the other guys. When they (the new ones) came in, they said this is different, it’s a different feel, I want to try this out.

“We didn’t have a good spring game. I saw a lot of things, I needed to make adjustments, details like paying attention and having courage, getting them to believe. When you come into a situation where they’ve had eight wins in five seasons (actually eight in six), when you peel back the layers of disappointment and losing and frustration, you find a lot of bad energy with the program and the kids. You’ve got to tear down all this scar tissue that’s built up and re-energize the whole organization. I put together a really good coaching staff that I trust are doing a really good job.

“Of course, when you get some victories, people start to believing. That was the biggest thing about this week, being able to go to overtime and pull out the victory. I think we’re on the rise and got a good thing going.”

4. You spent two seasons on a college staff. What were the biggest takeaways from that experience that make you a different coach than you were at Cedar Grove?

“I learned a lot of football, but I’ve got to say the biggest thing was taking a lot of notes from Dell McGee (Georgia State’s head coach). That dude is a workaholic. I thought I worked hard at Cedar Grove, and when I got to Georgia State, this dude here is whoopin’ me (at working hard). He is a true model of giving his all and putting his players first. To me, that was the biggest takeaway, learning so much from Dell McGee, how he went about his program and cared about his players and his football knowledge. I applied some of his practice and in-game strategies as well, just a lot of tidbits. I don’t want to give away specifics because I believe it gives us an edge.”