HUNTINGTON – For the second time in a two-week period, one of Marshall’s football coaches on the 2020 team is heading to South Carolina.
Offensive line coach and recruitment coordinator Greg Adkins, a native of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, will join the team of new South Carolina coach Shane Beamer as the Gamecocks offensive line coach.
GamecockCentral.com reported the news on Thursday morning and said the change would be official at the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees meeting on Friday.
This will be Adkins’ second trip to the SEC, after serving as a coach on Tennessee’s offensive line in 2003-08. During that time, Adkins worked with Beamer and the new South Carolina offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield.
Adkins will also have another familiar face to work in Columbia – being strength and conditioning coach Luke Day, who announced earlier this month that he would take on the same role in South Carolina.
The announcement ends Adkins’ second stint as Marshall’s assistant coach after three seasons. During that time, Adkins transformed offensive guard Cain Madden from a walk-on to an All-American in 2020. Madden was also an All-Conference USA selection of the first team in 2020, while making the second team in 2019.
Madden was one of three forward strikers in 2020 to receive praise from Conference USA and nationally.
Striker Josh Ball joined Madden in the first team and will play in the Hula Bowl on January 31 as one of the country’s most outstanding strikers.
Alex Mollette was also a second All-Conference USA selection this season.
Adkins also coached former Herd center Levi Brown, twice selected as the first All-Conference USA team in 2018-2019.
Adkins, 52, returned to Marshall in 2018 after serving on the team of Charlotte’s head coach and former Herd assistant, Brad Lambert, during the 2017 season. The two then met with Lambert taking on the roles of defensive coordinator for the Herd in 2019.
Like Lambert, Adkins was on Marshall’s team in the early 1990s under Jim Donnan, serving as assistant in various roles from 1991-95 after completing his career as a four-year offensive striker for the 1986-89 Thundering Herd.
He and Lambert followed Donnan to the University of Georgia in the 1996-2000 seasons.
In addition to the aforementioned stops, Adkins spent time as a tight-ended trainer with the Buffalo Bills in 2013-14, while also making other college stops in the State of Oklahoma (2015-16), Syracuse (2009-12) and Troy (2001 -02)