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Ole Miss Players Gave Heartfelt Tribute to Former Rebels Teammate Killed in Shooting

In the aftermath of the Sugar Bowl win, the Rebels were thinking of Corey Adams, their teammate who was tragically killed in a shooting in July.

Tim Capurso

Rebels defensive tackle Will Echoles, along with his teammates, gave a salute to Corey Adams after winning the Sugar Bowl.
Rebels defensive tackle Will Echoles, along with his teammates, gave a salute to Corey Adams after winning the Sugar Bowl. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images
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Ole Miss’s 39–34 triumph over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday was bittersweet. It was a jubilant victory for the Rebels, who stormed back to erase a nine-point halftime deficit to continue their magical College Football Playoff run after former coach Lane Kiffin spurned the team to join SEC rival LSU. But the win also carried a somber note, for it came without freshman defensive lineman Corey Adams, who was tragically killed in a shooting in Tennessee back in July.

But Adams was not far from the minds of the players, who, led by defensive tackle Will Echoles, gave a heartfelt tribute to Adams, as well as his mother, who was in attendance at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans during the postgame trophy ceremony.

“The whole season—we've been dedicating our season to Corey Adams,” Echoles said. “His mom's in the stands over there. Let's give her a round of applause. C4—C4—we do it for C4.”

Adams, a defensive lineman from New Orleans who twice earned All-State honors at Edna Karr High School, committed to the Rebels in June of 2024 and enrolled at the university this past winter. Adams was killed in Cordova, Tenn., outside a residence on the night of July 19 in a shooting that also left four other men wounded. Adams was 18 years old.

“He’s been on my mind heavy. He’s on my mind really all day,” Echoles said of Adams after the game. “When we breaking it down after practice, we break it down on C4. We gave his mom the game jersey yesterday before the game, and we talked with her a lot. She shares more stories about him and how great of a kid he was. And I was just glad that we got to come to New Orleans and to play in his home state and represent him.”

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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