Jack Adams Jack Adams John James "Jack" Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He was a Hall of Fame player during a 10-year professional career with Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. He is best known for his 36-year association with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League as head coach and as a general manager. He held the record of winningest coach in Red Wings history before being surpassed by Mike Babcock in 2014. He later became the
National Football League Coach of the Year Award award since 1947 and in 1949 gave its award to a non-NFL coach, Paul Brown of the All-America Football Conference's Cleveland Browns. Other NFL Coach of the Year awards are presented by "Pro Football Weekly"/Pro Football Writers of America and the Maxwell Football Club. The United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year award was first presented in 1955. From 1960 to 1969, before the AFL–NFL merger, an award was also given to the most outstanding coach from the AFL. When the leagues merged in 1970, separate awards were given to the best coaches from the American Football Conference