Former Alabama WR Cole Adams Commits to SEC Program

Adams entered the transfer portal after serving as the Crimson Tide's starting punt returner during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Nov 22, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama wide receiver Cole Adams (7) runs with the ball as Eastern Illinois tacklers close in at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images | Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

Former Alabama football wide receiver and punt returner Cole Adams will be continuing his career at Vanderbilt, remaining within the SEC after three seasons with the Crimson Tide. Adams' destination following his entry into the transfer portal was first reported by Pete Nakos and Hayes Fawcett of On3.

Adams was injured midway through the 2024 campaign, his first season seeing significant on-field action at the college level and did not play after the team's win over Missouri on Oct. 26 of that year. This past season, as a redshirt sophomore, he tallied 71 yards on five catches with one touchdown.

He was the team's starting punt returner in both 2024 and 2025. In total, Adams amassed 156 yards on 19 punt returns during his final season with the program. He recorded 76 return yards between punts and kickoffs in a shutout win over Eastern Illinois on Nov. 22.

Alabama's wide receiver room has been further depleted since the departure of Adams. While Rico Scott reneged on his choice to enter the transfer portal and is set to return to the team for the 2026 season, receiving touchdowns leader Isaiah Horton's plans to head to the portal were revealed on Thursday afternoon. The position group has also lost Aeryn "Bubba" Hampton, Jalen Hale, Jaylen Mbakwe and Germie Bernard over the course of the 2025-26 season and subsequent offseason.

Bernard is the only player in that group whose eligibility has lapsed. The others will all play their next college snaps in a new school's uniform. Hampton left the team early in fall camp last year after limited reps during Kalen DeBoer's first season in 2024. Mbakwe will not be staying in the SEC like Adams has opted to; the former five-star (who began his collegiate career at cornerback) committed to Georgia Tech.

Ryan Williams will soend his junior season with the Crimson Tide, and Lotzeir Brooks, a dynamic freshman who became a critical component to the squad's College Football Playoff success, remains in the room as well. The program also has rising sophomore Derek Meadows and five-star freshman early enrollee Cederian Morgan in the ranks of scholarship wideouts for the upcoming fall.

The winter transfer portal window will remain open until Jan. 16. Since Alabama's season ended on New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl, it became imprudent for Crimson Tide players who intended to move on to wait that long. The portal officially opened the day after that game.