From Termite to Hammerhead: Keith Adams, Jr., ready to earn his spot

Keith Adams Jr. looks to continue a legacy of his family name at Clemson.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Mar 21 12:30:09 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON – Keith Adams, Jr., is ready. It’s his time.

Adams is a redshirt sophomore running back with a Clemson and NFL legacy. He is the son of Clemson Hall of Famer Keith Adams, a two-time All-America linebacker who won 1999 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and still holds Clemson single-season records for tackles, tackles for loss, and sacks. He is also the grandson of Julius Adams, a second-round pick in the 1971 NFL Draft who played 16 seasons with the New England Patriots and earned a Pro Bowl appearance in 1980.

Adams has played sparingly over his first two seasons, with Will Shipley and Phil Mafah carrying the majority of the workload. He enters 2024 with 14 career carries for 81 yards in 38 snaps over nine games.

Shipley has moved on, and many fans are excited about the possibilities of younger players like David Eziomume and Jay Haynes. That’s OK with Adams, who is used to people questioning his size (5-9, 215) and the fact that he played part of his high school career in Utah.

“I'm not sure everybody knows I played in Georgia, too. Me and Phil (Mafah) were the top two rushers in Georgia,” Adams said. “I don't think a lot of people know that, but yeah, me and him were, I was one and he was two in 7A. And obviously I brought that into Utah. I kind of showed them that, hey, physical running backs can play in Utah, too, so obviously, Utah football is not as bad as people think it is. They have a lot of great linemen that come out of there. Utah football is not as bad as people think it is. You just have to watch it.”

Adams says he gets that underdog mentality from his father, who played linebacker at 5-11.

“Oh yeah. With him, especially being a shorter linebacker. My dad always talks to me about that stuff and how he was always the underdog, and he had that mentality,” Adams said. “He kind of just transferred that over to me and I was telling him that linebackers hate tackling shorter, bigger running backs. They hate that. So, I use that to my advantage. My dad has the mindset of a linebacker, and I have the mindset of a running back, so I just get ideas from him.

“Dad was a running back when he came here, but then I think as soon as he got in practice, they put him at linebacker for a little bit, and then he knocked out the quarterback, and they said, no, you're not going back to running back. But I did play running back and linebacker in middle school and I just switched straight to running back. That's what I wanted to do. My dad didn't think I was going to be a running back for very long, but I eventually convinced him that I am a true running back, so I just stuck with it.”

His dad earned the nickname “Termite” while playing at Clemson, but the son has earned a different nickname – Hammerhead. Head coach Dabo Swinney was recently calling Adams by that name during a recent practice.

“Coach (Garrett) Riley actually started that, and I guess Coach Swinney and everybody else started calling me that,” Adams said. “So ever since I started trucking people and running over people, that's part of my game. I'm starting to implement a little looseness now that I'm getting more time. But yeah, that's part of it.”

Adams was complimentary of the younger players, but he realized this is his time to earn a spot and wants to take advantage of that opportunity.

“That's exactly what I'm thinking. Everybody's getting the opportunity,” he said. “Coach (CJ Spiller) told us that spot's open, so I'm going to do everything that I can to compete for that job. There's no intimidation, there's no jealousy in the room at all, and we all just work as a unit. We're all going to do our best. So, I believe that if I'm doing my best, everything's going to take care of itself.”