Jacksonville State will turn to its former starting center to coach its offensive line.
The program announced the hiring of Adam Ross as its next offensive line coach on Thursday, marking a return to Jacksonville for the former offensive lineman and coach.
He will replace Rick Trickett, who recently departed for the same position at West Virginia to coach alongside Rich Rodriguez.
Ross, a former walk-on at Jax State, started for the three seasons at center for the Gamecocks while they were in the Southland Conference.
He graduated from Jax State in 2002 and began to serve on staff under Jack Crowe as a student assistant before coaching coaching offensive line, tight ends, and special teams during an 11-year stint at his alma mater.
During his time as a coach, 11 offensive lineman earned all-conference honors from the Ohio Valley Conference and four were named All-Americans; he also won three OVC titles on staff.
Ross spent the last two seasons alongside fellow Jax State alum Jody Wright at Murray State, serving as assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator while also coaching the offensive line.
The former Jax State offensive lineman also served as offensive line coach at West Alabama and Chattanooga before coaching at FCS Richmond from 2017-2023 as run game coordinator, co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.