Silicon Valley tech CEO, Flutie’s Boston College backup, takes on prep football coaching gig

LOS ALTOS — Mark Adams has a backstory unlike any other football coach in the Bay Area.

He played quarterback at Boston College, where he was a backup for program legend Doug Flutie. Their quarterback coach for a time was future New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.

Adams was on the sidelines for the famous “Hail Flutie” play that defeated defending national champion Miami on a last-second Hail Mary in 1984. BC finished the year ranked No. 4 in the country after defeating Houston in the Cotton Bowl, and Flutie won the Heisman Trophy.

Today, Adams is a longtime Silicon Valley high-tech CEO, currently in charge of SMART Global Holdings (SGH) in Milpitas, a diversified holding company overseeing businesses focused on computing, artificial intelligence, specialty memory solutions and LED lighting.

He also happens to be the newest head football coach at Los Altos High School.

Adams wasn’t expecting to coach a high school football team this fall. But when an opportunity to man the sidelines for Los Altos fell into his lap this summer when previous coach Mike Garrity resigned, he seized it with both hands.

Now, as the Eagles prepare for their season opener Friday at Calaveras, Adams is keeping things simple as he oversees a team in transition.

“The kids have really responded,” Adams said. “They lost a great senior class. They lost a couple transfers that went to other schools, and then the coach took off. So it was easy for kids to mail it in, and they’ve done anything but. They’ve been really all hands, and I think they have a little chip on their shoulder to produce the best they can.”

Adams took over in short order after Garrity stepped down. Multiple sources told Bay Area News Group that Garrity left after receiving an offer to coach tight ends at College of San Mateo.

During his collegiate career with Boston College’s Eagles, Adams had an ideal vantage point to witness Flutie’s greatness. He observed some attributes that he intends to instill while soaring with Los Altos’ Eagles.

“It was really fun,” Adams said of his tenure at BC. “It was a great time to be there. (Flutie) was a great guy, he had great instincts. Fun to watch. Unfortunately for me, I was doing a lot of watching then. He would just say, ‘Hey, I’m going to make this play.’ And he really believed it. I picked up a lot from him in terms of you don’t think you’re going to do it. You have two choices — you’re not going to do it, or you’re going to do it. And he went out there and he did it so many times.”

As he settles in at Los Altos, Adams has brought along former college players from UConn, USC, Columbia, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and the University of the Pacific. Former Los Altos coach and Pacific player Bill Waggoner is Adams’ offensive coordinator, and former Cal Poly receiver Ryan McNab is coordinating the Eagles’ defense.

Adams has even visited with current Boston College and former NFL coach Bill O’Brien for pointers on how to build a program that will stand the test of time.

“He had me watch and gave me kind of how he runs a program,” Adams said of O’Brien. “So I’ve been really studying how to do this well because this is not a pinch-hit thing. I really want to build something now with the kids, because I can see that they’re pretty fired up.”

Adams got his start in coaching with the Mountain View Marauders, a youth football team that he resuscitated from a winless record in 2013 to a serious contender by the end of his tenure in 2014. He was drawn in by the chance to coach his son at quarterback but had a transformational experience overseeing the young squad.

“I got involved because they didn’t have a coach,” Adams said. “I was recruiting, I was going to talk to the military base over there and get kids on the team. We got a kid from Los Altos Little League. From 0-9 and 0-9 — we scored three touchdowns one year — we went 6-3 and lost in the semifinals in NorCal. It was kind of cool. The kids, even when we lost, they didn’t give a (expletive). They were hugging each other. They had a great year, and it was just so fun.”

Adams once again finds himself unexpectedly in charge of a group of young football players, one that had to band together in the face of Garrity’s unexpected departure.

“In our group chat, there was so much turmoil,” said senior receiver/nickelback Dhruv Aron. “There were people transferring, there were people leaving, there were people saying they just weren’t going to play. And that was pretty disappointing, because it’s our senior year, and I want to see us do some good things coming off a league title win, having a good season.

“Having that shock was really difficult at first, but I tried to keep our team together and united. We did some offseason training, just ourselves, without the coaches. And I think that was really beneficial, keeping our team together as a whole.”

For senior linebacker Miles Field, players taking ownership has been the key to sustaining what remained of Los Altos’ team.

“Player leadership is always important, because at the end of the day, when the game starts, the coaches aren’t really out there correcting you,” Field said. “It’s going to be your fellow teammates, the seniors, who are going to be showing the younger kids what to do, lining them up and stuff.”

Of course, Adams must balance his new gig with the packed schedule that comes with heading up a publicly traded company. But he has a secret weapon on his side — SGH board members and employees are more encouraging of his passion than one might think.

“I had to go back to my board of directors. I checked with them, and they were so supportive,” Adams said. “Staff was really fired up. If you’d talk to people in my office, they’d tell you I don’t sleep. So practices for the varsity are 6-8 p.m., Thursday and Friday night games, and then I’m just going to get up a little earlier to work.

“But when you think about this job, it’s actually complementary. Most people go home and work out. I’m going to come here and coach kids.”

The Eagles have navigated a nontraditional route to get to this point. But now that they’re here, hopes are high for 2024. Los Altos won the Peninsula Athletic League’s El Camino Division last season and is looking to make waves once again.

“I’m glad we have solid leadership now,” Aron said. “There’s a lot fewer changes going on. About a month ago, it was very different. A month ago, it was falling apart. But I’m glad we have a solid turnout, solid group of guys. I think we have the potential to be really successful this year.”