Warrior strength coach: Need a lift?

Legally blind, DN’s Adams will help anyone

Dan Adams spots Johnny McDonald on the bench press during a recent session at Del Norte High School. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Adams, 46, is the strength and weightlifting coach for the Warriors football team. He opens the weight room at 7 a.m. each school day and is there after school as well as during the summer months for the football program.

But it’s not just the football players he works with.

Adams helps with other sports programs, like volleyball and baseball, and during PE classes.

In fact, he will give a hand to any student who wants to increase strength and get in better shape. Adams loves working with teens who may come in with low self-esteem and watch them come out of their shells.

“It really builds your confidence up tremendously,” Adams said. “I think if you’re physically fit it helps you with everything else in your life ... I’m here to support them and show them what to do.”

He recalled a small, thin boy who came in and struggled at first. He barely weighed 100 pounds but kept at it and now can bench press 180 pounds,  Adams said.

“Pretty much anybody that wants to take part, I help them,” he said. “If you teach someone the right way to do this they enjoy it.”

Marc Slayton, Del Norte’s offensive coordinator for football, has been impressed with the way Adams helps everyone who wants to try.

“They walk the halls with more confidence,” Slayton said. “It’s amazing what he’s done with all these kids he’s worked with.”

Adams hopes to show students that with effort they can overcome almost any obstacle.

Adams knows this firsthand. He’s legally blind, which may come as a surprise to many who know him.

Some know, but the majority of people are unware, he said. After all, he just wants to be treated like everyone else.

About 20 years ago during surgery, Adams had an optic nerve damaged.

While he can perceive images directly in front of him, everything else “is out of focus and blurry,” and he can not see peripherally at all.

“I’m still able to go out and help these kids,” he said. “There’s people out there with disabilities  that are going out and are able to still do things and help others. I’ve proven that.”

“Most people would never know that he has a disability,”  head football coach Ray Rook said.

Slayton was one of those who had no idea at first that his colleague was legally bind.

It was more than a year before he found out. Slayton admires  Adams for not letting that get in the way of making a difference in the community.

“He’s dedicated to the kids,” Slayton said. “He’s full of knowledge. We’ve been very fortunate to have him in our program.”

When Rook was named head football coach in 2010, the first person he called was Adams, who has been with the football program for six years.

Rook was impressed with the job he had done getting the players in terrific football shape and wanted to make sure he was onboard.

“In such a physically demanding sport you need to have quality people around you that know how to teach and help these kids in the weight room,” Rook said.

Adams more than fits the bill, Rook said.

“He always there, even in the summer helping out,” Rook said.  “It mean so much to have people that have a passion for what they do. It helps to have someone like Dan as we try to take things here to a higher level.”

Adams takes pride in getting football players physically fit with better endurance.

Junior lineman Lane Reichlin has been a major part in the offensive line that has opened up holes for an explosive Warriors running game.

Adams said  Reichlin has made amazing strides since entering the program and can now squat an impressive 405 pounds.

“You work closely with them so it’s geat when you see them progress so much and they go out and are beasts on the field,” Adams said. “I think the training helps their stamina and overall  strength.”

Senior Nic Bell, who plays on both the offensive and defensive line, said Adams has been invaluable.

Bell took part in summer workouts and said Adams was always there.

“He helped us build a workout program,” Bell said. “He’s always there when you need him and is there to help you do your best.”

Senior Derek Allen, who also plays on the offensive and defensive lines, agreed.

“He’s awesome,” Allen said of Adams.

Allen did not really hit the weight room until this season and said it has made a big difference on the football field.

“I really can tell the difference,” Allen said.

One of the players Adams helped was his stepson, John Goacher, a 2010 Del Norte graduate who weighted 160 pounds when he began high school. Today he weighs more than 250 pounds and is a starting offensive lineman for the College of the Siskiyous.

“It played a big part for him in football,” Adams said. “Now he’s huge.”

Adams work in the weight room is mostly a labor of love.  He receives a small stipend for his after-school work. He also coaches on the offensive and defensive lines.

This will be Adams’ last year at the school. At the end of the academic year he plans to move to Red Bluff, where his wife recently got a job.

Adams said he will miss the community and all the kids he has helped over the years.

“It’s a passion for me,” he said. “I love doing this.”

“People like Dan are hard to come by,” Rook said. “He’s someone you can always count on. He’s going to be a huge loss for us.”