For The ItemNORTH READING ? Lynnfield coach Bill Adams may be graduating from the gridiron, but he’ll be hitting the hardwood this winter.Adams, 57, who has coached the Pioneers in football for the past 18 years, retired from his post after his team’s 30-12 loss to North Reading on Thanksgiving. Now, he’ll move on to coach the girl’s varsity basketball team at Lynnfield starting this winter.”We have an opportunity to be more successful, going forward, with a new face,” Adams said after the North Reading game. “We’ve struggled many years. I just think it’s time for a new face.”If there were any regrets for Adams, he said he wished he could have directed his teams to more winning seasons- including his 2007 squad.”I still wish, for the players and moving forward, that we had gotten the job done a bit better.”Early in his tenure, Adams had great success as coach for the Pioneers.He cited the Lynnfield’s two Super Bowl appearances in the 1980s in particular as high points. In 1991, another solid season, the team posted a 9-1 record.At that point, Adams said, people were telling him to move on to bigger and better things.”Parents were telling me to move on, that the well of talent was about to run dry,” Adams said. “But you know what? It isn’t all about winning.”During the past few seasons, victories haven’t come easy for the Pioneers. In 2005, they posted a 1-9 record, followed by a 1-10 record in 2006. This season, though, with the emergence of sophomore quarterback Chris Grassi to complement the leadership of seniors Pat LaMusta, Jeff Millinazzo, and Nick Tropeano, the Pioneers improved to 3-8.It has been an illustrious career around the game for Adams.At Holy Cross College, he was named a first team All-New England player.He then moved on to the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, where he played as an offense guard for six seasons in the 1970s.In 1994, Adams took over as athletic director at Lynnfield, a position he still holds today along with co-athletic director Neal Weidman.Adams said that before his final game, he didn’t feel much different than before any other contest in his career.”I spoke to the team before the game,” Adams said. “I feel good about it.”Lynnfield has not picked a candidate yet to succeed him as head coach, Adams said.This winter, Adams takes over as coach for the Lynnfield girls’ basketball team for the Peter Breton.Although he’s spent the majority of the past four decades on the gridiron, Adams is no stranger to James Naismith’s game, either.”I coached for eight years,” Adams explained. “I coached in the fall and the spring, too.”Adams will bring with him the principle he has stuck to throughout his coaching career in football – to keep the focus on the athletes.”I don’t think my ego has ever gotten in the way of anything,” Adams said. “It’s always been about the kids.”