Vanderbilt Football Gets Newest Receiver From Transfer Portal – Sports Illustrated

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Vanderbilt has found its newest receiver Friday afternoon via the transfer portal. Per Pete Nakos and Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports, former Alabama wide receiver Cole Adams has committed to Vanderbilt.
The addition comes just a few days after former Vanderbilt wide receiver Tre Richardson announced his decision to enter the transfer portal. Friday morning, Richardson committed to Louisville. With Vanderbilt losing its speedster, the Commodores needed a wide receiver and Adams could be the next one that establishes himself in head coach Clark Lea’s offense.
Adams did not get that many snaps on offense. In his two seasons at Alabama, Adams caught 11 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. Adams’ main role as a member of the Crimson Tide was on the special teams unit returning punts, where he returned 20 punts during the 2025 season for 171 yards, averaging 8.6 yards per return.
A reason for Adams’ lack of playing time was because of the talent Alabama had on offense. With wide receivers such as Germie Bernard, Isaiah Horton, Lotzeir Brooks and Ryan Williams, Adams did not have many opportunities to get offensive snaps during his time in Tuscaloosa.
With Adams now with Vanderbilt, it is more than likely he will see much more playing time than he did at Alabama and will certainly have his opportunities to assert himself comfortably in the Commodores’ offense. 
Not only did Vanderbilt lose Richardson, but the Commodores also lost former tight end Eli Stowers to the NFL Draft. With two of Vanderbilt’s primary pass catchers not returning for the 2026 season, Adams will look to be a weapon in the passing game, whether he is in the slot or on the outside. 
Adams is from Owasso, Oklahoma and played high school football at Owasso High School. Adams was a four-star prospect coming out of high school as a part of the 2023 class. The 5-foot-10 rising junior was the No. 43 wide receiver in his high school class.
Vanderbilt is coming off a historic 10-3 season in which it was one of the most lethal offenses in college football, averaging 38.5 points per game behind offensive coordinator Tim Beck. However, with the offense set to look very different next season, it will be interesting to monitor how Beck’s offense will look in a post-Diego Pavia era. Adams may be unproven in terms of his production on the field collegiately, but he does provide potential that Lea and the coaching staff will hope to maximize.
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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