Alabama fans were happy to see Ryan Williams and Daniel Hill score touchdowns as true freshmen last week versus Western Kentucky at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Caleb Odom, a freshman, had two catches and that was good, but the Crimson Tide has another young player its offensive coaching staff is excited about this season. Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters Wednesday in the Southeastern Conference Coaches Teleconference to prepare for South Florida. He highlighted one name he feels will have ‘some big games’ for the Tide.
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Cole Adams was the name.
Adams, a former four-star wide receiver in the 2023 signing class, was a dynamic football and track athlete at Owasso High School in Oklahoma.
He was fearless on punt returns against the Hilltoppers, averaging eight yards per return.
Adams did not signal for a fair catch on any of his five attempts. He created excitement on the field that fans have not seen since Jaylen Waddle in 2019. Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry returned punts for the Tide last year, but Adams puts you in the mind of Waddle, Christion Jones, Cyrus Jones, Eddie Jackson, and Javier Arenas in his ability to make plays with the football in his hands.
If he would have gotten a crease last week, one of his returns would have been a touchdown.
Coach DeBoer really likes what Adams can do on offense and special teams.
“That is a really good player to highlight for us,” DeBoer said Wednesday about Adams. “I think he’ll have some big games this fall, where he gets targeted when we throw the ball more than we did on Saturday.”
The 5-foot-10, 181-pounder earned the nickname “Mr. Reliable” from Alabama’s wide receivers coach, JaMarcus Shephard in spring practice. Shephard praised Adams for playing the game the right way.
Alabama redshirt freshman WR Cole Adams has earned a nickname heading into his second season:
“He’s Mr. Reliable,” Alabama WRs coach JaMarcus Shephard on Adams.@TDAlabamaMag @TouchdownETP pic.twitter.com/DnRzfcqtNy
— Stephen M. Smith (@CoachingMSmith) August 3, 2024
DeBoer saw the same aspects in Adams in the spring and it grew through fall camp.
“This spring, just was solid — always doing the right things and learning constantly, trying to grow and get better. You could see it,” DeBoer said. “And then when he got to fall camp, more of the same. Got him back returning punts. He’s in the rotation with the kickoff returns, as well. Only really one opportunity where we had a kickoff returned even kicked to us. But, he knows where to be. He’s got a good feel of how to be quarterback-friendly and be in the right place at the right time. He takes the coaching really well. Just has made the plays in practice, in particular.”
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DeBoer is looking forward to watching Adams have success at wide receiver.
“He’s got a good mix of quickness, and a good burst,” DeBoer said. “Decent speed. Runs solid routes that really, like I said, the quarterbacks can count on where he’s going to be, which leads to me calling him kind of a quarterback-friendly wideout.”
Hopefully, Adams will get as many opportunities at receiver as on special teams.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
