Richard Adams was hired in the summer of 2016. Adams brings about 40 years of coaching experience at various levels to the Blue Devils. His longest tenure came at Cerro Coso Community College in California, where he piloted the program from its inception in 1992 through 2010.
"Coach Adams will have an immediate impact," said Palisin. "He has a tremendous background in coaching and a great passion for sharing and teaching the game. He has a great work ethic when it comes to recruiting."
Adams will work primarily with the pitchers, bringing a "pitch to contact" philosophy to the Blue Devils which he hopes will help pitchers get deeper into games and lower their pitch counts. "I think if you throw two of the first three pitches for strikes, then you are going to be very successful." Adams said.
Some of Coach Adams' coaching accolades include the Howard Lowder Memorial Coaching Award in 1998, Foothill Conference Coach of the Year in 1999 and Foothill Conference Coach of the Year in 2000.
At Cerro Coso Community College, he was also a full-time instructor, Athletic Director and Department Chair. Prior to coaching at Cerro Coso, Adams worked with pitchers and catchers at the University of Nevada (1990-1991). He also made stops at McQueen HS (Nev.), Carson City HS (Nev.), California Lutheran University, Moorpark Community College, and Granada Hills High School (Calif.).
He has coached several Major Leaguers, including Kevin Gross, Donovan Osborne, Bobby Ayrault and Charlie Kerfeld. He also coached John Elway in High School. Elway played baseball at Stanford and a season professionally in Oneonta prior to becoming an NFL great.
Adams played for Moorpark Community College (Calif.) and transferred to California State University, Northridge. He later was drafted and pitched in the Angels' organization from 1976-1978, and was also an Associate Scout for the Seattle Mariners (1986-1990) and Chicago Cubs (1992-2005).
