McAdams found a familiar face to be its next head football coach.
The Attala County School Board approved Kenneth Nelson, Jr. to be the next head football coach at McAdams this week.
Nelson is a familiar name at McAdams, where he coached Bulldogs from 2012 through 2014. Nelson takes over for Jim Risen, who led the Bulldogs to back-to-back playoff appearances the last two seasons. Risen left to be the head coach at Riverside High.
“It feels like I am back at home,” Nelson said. “McAdams was my first coach job and the Lord has been directing us back here. I’m just really thankful that the good Lord made it possible to be back here.”
After leaving McAdams, Nelson went to Holmes County Central as an assistant coach and was later named the head coach there. Last year, he was an assistant at Leake Central and the junior high coach.
“To be honest, I’m a spirit-filled person,” Nelson said. “I just feel like the Lord has been leading me back to McAdams. When the offer came up, I didn’t have to think much about it. When I left McAdams, things didn’t always go my way. He’s been working on me for the last two or three weeks to get back to McAdams.”
Nelson said he is excited about the kids coming back.
“We are excited about the group of kids we have coming back,” Nelson said. “They are as big as I have seen at McAdams since I have been there. We have to get the pride and discipline back in the program and get these kids and the community excited about Bulldog football. The first thing for me to do is to restore order and get the structure back.”
Nelson said he has met with the team already and had the first summer workout. He said 13 showed up for the first day and 15 showed up on Tuesday.
“We are going to be working out four days a week,” Nelson said. “We are trying to do some 7-on-7, but at this juncture, that may be difficult. There is still some talent here. The only drawback is the discipline is not where it should be. I think my main job is bringing back that discipline and pride. I think if we do that, we can win a few more football games and not just make the playoffs, but win some games in the playoffs.”
