Ex-scout had eye for game

The fourth in a series profiling 2015 inductees into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame

Dwight Adams has been approached about two events over the past month that would normally signify the end of a long, accomplished career.

First, Adams found out in January that he had been chosen as one of 12 inductees for the latest Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame class. Then, later in the month, he was informed that the Buffalo Bills were getting rid of their part-time scouts and that his more than two decade connection to a franchise he helped during its biggest success was coming to an end.

So Adams is likely going to retire after more than five decades in football, right?

Not a chance.

"I'm 83, but I'm going on 40," Adams said earlier this week by telephone from his home in Dumas.

Adams will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame during the Feb. 27 ceremony at Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. A Pine Bluff native who was a football and track and field standout at Henderson State in the late 1950s, Adams might have the most varied experience of any inductee in their respective sport.

After coaching at several Arkansas high schools, Adams joined Arkansas coaching legend Red Parker at The Citadel in 1966, then followed Parker to Clemson in 1973. He was retained by Charley Pell in 1977 and then followed Pell to Florida in 1978, staying there until 1984.

In 1985, Adams jumped to the San Diego Chargers as a scout before eventually joining the Buffalo Bills in 1991, where he helped the Bills advance to three Super Bowls.

Adams said he has grown restless during a time that since 1985 has traditionally been the busiest of his year. Normally Adams would be breaking down film sent to him by the Bills, getting ready to go to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and getting ready to tour the South while visiting pro days in preparation for the NFL Draft.

Instead, he is spending his days visiting with his family or the football coaches at Dumas High School while waiting to hear if another NFL team wants him as a part-time scout.

"I think, 'Golly, there are schools I need to see,' " Adams said. "It's kind of an unusual feeling."

Adams still recalls the best stories from his time at The Citadel, Clemson, Florida and in the NFL.

He was on the opposite sideline when Ohio State's Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player that led to Hayes' eventual firing in 1978. At Florida, he was one of college football's first assistant coaches to organize and emphasize special teams.

In the NFL, he watched what was originally designed to be a weekend during which draft hopefuls took physicals for every team turn into the extravaganza that is now known as the NFL Combine.

Adams watched pro days for Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Michael Irvin and just about every drafted player who played college football in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida during his time as a scout.

Irvin's was probably the most impressive, Adams said, recalling the 40-yard dash time Irvin turned in when he came out of the University of Miami in 1988.

"I remember the day, it was so beautiful," Adams said. "We were outside on grass, and if I recall it was 4.53."

Adams was promoted to the Bills' director of player personnel in May 1993 and in 2000 was named vice president for player personnel. He led the team's operations on draft day, helping the Bills to four more playoff appearances after their Super Bowl runs.

He counts Pro Bowl wide receiver Eric Moulds, who he took in the first round in 1996 out of Mississippi State, as one of his best picks, as well as former Pitt offensive lineman Ruben Brown, a nine-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman in 1995.

Adams also had no trouble recalling his biggest miss. That was Warrick Dunn, a 5-9, 187-pound running back out of Florida State who was the NFL's offensive rookie of the year in 1997 and a three-time Pro Bowl selection.

"I was worried about his size," Adams said.

Both coaching and scouting had its rewards, but Adams is likely known more for his work in the front office. He said the secret to executing a good draft is sticking to a plan.

"We're going to have our board, and we're going to move down our board," he said. "If we don't get A, we're not going to jump around. If A is there, we're going to take him. If A isn't here, we're going to take B."

Adams interviewed for the Bills' general manager spot at one point but didn't get the job. His full-time tenure with the team came to an end in 2003 when he moved to a farm outside of Dumas with his wife, Jo. He took two years off before he was asked to return as a part-time scout, which he did until last month.

When Terrence Pegula and his family bought the team last fall, Adams learned the Bills would no longer use part-time scouts.

Adams said he understood the reasoning -- "It's part-time work but full-time expenses," he said -- but he doesn't think he's done with the game. He said he's talked with more than one team about part-time scouting work and said he should know for sure after the draft.

Either way, he'll go into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame as the inductee who perhaps has a broader perspective of his sport than any other.

"Coaching was great thrill, getting to put the puzzle together, to win a game or win a conference championship," he said. "Being a scout and recommending a player who turns out to be a good player, you're happy to see it. It just makes you feel good to have your hands in it."

Sports on 02/20/2015