Keion Adams; Coming this fall to an opposing team's backfield near you
by Alan Gerould, senior writer
KALAMAZOO -- Another installment in a series of articles on some of the ELITE Western Michigan University student athletes preparing for this fall's football campaign.
To know Keion Adams is to like him. He walks around with a smile on his face and meets people with an easy greeting pretty much wherever he goes. Maybe it's part of that southern hospitality learned in his hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina where "everyone knows everyone," Adams said.
"Keion's a real people person and a good communicator, a hard worker and team leader," Ed Pinkham, Western Michigan University defensive coordinator said. "He is well respected among his teammates and we expect a lot of him, in this, his senior season. He has been an excellent mentor to the new class coming in helping them to get up to speed."
Adams, a criminal justice major, has aspirations for after football and hopes to land a job working with youths someday.
"I really have learned a lot about being a man and a valuable member of the community since I got here," Adams said. "That's one of the things we appreciate about Coach Fleck and the coaching staff, that it's as important to them for us to be good students, citizens and men as is to be good football players. I have been inspired to want to give back to the community, whether here or my hometown. I think that I can do a lot to keep youngsters out of the criminal justice cycle."
Before Adams can make a difference off the football field, he first has some unfinished business to take care of on the gridiron this fall.
"Last year had many memorable moments but it still left a bad taste in our mouth knowing that we missed a lot of opportunities," Adams said. "My teammates and I are working hard every day to change our best so that we don't experience those disappointments again this season."
Bronco coaches have took notice of Adams and what he brings to the WMU football team.
"Keion is a tremendous athlete who combines both strength and speed," Pinkham said. "Keion was a sprinter in high school track and also excelled in the shot put, a pretty rare combination. He is a 3,4,5 guy in the weight room (bench presses 375 pounds, hang clean and presses 405 pounds and squats 525 pounds)."
Adams led the Bronco football team in sacks last year with 5.5 and was second in tackles for loss with 10. Adam's strength and speed play into his success but says it's all about technique.
"When I got here I was a linebacker but Coach Pinkham and Coach (Vince) Reynolds thought that I had the ability to play on the defensive line which I had never played before," Adams said. "So I got bigger and stronger and worked on my technique. It helped a lot playing behind and with guys like Travonte Boles, Cleveland Smith, Richard Ash and Jarrell McKinney. I did a lot of watching, learning and working."
Reynolds has since left for Syracuse and has been replaced by former Detroit Lions star Jimmy Williams.
"I have learned so much from Coach Williams already," Adams said. "Being strong and fast is a gift from God but to be really elite you have to be learning constantly and wanting to get better every day and Coach Williams has helped me do that."
Williams is high on his new pupil.
"From what I have seen from Keion, he has a strong work ethic and wants to change his best on a daily basis," Williams said. "I won't even speculate as to his upside because I wouldn't want to think there are any limits to how good Keion can be. Keion controls that."
Adams ended up in Kalamazoo thanks to offensive line coach Bill Kenney, who spotted Adams when he was a sophomore while recruiting a couple of seniors at Salisbury when Kenney was a coach at Penn State University. When Kenney got the gig at WMU, he remembered the young man from North Carolina and when he was still available due to an eligibility issue, head coach P.J. Fleck went into "we want that young man" mode and the rest is history.
"The first chance I had to talk with Coach Fleck I knew I wanted to be a Bronco," Adams said. "I haven't regretted that decision either. I love it here and I love our Bronco family."