Bio

Adam Hicks enters 2023 as the second head coach in the history of the Clarke University football program.

Hicks was as the top assistant and defensive coordinator for Clarke football since the inception of the program from its first season in 2019 through the first four seasons of NAIA competition. 

On the defensive side of the ball under Hicks’ coordination, the 2022 season saw the Pride set new single season marks in total yards allowed (328.3), rush yards allowed (112.2), and point per game against (26.7) on their way to a 3-8 record while posting their first ever shutout in a 3-0 win over Central Methodist on Sept. 10 and three other occasions of holding their opponent under 20 points. The Pride also set a new team mark for interceptions in a season with 14 on the season while also recovering 12 fumbles on defense for a total of 26 takeaways for the 2022 season. A standout defensive performance despite a loss came in the 2022 season finale at Grand View where Clarke's defense held the No. 2 Vikings to just 342 yards of total offense and turned the Vikings over three times with 23 of their 39 points coming either from defensive scores or on short fields starting inside of the Clarke 30 yard line as GVU came into that game averaging over 42 points per game and over 440 total yards per game.

Hicks comes to Clarke from the University of Missouri, where he most recently was the recruiting coordinator for the Tigers and Head Coach Barry Odom. He joined the Mizzou Tigers in 2015 as a defensive analyst working with the linebackers and served as the Inside linebackers coach during the 2017 Season. Mizzou’s 2015 defense finished in the top 10 nationally in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. In 2017, the Tigers finished the season with six straight wins and a berth in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl.

Prior to Mizzou, Hicks spent three seasons (2012-2014) at the University of Memphis with Head Coach Justin Fuente. In 2012, the staff inherited a program that had won five games in three years, and in the third season with Fuente’s staff the Memphis Tigers won 10 games including an American Athletic Conference Championship and a double OT win over BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl. The 2014 Tigers defense ranked fifth nationally in points allowed (17.1 avg.) and 22^nd in total defense (343.3 avg.) in the regular season.

A native of South Fulton, Tenn., Hicks started his coaching career at the University of Mississippi serving as a quality control coach for the secondary under Head Coach Houston Nutt.

Hicks earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of Tennessee in 2009 and completed his master of science degree in health and sport sciences in 2015 from the University of Memphis.

Adam and his wife Samantha are parents to Berkley, Dawson, and Sloane.