Ernie Adams

Ernie Adams (born March 31, 1953) is an American former professional football coach and researcher best known for his years with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is a longtime friend and associate of head coach Bill Belichick, first meeting Belichick when they played high school football together. With Adams, the Patriots won six Super Bowls. Adams is renowned for his extremely thorough analysis of the game and low profile.

Early life Adams attended the Dexter School near Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts. Given his knowledge of football for his age, Adams was asked to coach the school's intramural football team as an eighth grader.

He later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts for high school. While there, he read Football Scouting Methods written by Steve Belichick, who was then a football scout for the United States Naval Academy. In 1970, Steve Belichick's son Bill enrolled at Phillips Academy for a post-graduate year after graduating from Annapolis High School. Adams, a senior, recognized Belichick's name and the two quickly became friends. At one point, they snuck into a Boston College football practice together to practice scouting.

Adams and Belichick were known to have an interest in mathematical analyses of football; Adams once contacted Rutgers University statistics professor Harold Sackrowitz, asking him to evaluate the Patriots' two-point conversion chart following a study by Sackrowitz on the decision. His last day of work for the organization was at the conclusion of the offseason program on June 16, 2021, retiring afterwards.