ASU, Edwards welcome back Adams
DB changes mind about desire to leave Sun Devils
Terin Adams could have ended up as a footnote in Arizona State football history.
Maybe he still will.
But by withdrawing from the NCAA transfer portal and being accepted back by coach Herm Edwards, the junior cornerback is giving himself a chance to be remembered for more than one largely unimpressive season.
Yes, Adams joined Darien Butler as ASU’s leading tacklers in a win over Oregon State and received a high grade from Pro Football Focus for his play against Washington. Nothing legendary, though, and Adams wasn’t certain he wanted to face another season backing up returning starters Chase Lucas and Kobe Williams.
So in April, six weeks after spring practice, Adams started the transfer process that could have taken him to a third school is as many years. He played at City College of San Francisco in 2017 after sitting out the year before due to an injury from his senior year of high school in Kirkland, Wash.
Adams, 5-11, 179, was a surprise participant when ASU opened preseason camp this week since his departure seemed certain. A school is allowed to take a player back after he enters the transfer portal but is not required to do so.
“I told players if you feel like you’re not going to get a chance to play a lot here and you want to do that, I understand,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said. “But the more he looked and the more he talked to his dad, he said this is the best opportunity. We’re glad to have him back. I told him, ‘You missed a lot of football so you’ve got to start from the bottom and work your way,’ and he’s been good.”
Cornerbacks coach Tony White credits Edwards, who made stops at California (twice), junior college and San Diego State during his playing days, with an understanding of how Adams could feel uncertainty about his best career path.
“He understands they’re young and sometime emotions are high and decisions are made,” White said. “Don’t punish them based off a 10-second emotion.
“Terin and Sam Adams went and talked to Coach Herm, they talked to Marv (Lewis). He understands what he’s got to do and so far he’s been living up to that. He’s put it on his shoulders, and he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing.”
Adams’ father is former NFL Pro Bowl defensive lineman Sam Adams, who played in Baltimore and Cincinnati when Lewis was on those coaching staffs. Lewis now is in his first season at ASU as an adviser to Edwards and was a factor in Adams’ decision to stay.
“I’ll be honest when I first got here, I didn’t really like it as much,” Adams said. “Not the football. Being in D-I was cool and all, but I couldn’t stand the heat. It was just hard to adjust to. But over time, I really started to like it.
“You’ve got all the resources in the world. You’ve got Marvin Lewis, he even coached my dad for a little bit. They have a solid relationship. Antonio Pierce, Herm, Scottie Graham, Ray Anderson, all of them. It’s a good place.”
Bottom line, Adams came to the conclusion that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere before fully acting on that impulse.
“I sat back and I did a lot of reflecting, looked at my opportunities and I felt this was the best opportunity for me,” he said, comparing the portal process that puts athletes on an NCAA list of those seeking to transfer to junior-college recruiting.
“The only difference is it was out of my control because I wasn’t playing. If I had some lingering stress, I wasn’t able to take it out on the field. But overall I feel like I’ve learned to control only what you can control and when you do that to the best of your ability, you’ll just feel a lot better about yourself overall.
“If I had any advice for anybody looking into the portal, I would tell them to do a lot of self-reflecting, always get a third-party perspective, one that is not biased and look at everything you could have done better on your end then look at everything you did and compare them. In my situation, I definitely should not have entered the transfer portal, but it might be different for somebody else.”
Getting playing time this year won’t be any easier given secondary recruiting additions of Jordan Clark and others.
But Adams proved he can contribute last season and should be better in his second year in ASU’s 3-3-5 defensive system.
“You know you’re getting a guy who can do it because he did last year,” White said. “The biggest thing with him in the consistency. He’s smart, he’s experienced in this defense, and he knows what he has to do to earn back the trust of everybody around him.”
Adams said, “At least they know what I can do. But that means they also know things I need to work on and that was one thing told me from the jump. They just want me to focus on improving certain aspects of my game. I came here and I feel that I’ve been doing it and I’m going to continue to do it, trying to be the best I can be.
“I’m very happy to be back. I’ll tell you one thing, though, this heat is out of pocket.”