Port Vale: Adams planning to stick around (VIDEO)
In joining the club, the 47-year-old has seen his career go full circle 12 years after achieving promotion out of League Two with Fulham.
Having started his managerial career with the Londoners, he was forced to leave the club in September 1997 when new owner Mohamed Al Fayed replaced him with Kevin Keegan.
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Adams enjoyed brief stints with Swansea and Brentford before guiding Brighton to promotion from League Two in 2000/01.
His achievements on the south coast earned him the assistant's manager's job at Premier League Leicester City in October, 2001.
Relegation followed at the end of the campaign, but not before Adams had replaced Dave Bassett as manager.
He led Leicester back to the top flight the following season, in 2002/03, but couldn't prevent them from falling back into the Championship before eventually resigning in October, 2004.
Since then, Adams has been in charge at Championship side Coventry (2005/07) and League One Brighton again (May 2008-February 2009).
Now he is back plying his trade in League Two.
But while it is understood he has signed only a one-year deal with Vale, with the option of another 12 months, a more patient Adams insists he'll be in no rush to leave Burslem.
He explained: "In my early days, I wanted to get from A to B as quickly as I could.
"I started at Fulham and wanted to be a Premier League manager.
"I lost my job after getting them promoted because Mr Fayed came in and wanted Kevin Keegan.
"Swansea? I was only there about 13 days (Adams left the club claiming promises over transfer funding had been broken).
"I then went to Brentford, but Ron Noades bought them and made himself manager.
"I ended up at Brighton and I wanted to get from A to B again. I got the opportunity to go to the Premier League with Leicester after taking Brighton up. So I got there, but then made bad choices.
"I've been at football clubs where they have wanted to get from A to B quicker than me and they haven't had the infrastructure to do it in terms of finance.
"I've still got ambition, but I don't want to get there as quickly as I used to.
"Now I look at it and think I want to get my teeth into a football club and lay some foundations down.
"If, or when, I leave, hopefully people will say 'Micky Adams did a fantastic job and laid great foundations for the next manager'."
While he is still based in the Brighton area, Adams revealed he intends to move to a property he still owns in the Midlands.
He will officially start his job on July 1.
Before then, however, he still has matters to attend to such as tying defenders Luke Prosser and Paul Edwards, plus midfielder Ross Davidson, to new deals.
Adams admits he never saw a single Vale game last season and will have to wait until pre-season training to evaluate the squad he inherits from former boss Dean Glover.
However, the former Stoke City defender says he has already identified a few transfer targets and could even have them in place before the start of next month.
Glover, a former Vale defender, ended his 18-year association with the club at the end of the season when his seven-month reign as boss reached its conclusion.
But Adams has been quick to tap into Glover's extensive knowledge of the existing playing staff.
"I had a 20-minute conversation with Dean on Thursday and he was a gentleman. He still loves the Vale and he wished me all the best.
"I've been in Dean's shoes a couple of times, and it's not nice seeing another man walk into your job. But I just wanted to pick his brains and he was happy to help me."
Adams also faces the challenge of appointing a number two and is keen to fill the role with a player/coach.
One person who won't be part of his backroom staff next season is fitness coach Dave Barron, who will leave the club when his current deal expires next month.
He will not be replaced as Vale seek to drive down their wage bill, although Adams is happy to become a jack of all trades.
"I'm an old-fashioned manager and they used to do the fitness work, the coaching, the scouting and the psychology," Adams explained.
"That's one of the things that attracted me to the club.
"You've also got to cut your cloth accordingly.
"The higher up the league you go, the more people will say you need fitness coaches, psychologists, dieticians and video analysts.
"We'll get all that when we are back in the Championship."
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