With three games left in the year, Adrian College (D-III - MI) head coach Jim Deere stepped down from his post after leading the team for 14 seasons.
To fill the opening, sources tell FootballScoop that Adrian is set to hire one of the most successful high school head coaches in the state.
Joe Palka, who has led the Saline (MI) program the past 12 seasons, is set to become the new head coach at Adrian.
We understand Palka is set to announce the news to his team after school today.
Palka has racked up over 110 wins in his dozen seasons leading the Hornets, and has built Saline into a perennial Division I contender in Michigan's largest classification.
With the Hornets, Palka's team was led by the top ranked Michigan recruit in the 2024 class in CJ Carr, who is currently committed to Notre Dame. They finished the year 9-2 after losing to defending back-to-back state champion Belleville HS in the first round.
The moves marks a return to Adrian, and the college level for Palka, who has previous stops at Eastern Michigan, St. Joseph (D-II - IN) and Adrian. He's also been a head coach at Toledo Catholic Central (OH), Bryan HS (OH), and Toledo Whitmer HS (OH).
Deere resigned a few weeks ago after a disappointing 1-6 start. He left the program with a 76-60 record in 14 seasons.
Before Deere's run, Jim Lyall previously had a successful twenty year run leading the program from 1990-2009, where he ended on an impressive 55-25 run over his final eight seasons with the program.
A staple of consistency the past few decades, Palka becomes just the third head coach of the Bulldogs since 1990.
The hire is very similar to that of league opponent Alma, who made their hire from the high school level with former Romeo HS (MI) head coach Jason Couch. Couch made the jump to college football at Alma and has led the Scots to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and league titles.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.