University of Tennessee Athletics
The Pursuit of Excellence: Adamson’s Journey From Strength Coach to Military Officer
November 11, 2022 | General
Known for his passionate ways, Greg Adamson's story from an athletic strength trainer to an aspiring military officer is one that is not only unique but truly embodies what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer.
Adamson, the Associate Director of Olympic Sports Performance, has been with Tennessee for more than 10 years. In that time, he's worked closely with the swimming & diving and men's golf programs. In 2020, he helped the Lady Vol swimming and diving team win its first-ever SEC championship before winning a second title in 2022. During the 2021 season, the men's golf program qualified for its first NCAA Championships since 2013.
Adamson played football in high school, but due to an injury, he was unable to continue his athletic playing career. That didn't waver his love for sports. He attended Winthrop University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Health and Exercise Science in 2008. During his senior year, he was named the 2008 Major of the Year in the Physical Education program. He received his master's in Sport Administration from Central Michigan in 2010.
While in college, Adamson coached football and baseball at Rock Hill High School in South Carolina from 2006-08. Adamson has worked with more than 1,000 athletes across 23 sports at the Division I level, including Olympians from more than 10 countries, world-record holders, conference and national champions and more than 100 professional athletes across nine different sports.
With all the teams and athletes that Adamson trained and coached to success, this past summer it was his turn to receive the honors and be recognized for his work outside of the weight room.
Over the summer, Adamson went to the Airman Leadership School (ALS) in Fort Lewis, Washington, where he earned the John Levitow Award–the highest honor presented to a graduate of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education. To be eligible for the award, a graduate must rank in the top 1% of his or her class.
"Throughout the class you are constantly graded and ranked by your class and by your instructors," Adamson said. "The award was based on what your classmates thought of you and what the leadership team above thought of you. It's a pretty big deal, I'm not very good with awards. I'm used to being on the coaching side, but it was cool to see that that's how your peers thought of you."
Taking a non-traditional path to military service, Adamson enlisted with the Tennessee Air National Guard when he was 32 years old, as joining the armed services was always something he wanted to do. He currently serves with the 134th Air Refueling Wing stationed at the award-winning McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base.
"I joined the National Guard after being at Tennessee for five years," Adamson said. "I got connected with the people and connected with the base and job. I get to work with amazing people out there. I went in initially thinking I'd do six years, but I would tell anybody right now that I am going to do 20-plus."
Adamson credits the support of his director, Dan Wirth, for allowing him to pursue the opportunity to serve. Adamson went into the National Guard as enlisted but is now transitioning into being an officer. It was for this reason that he attended ALS, which is a five-week United States Air Force program designed to develop airmen into effective front-line supervisors. ALS focuses on developing leadership abilities, the profession of arms and building effective communication.
Becoming an officer is a natural transition for Adamson, as his work as a strength coach has already prepared him for a leadership role. One of his favorite mottos as a coach is to give a ship: relationship, ownership, hardship, leadership, and championships. The same beliefs and mottos he uses in the training center he also brings to base. He often has the same talks with his fellow airmen as he does with his athletes.
"There are many similarities between the military and collegiate sports in the sense that there's a shared mission," Adamson said. "In the military, it doesn't matter who you are, we're all on the same mission to defend this country. It's similar to athletics in that each year you get to go on a mission. The mission there is going to look a little different than the mission here. Depending on the job, it's a little scarier, but there is still that shared comradery."
The Air Force not only gives Adamson an avenue to teach and coach in a new way, but it has also been an opportunity for him to learn. By starting from square one, most of the other airmen in basic training with him were teenagers. While being a humbling experience, it also gave him a chance to get to know the people that are the same age as the athletes he's training.
He learned everything from social media trends to heavier issues that younger generations deal with, all of which Adamson says he has gained an appreciation for knowing. He has brought many of the things he's learned back to campus when training with his athletes. One of the most important of which is the ability to have open conversations with his players about issues beyond their sport.
"During my classes, I've realized that today's 20-year-olds are really battling some pretty tough stuff," Adamson said. "Since I have been back, I have become more deliberate in taking time to check on my athletes well beyond whether or not their physical workouts are going well. I don't think those conversations are happening as much as they need to. I am in class to learn how to be a supervisor, but in athletics, you can say that I have been a supervisor for over 15 years. So, listening to the guys talk about what to do and not to do based on our supervisors allows me to start thinking, 'am I doing that with our athletes? Do they feel comfortable enough to come talk to me about anything?' I also realized that I have to go first and share that vulnerability with them."
This November 11th, the anniversary of the end of the first World War, the country will celebrate Veterans Day. This is a time for people to honor those who are currently serving or have served in the military. Veterans Day hits close to home here at UT as Tennessee earned the nickname The Volunteer State because of Tennessee's eagerness to step forward and serve in times of war and is why we call ourselves the Volunteers.
"I think Veterans Day is a time to celebrate volunteers," Adamson said. "We say at the University of Tennessee it takes a volunteer and in the 134th we say be volunteer ready. In my world it takes a volunteer to be ready, which means it takes a lot of men and women who are willing to step up and protect this country. Similar to college athletics, only one percent do it. I ask my athletes to go and compete and put themselves out there, so anytime I go and do something like this it forces me to have to do that myself and back it up.
"When I think of Veterans Day, I think of the men and women I get to be around whether I was out in Washington or on base. I just get to be around so many phenomenal men and women who serve this country in ways that people don't always know about and who don't have the same recognition. I think we sometimes forget how awesome our job is. We forget how many people sacrifice just so we can celebrate a sport or any entertainment. It can be a thankless job, but to me, I think this is still the greatest country in the world, and it's the men and women like them that help make it that."
