Adams Big On ‘Just Burying Guys’
September 23, 2016 | Football, General
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
Trey Adams decided early in the recruiting process he wanted to play college football at Washington.
"It's just this place," he said.
He liked the location. It was close enough to home (Wenatchee). And he appreciated the program's storied past. But there was one thing that pushed him over the edge.
"When coach Pete (Chris Petersen) came it really just kind of multiplied," Adams said. "I realized this was the place for me."
Now in his second season, Adams is firmly entrenched as the team's starting left tackle. He continues to be impressed by the group of coaches Washington has assembled.
"It's just how engaged they are, how obsessed they are with football, how they teach and how they talk to you," he said. "It's their coaching style, how they are off the field and on the field.
"That got me and it gets a lot of guys to come here."
So what about his position coach, Chris Strausser, the man Adams trusts to aid his development, the offensive line coach who helped develop NFL offensive linemen like Ryan Clady, who wasn't highly recruited, but used his time at Boise State to blossom into a first-round draft pick.
"He (Strausser) just knows football really well," Adams said. "He pushes us every day to get better, to have perfect technique. That's fun. He's just really good to his players, good to his guys. He pushes us hard."
How much has Strausser meant to Adams? Well, "he's been everything," he said.
"He trusted me last year to play as a true freshman," Adams said. "This year he's putting more on my shoulders and I expect more next year and the year after that. He's just a good coach, good guy. I love him.
Adams believes it is Strausser's attention to detail that sets him apart as a position coach.
"He's right in there with you," Adams said. "He's watching you every play and if you do something wrong, take a wrong step, he's going to show you right after."
Last year, Adams spent the season trying to protect Jake Browning's blindside, while adjusting to the speed of the college game. All of a sudden, Adams was blocking guys like former Oregon standout DeForest Buckner.
With a year of experience, the game has slowed a bit for Adams, but the sophomore continues to learn while enjoying the moments where he is "just burying guys."
"Right now I'm just trying to hone my craft," he said with a smile. "It's all about repetition, doing the perfect stuff every play."
Adams has come along way in a little more than a season, but there is no room for the 6-foot-7, 302-pound standout to be satisfied.
"At the end of the day, we're trying to do something big here, so that's our goal, to never be satisfied," he said.
And, while Adams has matured as a player, one question remains. What's story behind the hair?
He started to laugh.
"I actually cut it the other day," he said. "It's a little shorter. I just like it. I like the flow."
He laughed again. He then explained his long locks are "just my thing."
"I don't think I'd be the same if I didn't have it," he said.
