Cleive Adams was hired as Averett University's football head coach in January 2014.
In his first five seasons, Adams has helped turn Averett's program around and has created a positive culture that promotes developing young men on and off the field.
In 2018, Adams guided the Cougars to the best record in program history. Averett went 8-2 overall while going 6-1 in the conference. In addition to setting school marks for the most wins in a season, the Cougars had one D3football.com All-America selection, two D3football.com Preseason All-America selections, two all-region picks, seven all-state selections and 15 all-conference awards, including the USA South Conference and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Defensive Rookie of the Year. Three Cougars also participated in the Aztec Bowl, with one earning MVP honors.
The Cougars continued their upward trend following a strong 2017 campaign in which they finished second in the standings with a 5-2 league mark. Overall, the team finished 6-4 as Averett increased its win total for the third consecutive season. Meanwhile, the team produced one D3football.com First Team All-American, two D3football.com All-Region selections, seven Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State selections, five Roanoke Times All-State picks and 10 USA South All-Conference selections.
The Cougars gained momentum entering 2017 following a good 2016 season in which the team finished 4-3 in a tough USA South Conference while going 5-5 overall. Adams produced six all-conference selections, four all-region selections and three all-state selections.
Adams became the third head coach of Averett’s football program, which began play in 2000. He took over a program that had produced one conference championship, several All-Americans and other numerous individual accolades. Adams also entered the program during an exciting time as Averett begin play in 2014 on its new turf field, Daly Field, which was installed along with lights as Phase 1 of its planned $6.5 million sports complex that is home to Averett's football and soccer programs. Phase 2 of the project, which includes a three-story press box and permanent bleacher seating at the newly named Frank R. Campbell Stadium, debuted during the 2016 season.
In Adams' first season at the helm of the Averett football program, the Cougars finished 2-8 — a record that wasn't indicative of the team's development throughout the season. Two Cougars received USA South All-Conference honors and one was named the Roanoke Times All-State Team. One Cougar was selected to play in the D3 Senior Classic following the season. In his second season, the Cougars went 2-7 while producing four USA South All-Conference selections, three All-State selections by the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) and two voted to the Roanoke Times All-State Team.
In the classroom, Adams' program has produced five Academic All-District performers and numerous USA South Academic All-Conference selections.
In 2015, Adams' Cougars set many single-season program records on offense, including most yards of total offense per game, most passing yards per game and highest passing efficiency. Averett also finished with its second-highest single-season totals in total offense and passing yards — both of which would have easily been program records had the Cougars not had a game canceled during the season. In 2017, the Averett defense set the conference mark by becoming the first USA South team to allow less than 1,000 yards rushing in a season. In 2018, Averett set the rushing yards record, and individually had two players set the career rushing yards mark and sacks record, respectively.
Adams, a longtime Division III assistant, came to Averett from Ferrum College, a fellow USA South Conference institution where he served as the defensive coordinator from 2007-2013. A native of Radford, Va., Adams began his coaching career in 1998 as a student-assistant at Ferrum, his alma mater. In 2002, he joined the coaching staff fulltime as an assistant, serving as the defensive line coach and the run game coordinator. He was named the Panthers’ defensive coordinator in 2004. He left Ferrum in 2005 to become an assistant at Washington & Lee University of the Old Dominion Conference, where he served as the special teams coordinator and coached the defensive line. Adams returned to Ferrum in 2007 as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach.
In 2019, Adams was inducted into the Ferrum Sports Hall of Fame.
Adams and his wife, Jill, have three children: Cleive, Nick and Chelsea.
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| CLEIVE ADAMS' YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RESULTS |
| Season |
Overall |
USA South |
Finish |
Postseason |
| 2014 |
2-8 |
1-7 |
8th |
— |
| 2015 |
2-7 |
2-4 |
4th |
— |
| 2016 |
5-5 |
4-3 |
T-4th |
— |
| 2017 |
6-4 |
5-2 |
T-2nd |
— |
| 2018 |
8-2 |
6-1 |
2nd |
— |
| 2019 |
7-3 |
5-2 |
T-2nd |
— |
| Totals |
30-29
(.508) |
23-19
(.548) |
|
|
| Â COACHING HIGHLIGHTS |
 • 1 D3football.com All-America First Team selection
 • 2 D3football.com All-America Third Team selections
 • 2 D3football.com Preseason All-America Team selections
 • 1 USA South Defensive Rookie of the Year
 • 49 USA South All-Conference Selections
 • 31 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State Selections
 • 2 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Defensive Rookies of the Year
 • 11 Roanoke Times All-State Selections
 • 5 Academic All-District Selection
 • 7 D3football.com All-Region Selections
 • 1 D3 Senior Classic Participant
 • 3 Aztec Bowl Participants (including 1 MVP) |
*Last updated on 2/29/2020
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