Ed Orgeron was worried.
This was back in December, and the LSU coach was getting his team ready to play in the Citrus Bowl against Heisman Trophy-winning Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. The kickoff was at 11 a.m.
“The LSU Tigers normally don’t play well at 11,” Orgeron said. “I wanted to make sure I changed that. We had a 7 o’clock — what we call ‘clap session.’ I walked in there at 6:45 and there was Jamal Adams, sitting there ready to go. I knew he was going to play great.”
Adams, the Jets’ first-round draft pick, did just that. Adams, a safety, had five solo tackles on Jackson, including a highlight-reel play where he ran across the field and tackled Jackson behind the line of scrimmage. The Tigers won 29-9, holding Jackson to 153 yards passing and 33 yards rushing.
“We came out there and we wanted it more,” Adams said Friday. “We played for coach O. His job was on the line. We just wanted to go out on top. That was really a statement game for LSU.”
Orgeron describes Adams as a “tremendous leader” and “a great young man.” For Orgeron, those qualities never were more evident than when the entire LSU program was turned on its head. Longtime coach Les Miles, the man who recruited Adams to LSU, was fired Sept. 25, the morning after a loss to Auburn. Orgeron, who had been the defensive line coach, was named interim head coach.
“Jamal was one of the guys who stood up and said: ‘Listen, coach Orgeron is now our head coach. We love coach Miles, but this is our new head coach and we’re going to support him,’ ” Orgeron said. “He supported me from Day 1 in the meeting room, in the locker room, on the field and by the way he spoke. People followed him. I can’t thank him enough.”
The school removed Orgeron’s interim tag a few months later.
Adams had an outstanding career at LSU and was a first-team All-American as a junior in 2016. That final game against Louisville in the Citrus Bowl will be what people talk about for years, though.
It shows his value off the field and on it, which the Jets are counting on as they try to change their locker-room culture. Orgeron said Adams made sure no one missed curfew in the days leading up to the game, making sure everyone was back at the hotel. Then, he drew the toughest assignment of any Tiger, and maybe of any college football player last year — go wherever Jackson goes.
“He did a great job against Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner,” Orgeron said. “We just put him on Lamar, had him bird-dog him and chase him down. Lamar’s one of the quickest players I’ve ever played. Jamal did it.”
Adams went into that game knowing it probably would be his last and he would declare for the NFL draft days later. He wanted to leave as a winner.
“I felt like that game was important for LSU as an organization,” Adams said. “We went through so much adversity with the coaching change. We needed to go out as winners. A lot of the vets, we wanted to finish strong, no matter what the circumstances were in terms of leaving early or even staying. We wanted to go out as winners. Lamar Jackson was a huge task, a phenomenal football player.”
Orgeron said Adams can do it all. He has been labeled as a box safety, but Orgeron said Adams can play deep, cover, play zone, blitz, everything.
“You can do anything you want with Jamal,” Orgeron said. “The Jets have themselves an outstanding football player.”
The Jets have not announced their undrafted free-agent class yet, but here is a partial list based on social-media posts and reports (one caveat: It is unclear if the player has been signed or invited to try out at rookie camp in some posts): Villanova LB Austin Calitro, Portland State CB Xavier Coleman, North Texas OLB Jareid Combs, Troy DE/OLB Rashad Dillard (tryout), Syracuse WR Brisly Estime, Tulsa QB Dane Evans (tryout), Harvard FB/LB Anthony Firkser, Georgia Tech DT Patrick Gamble, Lindenwood ILB Connor Harris, Tennessee St. OL Kevin Kenton, South Carolina St. OT Javarius Leamon and Washington St. WR Gabe Marks.