Bio

George Edward Adams lived in Salinas for 52 years. He had been athletic director and a coach at Hartnell for 32 years. Ed earned his Masters in Physical Education from USC in 1934. Coach Adams took over the track and field program as soon as he moved to Salinas in 1937. In 1938, Ed Adams brought Salinas Junior College football out of the doldrums when the teamposted a 6-5 record, the school's first winning season. 

"I remember him out on the track in the cold, working with the kids who needed extra help... He was very sensitive and kind. He was a true gentleman, I mean a gentle man. And he always, always took time to listen to his students." ~ former colleague Dorothy Middaugh

Former Hartnell AD Bob Kelley ~ "He'd get out there and line the track himself with dolomite markers, He did everything."

His association with Hartnell and track and field continued through his retirement. Some of the stars he and co-coach "Bud" Winter developed were: Hal Davis (one-time world's fastest human) 9.4 in the Madison Square Garden Invitational 1940, Wille Martinson, Baylor transfer winning the Southewest Conf. 100-yard title in the 1940s, Don 'Boom Boom' Burke, a 210lbs, 9.8 sprinter who played in the Rose Bowl for USC, and San Francisco 49ers.

G. Ed Adams will always be remembered for his hard work, dedication, and passion. He fought to get women students equal time in the gym and to make sure they had buses to sports events. He was the last of a breed to multi-sport coaches who - wearing gray sweatshirt, baseball cap and a whistle around the neck - taught everything from football to tumbling.