Adam Behrends

Head Coach

Coach Adam Behrends has been the Head Coach of Staples Football since 2019. Before coming to Staples, Coach Behrends coached at IMG Academy for nine years. Coach Behrends helped launch the program, and has been an assistant coach for the IMG National Varsity team that went a combined 53-4 from 2013-18. The program finished in the top five of the MaxPreps and USA TODAY national rankings each of his last four years and developed more than 140 student-athletes who went on to Division I football programs.

During his career, Coach Behrends has worked with players from the youth level up to the NFL, at all positions. His specialty was defensive backs and quarterbacks. In addition to his coaching duties with the varsity football program, Coach coordinated and directed weekly summer camps, designed and directed the football-specific portion of the Cam Newton Skills Challenge, coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebackers during the 2011 NFL Lockout, and has coached at the Under Armour All-American Combine in St. Petersburg in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Before becoming an Assistant Coach, Coach interned within the IMG Academy Athletic & Personal Development program and Football program in 2010. He has led and directed speed and strength sessions and leading strength and conditioning programs. As a coach with the varsity football program, Coach Behrends has helped guide the development of dozens of top NCAA prospects.

Among the players he has worked with are the likes of Seattle Seahawks RB Bo Scarbrough, Florida State and Florida Atlantic QB Deondre Francois and Michigan QB Shea Patterson, all of whom were selected to the Under Armour (Scarbrough, Francois) and U.S. Army All-American games (Patterson). Notably, Patterson bagged Army-All-American Game MVP honors in 2015, on the heels of guiding IMG Academy to its first undefeated regular season. He also made an impact with the IMG Academy Pre-Combine/Draft Training program. With the Combine program, he worked with several position groups, including quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, linebackers, and defensive backs. Those players include the likes of Seattle Seahawks QB and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson, Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Josh Dobbs, Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill and Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater. During his collegiate football career, Coach Behrends played as a Defensive Back at Minnesota State-Mankato after transferring from Ellsworth Community College where he was an all-region Defensive Back in 2006. Coach Behrends graduated from Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, and was an all-conference defensive back in 2003. Coach is originally from Bettendorf, Iowa where his brother Tony, still lives. Coach’s oldest brother, JR, resides in Iowa City.