Connor Yao contributed to this story.
Shortly after resigning as the head swim coach of Naperville Central High School, Mike Adams has found a new role.
Adams was named the new head swim coach at Rosary College Prep, a private school in Aurora, Illinois, on Thursday, with the school announcing his hiring on Instagram.
The Rosary Beads only have a girls’ swim & dive team and are nine-time Illinois state champions, most recently winning the IHSA crown in 2024.
Former Rosary head coach Glenn Brown, a two-time IHSA state champion and IHSA Sectional Coach of the Year, was named the first-ever girls’ swimming coach at Marmion Academy earlier this year. Brown previously coached the Marmion Academy boys along with the Rosary girls.
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Adams served as the head coach of the Naperville boys’ program for 33 years and the girls’ team for 13 before his resignation last week.
Adams was placed on administrative leave before ultimately resigning after one of his swimmers was injured during a toilet paper night, a school tradition hosted by the boys’ team prior to the start of the season. The night reportedly also included freshman wrestling, another tradition.
During Adams’ tenure at Naperville Central, which began with the boys’ program in 1992, he led them to a pair of IHSA state titles in 2002 and 2010. They also finished as the state runner-ups in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2016. He took over the reins of the girls’ team in 2013.
Adams has also coached 14 swimmers to individual state titles and has been named IHSA Coach of the Year seven times.
He also works as a coach with the Hinsdale Swim Club.
The Rosary girls’ team is coming off a third-place finish at the IHSA State Championship in November, where they won the state title in the 200 free relay and also had individual victories from Yaya Nieckula in the 100 fly and Paige Kowal in the 200 free.
The Beads won the state title in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024, and were also victorious in four straight years from 2006 until 2009, and then had another run of three straight titles from 2015 until 2017.
I competed against him as a Naperville North High School swimmer and this man was a fantastic coach to race against. His swimmers always had massive drops at the end of the season.
Seems political for him to lose his job / resign over something that wasn’t in his control. Sigh..
Mike’s goal for us was clearly stated every year: train hard to get time drops at the end of the season, which he did successfully accomplish during his tenure at Central. I also feel he was a fantastic coach, though unfortunately there are a select few people on our team right now that don’t believe so.
In a statement I got from Amy McMahon, the Head of School at Marmion, she said that “Throughout [Mike Adams’] career, he has built programs grounded in discipline, teamwork, and high expectations, while also creating a positive and supportive team culture.” This was contrary to what Jackie Thornton, principal of Naperville Central, stated “We remain steadfast in our insistence that the culture that… Read more »
Welp, Rosary just got a whole lot richer. NCHS is irrelevant and Rosary will dominate.
NCHS has had some successful graduates recently (Max Goettsch at Cal, his sister Eden Goettsch at UNC, Alex Lakin at Oakland University, etc), but the team as a whole has not complemented that fully.
I’m really hoping Rosary does well under Mike and do wish him the best of luck.
Right all those athletes coached by Mr. Adams. How did the boys do without him this year?
Not too well. Per the article on his resignation, it was noted that our athletes did not earn any points at IHSA state this year.
Although I would have loved to see him come back home to Cincinnati, Mike Adams is the best of the best! I’ve never met a more honorable, humble and athlete centered coach in my multi-decades involvement in the sport.
This! He was beloved by all his swimmers here at NCHS and to see him lose his job over something that wasn’t his fault is really devastating.
I can only imagine. I haven’t spoken with Mike about it, but it must have felt like a tragedy! I remembered many times watching him coach and interact with his swimmers & and “ear hustling” his conversations with them. I was ALWAYS inspired and impressed. To know the man is to love and respect the man!
That was quick.
You don’t let a coach like Mike sit on the sidelines for too long!
True! I’m glad he was able to get another position as a high school coach. His resume is nearly unparalleled in Illinois and I’m excited to see what he’s gonna do at Rosary.
Great Hire!!
& replacing another great one!!