Ross County (first spell) In 2006, Adams returned to Ross County as player–coach. In November 2007, Adams was promoted to the role of player–manager, having served as caretaker manager since October. Despite the terms of Adams' appointment, his last playing appearance was in October 2007. He led Ross County to the
Scottish Second Division championship in 2008, earning promotion to the
First Division. At the age of 33, Adams became the holder of the UEFA Pro Licence, which is the highest coaching badge in the senior game. The next year, Adams led Ross County to the
2010 Scottish Cup Final, notching upset victories over
SPL sides
Hibernian and
Celtic. County lost 3–0 to
Dundee United in the Final.
Hibernian assistant Adams left Ross County on 11 November 2010 to join
Hibernian as assistant manager to
Colin Calderwood. Adams has had several disciplinary cases considered by the
Scottish Football Association during his coaching career. At one point he was due to be banned for a number of matches, but he won an appeal against part of the suspension. Adams was then suspended for further matches, a sanction which Hibs appealed against. While this appeal was ongoing, Adams described the whole disciplinary process as distressing.
Ross County (second spell) and the Young Player of the Year award winner
Alex Cooper. Adams left Hibernian on 19 May 2011 to return to Ross County as manager. In his first season back at County, Adams guided the club to the
2011–12 Scottish First Division championship and promotion to the
Scottish Premier League. County clinched the championship with five games to spare. They went on a remarkable 34-game unbeaten run and finished 24 points above 2nd-placed Dundee. Before the 2012–13 season, Adams made seven signings, all of which were free agents. After three draw and one win, Adams was named SPL manager of the month for August. The club's 40-match unbeaten league was ended by a 2–1 defeat to
St Johnstone; Adams said he was very proud of achieving such a long run without defeat. In November 2012, Adams appointed
Neale Cooper, who had just left
Hartlepool United, as his assistant manager. Ross County struggled during the autumn of 2012, but Adams expected the club to avoid relegation. In late-December the club began a winning streak, that eventually led to a top-six finish in 5th position and 1 point off a European position in their first season in the top flight. In the January 2013 transfer window, Adams offloaded nine players and made six new signings. The winning streak continued, which resulted Adams receiving manager of the month awards for January and February. During the season, Adams was linked with positions at
Dundee United and
Aberdeen. Adams was nominated for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year, but lost out to
Allan Johnston. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Adams signed a new contract with the club. Ross County finished 7th under Adams at the end of the
2013–14 Scottish Premiership season, the second season in a row finishing above Hibernian, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and St Mirren. Following a 2-1
Scottish League Cup win over
Stranraer, Adams left Ross County on 28 August 2014.
Plymouth Argyle Adams was appointed
Plymouth Argyle manager on 11 June 2015.
Morecambe (first spell) On 7 November 2019, Adams became manager of
Morecambe, replacing the long-serving
Jim Bentley, who left to take over at
AFC Fylde earlier in the month. They faced
Tranmere Rovers in the semi-finals, winning 3–2 on aggregate, a 2–1 win away from home and drawing 1–1 at home. On 31 May 2021, Adams led Morecambe to promotion to the third tier for the first time in their club's history, a penalty from
Carlos Mendes Gomes in extra-time securing a 1–0 victory over
Newport County. Three days after Morecambe's play-off victory, on 3 June 2021, Adams left the club to pursue other opportunities.
Bradford City On 4 June 2021, Adams was confirmed manager of
Bradford City, signing a three-year deal. On 15 February 2022, Adams was sacked by the club with his last match in charge being a 1–0 home defeat to
Exeter City that left his side in 12th position, eight points off the play-offs. Following this defeat, Adams said in his post-match interview, "If [Bradford] are going to get a new manager in they're not going to get as successful a manager as myself in the door. That's obvious to everyone, because my record is up there with all the records in this league." They subsequently replaced him with
Mark Hughes.
Morecambe (second spell) On 24 February 2022, Adams returned to Morecambe after
Stephen Robinson, the manager who had replaced Adams in the summer, returned to Scotland to manage
St Mirren. On 20 November 2023, with Morecambe sitting ninth in League Two, Adams' release clause was met and he subsequently left the club to pursue an opportunity elsewhere.
Ross County (third spell) Adams left Morecambe to become
Ross County manager for a third time in November 2023. His first game in charge was a 0–0 draw. Adams received backlash in December following his post-match comments after losing at home to
Dundee through a last-minute goal, in which he slammed the standard of Scottish football as being "shocking", calling the game "one of the worst games I've ever seen", and claiming his former team
Morecambe were "miles better" than his Ross County squad, specifying that "I've left a side down in England's League Two that is miles better than this team. And that's saying something, we had the bottom budget in League Two and we were a hundred times better than this." Adams would later stand by his comments regarding the standard of Scottish football, but admitted regret in his comparison to his former employer and apologised to his playing squad for the comment. Adams resigned from his position at Ross County on 7 February 2024, the day after a 5–0 defeat at
Motherwell.
Morecambe (third spell) On 3 June 2024, Adams was appointed Morecambe manager for a third time on a rolling contract. Morecambe were subsequently relegated from
EFL League Two to the
National League at the end of the 24/25 season. On 18 August 2025, following the club's takeover by Panjab Warriors, Adams was sacked.
Director of Football role Plymouth Argyle Adams was appointed
Plymouth Argyle Director of Football on 11 November 2025. The role would involve supporting manager
Tom Cleverly "manage the men's first-team structure" and "provide strategic guidance" rather than being involved in "day-to-day coaching responsibilities". ==Managerial statistics==