West Carroll football promotes Adam Dowland after Clayton Morris takes Obion County job
Adam Dowland is the new coach for West Carroll’s football team.
Dowland was named the coach on Wednesday after spending the previous two seasons as the defensive coordinator.
Dowland replaces Clayton Morris, who accepted the head coaching role at Obion County. He was introduced to Rebel fans on Thursday.
Dowland also has coached in Kentucky and Missouri. Dowland, a Greenfield native, graduated from Tennessee-Martin in 2007 and started coaching in 2008 as a defensive coordinator at Greenfield.
After Greenfield, Dowland coached at Obion County for four seasons, two seasons at Lake County and two seasons at McCracken County in Paducah, Kentucky. Dowland spent 2017-19 at Hopkinsville in Kentucky and spent 2020 in Shelbyville as the defensive coordinator. Dowland spent one season as the head coach at Caruthersville in Missouri before making the move to West Carroll.
“I know how to pack up a house pretty quick,” Dowland said, laughing. “I literally have a notebook with pages numbered No. 1-75 with everything I need to do.”
Dowland likes to play the game where the offense, defense and special teams are all blended together.
If the offense is going to be aggressive, he wants the defense to be aggressive. Dowland added he likes to utilize the run game and open up opportunities to pass.
“I have a huge belief and if you match each phase of the football game, it'll lead to more success,” Dowland said. “So that's how I feel, offense and defense kind of playing off of each other showing the strengths of your kids and making sure you're not asking kids to do things they're not comfortable with and things they can't do.”
Dowland beat out several candidates for the job, athletic director Adam Douglas said. Dowland stood out because of his familiarity with the program and his dedication to development.
“He’s really bought into the community and into the program,” Douglas said. “We’re just really excited to have him come on board as the head coach – it’s a lot more responsibility but he’s been around for a while and to have him move into that role and continue to move forward after a couple of good years with coach Morris.”
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Morris left the War Eagles after going 18-15 in three seasons with playoff appearances in each season – including a win over Booker T. Washington in the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
Morris decided to take the Obion County job because he wanted to move closer to home. He was working more than an hour away from home for most of his coaching career. Taking the job at Obion County, close to his home in South Fulton, was perfect for him and his family.
“We went into Christmas break, I had no intentions of this happening,” Morris said. “Life always has its own plans and I believe things happen for a reason. … My wife and I talked about it, one of the things we talked about as a family that last season was a struggle for us.
“So this puts me a lot closer to my daughter, it was just the right opportunity to get closer to them and still be able to do what I love.”
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: West Carroll football promotes Adam Dowland. Clayton Morris to Obion Co.
