Defensive Coordinator Coaching Search Thread - BRAD LAMBERT IS COMING HOME

Sources: Brad Lambert, James Adams expected to join Dave Clawson's Wake Forest staff
After a record-setting 11-win season, Clawson is remaking much of his defensive staff
JOHN BRICE
Brad Lambert found himself with multiple options to return closer to his deeper roots in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In the end, Lambert is expected to choose to join Dave Clawson’s Wake Forest staff – and bring a former Demon Deacon home with him in the process – for a second tour as the program’s defensive coordinator.

James Adams, a Durham, N.C., who has spent roughly a decade on staffs with Lambert, is expected to join Lambert in Winston-Salem on the Wake Forest staff, sources told FootballScoop.

Pete Thamel of Yahoo! first reported Monday that Lambert had become Wake's top target.

Clawson and the Demon Deacons are coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, an 11-3 campaign that included the program’s first appearance in the ACC Championship in some 15 years and a convincing win against Rutgers in the Gator Bowl to close out the year.

Multiple sources had told FootballScoop in the past week that Lambert had emerged as a top target for the defensive coordinator post at the University of Virginia under first-year coach Tony Elliott, and Lambert had given strong consideration to the position.


Lambert had a 10-year run at Wake with Jim Grobe, and he was part of the Demon Deacons’ last ACC championship squad.

However, Lambert still has family in the Charlotte, N.C., area and his ties to the region are strong. Lambert helped guide Charlotte football through its infancy and has remained well-liked in the area. He’s also coached twice at Marshall, as well as Georgia.

Adams also has deep Carolina ties. In addition to his roots in Durham, N.C., and playing days at Wake, Adams also coached with Lambert at Charlotte and was on staff as well at Southern Conference program Wofford.


Clawson is overhauling much of his Wake defensive staff. Lyle Hemphill last month accepted a spot on Mike Elko’s new Duke staff, and Lambert and Adams are expected to be central figures in the future direction on that side of the ball after the Demon Deacons had a record-setting offensive campaign.

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