It is very not often when players get nicknames from their coaches, but Clemson running back Keith Adams Jr. is the outlier.
The redshirt sophomore is often known as “Hammerhead”, known for his ability as a power back. Adams told the media that he got it a season ago from offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
“Coach Riley had just brought it up one time, I guess, during one of the practices last year during the fall,” Adams said on Wednesday. “I guess I was just running through people so he called me ‘Hammerhead’ and I just stuck with it.”
A name creates meaning, according to Adams, who uses his name as motivation for his gameplay.
“To have your coaches give you a nickname, you’re obviously doing something right and just standing out,” the tailback said. “I take that as an honor, doing something to get my name out there.”
Adams did stand out in Clemson’s win over Wake Forest last Saturday, rushing for 36 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The St. George, Utah, native got more opportunities due to the blowout, where he listened to running backs coach C.J. Spiller about taking advantage of chances.
“I’d just say taking advantage of any opportunity,” Adams recalls “Just whenever my name is called, I’m always ready. That’s what Coach Spiller always tells us, just always be ready because you’re one ankle away from having maybe one snap to maybe 20-30 snaps. So, that’s how I take it with every game.”
The touchdown was an emphatic one, with Adams running through three defenders to churn out extra yards and cross the goal line.
“I just saw the hole and there were three people right there, so my mentality when I’m running, I never want to go back,” he said. “I never want to fall backwards, I want to fall forward, and that’s how I run.”
Adams’s style comes after his father, Keith Sr., who was a linebacker with the Tigers in the late 1990s that put him in the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2011. Keith Sr. told his son one very important note in how to be a solid running back: “run angry”.
“My dad always told me to just run angry,” Adams said. “I’m not really an angry person but I do run angry, and not just me that runs that way, but it’s also genetics that happen to play a part into it.”
A lot of his playstyle is his power with his legs, admitting on Wednesday that he squatted 605 pounds for two reps. With a number like that, he repeats something in his head before every snap.
“I just tell myself ‘don’t let just one person tackle you’,” he said. “That’s how I go about running and stuff. . .I have pretty strong legs, so I just drive through people and know that if they’re going to tackle me, they’re going to fall backwards.”
A lot of the success that Adams has had this season has been through the help of senior running back Phil Mafah, who the redshirt sophomore says he learns a lot from over the last three seasons.
“Phil is a peaceful person, really nice guy,” he said. “But he does run angry, and you can tell his whole attitude switches when he gets on that field. It means business to him. Learning from Phil, just watching him, his mannerisms, how he is on the field, I try to take a part of that and use it on the field as well. He’s an inspiration to me and I just look up to him, so knowing I’m behind him as the other power back, I just take after him.”
In the Wake Forest game, Adams listened to Demon Deacon defenders say “Dang, this guy is tough too,” to him following Mafah in the game on the final drives. He believes that the wear-and-tear of the defenders from the starting tailback causes Adams to find more success.
“I feel like with Phil wearing them down already definitely made it easier for me,” he said. “I think the same dude I ran over, Phil ran over a couple of times and Peter Woods.”
It’s a special day for the Clemson running backs, as Spiller will be inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor before the Tigers’ game against Virginia on Saturday afternoon. Adams has been familiar with Spiller throughout his visits to Clemson, even playing with the Buffalo Bills on Madden, when Spiller played for them.
“I just became a fan of him since then, ironically he’s my coach now,” he said.
“Coach Spiller is a calm dude,” Adams continued. “He can be intense when he needs to be intense, but he’s just [a] really chill coach. From him having a running back perspective, it just helps us understand a lot better. He coaches us really well, he tells us what he would do in a situation, and he knows our strengths and weaknesses, so he applies that into how he teaches us as well.”
However, like many of the players, Spiller is focused on the next task at hand, which includes a reunion with former Clemson coach Tony Elliott, who leads the Cavaliers into Death Valley.
Like Spiller, Adams is focused on the next game at hand, hoping to see more opportunities in the future.
“We were excited about it,” Adams said about the Ring of Honor, he’s very excited about it, I’m sure, but he’s focused on priorities like [we] just got to get this game going.”
