At Cornell, hometown kid Sam Adams makes an impact on his hometown college

MOUNT VERNON — It has seemed over the years that a lot of guys from this small-college town in Linn County have wanted to go elsewhere to play their small-college football.

But for Sam Adams, this is home. Cornell College is home.

“It was a pretty easy decision for me,” the junior cornerback and Mount Vernon High School graduate said. “I wanted to stay close, didn’t want to go far. When I came on my visit to Cornell, I just felt like it was the perfect spot. It’s nice to be in the same town I grew up in.

“I try to go home a couple nights a week, on the weekend, to get a nice home-cooked meal in. That’s pretty nice. It’s been awesome here. Been a great experience.”

Rams fourth-year head coach Dan Pifer is very happy this hometown kid decided to remain a hometown kid, that’s for sure. Adams was named Cornell’s Most Valuable Player last season in a vote by players and is an important guy for a team ravaged by injuries last season that’s seeking to improve on a 3-7 record.

Cornell hosts Coe in the latest installation of college football’s oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi River. The season opener for both schools is Saturday morning at 11 at Cornell’s Ash Park, a kickoff that’s two hours earlier than first scheduled in an attempt to beat the heat, temperatures expected to be in the 90s.

“He’s one of the best corners I’ve ever coached, as far as defending the bubble,” Pifer said. “You know, defeating the block and blowing up the bubble (screen) and stuff, he’s phenomenal. He’s one of the most consistent players I’ve ever coached. You know what you are getting with him every day, every game. We get 22 of those guys, we’re going to have a really good team.

“He’ll tell you, he’s not the most athletic guy. He doesn’t bench the most, doesn’t jump the highest. But yet he’s always there. A very high football IQ.”

Pifer said his coaching staff always toyed with the idea of moving Adams to offense as a wide receiver. He’s got some of that in his background as a prep, the younger brother of record-setting Mount Vernon quarterback Drew Adams, who played at Grand View University and is now an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Colorado School of Mines.

But whenever Adams has been challenged by other defensive backs, other corners, he always beats them out. So he’ll stick to defense, with some long snapping and punt returning sprinkled in.

“I’m not the biggest corner that’s ever been on the field,” said the 6-foot, 179-pounder. “I’m not the fastest. I’ve really got to think in my head. I’ve got to be in the right spot, talk a lot, so I make up for some of the stuff I lose with my (lack of) speed. It’s just being in the right places and being physical.”

He’s one of the “old men” on his team as well, as just a junior. Pifer and his coaching staff have done a good job of increasing the number of participants in the Cornell program, with 83 players on this season’s opening-day roster.

But 61 of those 83 are sophomores and first-year players. Only seven are seniors.

Freshmen are going to have to play, Pifer said. That’s where experienced guys like Adams come on as coaches on the field.

“I’m trying to provide some help to the freshmen, because we’re going to have to play some this year,” Adams said. “I’m trying to provide them with some assistance and everything they need to be ready for their first college game.”

“It’s just recruiting. It’s still a people’s business, so it’s not really different from any other business where you’re dealing with customers, customer service, things like that,” Pifer said. “It’s having a good staff. We’ve got guys with good recruiting backgrounds and all that, so that has always helped. Then from there it’s just staying the test of time, keeping kids here, retention, which has been good here. The longer you keep guys in the program, the more chances for success you are going to have.”

Eight of Cornell’s top 11 tacklers from last season return, as do several skill players on offense, including quarterback John Smith. The offensive line, however, needs to be rebuilt.

Cornell will discover quickly where it is at, considering Coe is a very experienced team that should be one of the better ones in the American Rivers Conference.

“It’s very important,” Pifer said. “If we can have a good showing, obviously we’re going out there to win, but if we can have a good showing, come away with a feeling of ‘If we can just fix a couple of things, we’ll be pretty good,’ that’d be huge for us. We’re going to find out Saturday.”

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