Receivers coach Junior Adams leaves Eastern for Boise State

Eastern Washington wide receivers coach Junior Adams has been hired for a similar position at Boise State, Eagles head coach Beau Baldwin confirmed Tuesday.

“I appreciate everything he’s done here and he’s earned the right to advance in his career,” said Baldwin, who praised Adams not only for his recruiting ability but his skill in developing an Eastern receiving corps that earned national recognition during Adams’ 5-year tenure.

Baldwin, who is busy with recruiting, said he hasn’t set a timeline for hiring a replacement.

“It’s a process, and we’ll be patient with it,” Baldwin said.

Adams was not available for comment Tuesday. His hire completes the full-time staff of new coach Bryan Harsin, who replaces Chris Petersen.

Adams, 34, has several ties to Boise State. He coached at Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2008 and was the wide receivers coach at Prosser High School in 2007, where he worked for Tom Moore – father of former Broncos Kellen and Kirby Moore.

New BSU defensive coordinator Marcel Yates was an assistant at Montana State during Adams’ playing career, which ended in 2002. Outgoing Boise State quarterbacks coach Jonathan Smith played with him at Oregon State in 1998-2000, and outgoing defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski was on the Montana State staff when Adams was a player and coach there.

At Eastern, Adams coached several FCS All-Americans, including Brandon Kaufman, Nicholas Edwards, Greg Herd and Cooper Kupp.

“He’s really detail-oriented and organized with that positon,” Baldwin said. “It’s not just ‘go get open and use your athleticism,’ he fine-tunes their abilities.”

This year, the Eagle wideouts accounted for 4,691 yards and 47 touchdowns.