Adamson, the Associate Director of Olympic Sports Performance, has been with Tennessee for more than 10 years. In that time, he's worked closely with the swimming & diving and men's golf programs. In 2020, he helped the Lady Vol swimming and diving team win its first-ever SEC championship before winning a second title in 2022. During the 2021 season, the men's golf program qualified for its first NCAA Championships since 2013.
Adamson played football in high school, but due to an injury, he was unable to continue his athletic playing career. That didn't waver his love for sports. He attended Winthrop University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Health and Exercise Science in 2008. During his senior year, he was named the 2008 Major of the Year in the Physical Education program. He received his master's in Sport Administration from Central Michigan in 2010.
While in college, Adamson coached football and baseball at Rock Hill High School in South Carolina from 2006-08. Adamson has worked with more than 1,000 athletes across 23 sports at the Division I level, including Olympians from more than 10 countries, world-record holders, conference and national champions and more than 100 professional athletes across nine different sports.
With all the teams and athletes that Adamson trained and coached to success, this past summer it was his turn to receive the honors and be recognized for his work outside of the weight room.
Over the summer, Adamson went to the Airman Leadership School (ALS) in Fort Lewis, Washington, where he earned the John Levitow Award–the highest honor presented to a graduate of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education. To be eligible for the award, a graduate must rank in the top 1% of his or her class.
"Throughout the class you are constantly graded and ranked by your class and by your instructors," Adamson said. "The award was based on what your classmates thought of you and what the leadership team above thought of you. It's a pretty big deal, I'm not very good with awards. I'm used to being on the coaching side, but it was cool to see that that's how your peers thought of you."
Taking a non-traditional path to military service, Adamson enlisted with the Tennessee Air National Guard when he was 32 years old, as joining the armed services was always something he wanted to do. He currently serves with the 134th Air Refueling Wing stationed at the award-winning McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base.
"I joined the National Guard after being at Tennessee for five years," Adamson said. "I got connected with the people and connected with the base and job. I get to work with amazing people out there. I went in initially thinking I'd do six years, but I would tell anybody right now that I am going to do 20-plus."
Adamson credits the support of his director, Dan Wirth, for allowing him to pursue the opportunity to serve. Adamson went into the National Guard as enlisted but is now transitioning into being an officer. It was for this reason that he attended ALS, which is a five-week United States Air Force program designed to develop airmen into effective front-line supervisors. ALS focuses on developing leadership abilities, the profession of arms and building effective communication.
Becoming an officer is a natural transition for Adamson, as his work as a strength coach has already prepared him for a leadership role. One of his favorite mottos as a coach is to give a ship: relationship, ownership, hardship, leadership, and championships. The same beliefs and mottos he uses in the training center he also brings to base. He often has the same talks with his fellow airmen as he does with his athletes.
"There are many similarities between the military and collegiate sports in the sense that there's a shared mission," Adamson said. "In the military, it doesn't matter who you are, we're all on the same mission to defend this country. It's similar to athletics in that each year you get to go on a mission. The mission there is going to look a little different than the mission here. Depending on the job, it's a little scarier, but there is still that shared comradery."
The Air Force not only gives Adamson an avenue to teach and coach in a new way, but it has also been an opportunity for him to learn. By starting from square one, most of the other airmen in basic training with him were teenagers. While being a humbling experience, it also gave him a chance to get to know the people that are the same age as the athletes he's training.
He learned everything from social media trends to heavier issues that younger generations deal with, all of which Adamson says he has gained an appreciation for knowing. He has brought many of the things he's learned back to campus when training with his athletes. One of the most important of which is the ability to have open conversations with his players about issues beyond their sport.
"During my classes, I've realized that today's 20-year-olds are really battling some pretty tough stuff," Adamson said. "Since I have been back, I have become more deliberate in taking time to check on my athletes well beyond whether or not their physical workouts are going well. I don't think those conversations are happening as much as they need to. I am in class to learn how to be a supervisor, but in athletics, you can say that I have been a supervisor for over 15 years. So, listening to the guys talk about what to do and not to do based on our supervisors allows me to start thinking, 'am I doing that with our athletes? Do they feel comfortable enough to come talk to me about anything?' I also realized that I have to go first and share that vulnerability with them."
This November 11th, the anniversary of the end of the first World War, the country will celebrate Veterans Day. This is a time for people to honor those who are currently serving or have served in the military. Veterans Day hits close to home here at UT as Tennessee earned the nickname The Volunteer State because of Tennessee's eagerness to step forward and serve in times of war and is why we call ourselves the Volunteers.
"I think Veterans Day is a time to celebrate volunteers," Adamson said. "We say at the University of Tennessee it takes a volunteer and in the 134th we say be volunteer ready. In my world it takes a volunteer to be ready, which means it takes a lot of men and women who are willing to step up and protect this country. Similar to college athletics, only one percent do it. I ask my athletes to go and compete and put themselves out there, so anytime I go and do something like this it forces me to have to do that myself and back it up.
"When I think of Veterans Day, I think of the men and women I get to be around whether I was out in Washington or on base. I just get to be around so many phenomenal men and women who serve this country in ways that people don't always know about and who don't have the same recognition. I think we sometimes forget how awesome our job is. We forget how many people sacrifice just so we can celebrate a sport or any entertainment. It can be a thankless job, but to me, I think this is still the greatest country in the world, and it's the men and women like them that help make it that."
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