MORGANTOWN - New WVU cornerbacks coach Blue Adams took a bunch of bone-rattling shots as a former football player.
He played collegiately at Cincinnati, was a seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions and played 50 games in the NFL over four different seasons.
Nothing, however, approached the verocity of the hit he received a little under two years ago.
Nothing shook Adams to the core like learning of his son Danny.
Nothing pierced his soul like finding out his namesake, nicknamed "Syre," had glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that affects motor function.
"It all hit in one week," the coach reflected, speaking slowly as if reliving a nightmare.
Adams' son was seemingly a healthy 13-year-old boy taking part in the Miami Dolphins Football Academy.
Yet one day the coach noticed a fall. And then another.
"I remember thinking, 'I've got to work with him,' " Adams said.
But it was just a start. There were headaches. There was blurred vision. There was a CAT scan.
Finally, Adams' family was hit with a fierce, leveling blind-side shot. Syre had a massive tumor in his brain.
One surgery removed the tumor, yet it grew back. So there was another surgery. And another.
Adams sighed.
"He's doing well," said the coach. "It's a stage-four glioblastomy, a really ugly deal. He's been fighting. Right now we're on Year Two. He's been doing a great job fighting. Some days are better than others."
Adams himself is carrying quite a load. He's coaching at a Power 5 school. He and wife Dorothy have five kids. But get this:
"That guy [Syre] is the cog that allows me to be away from home so much," Adams said. "He's the man of the house that makes things run so smoothly."
It's a heart-wrenching story. Syre Adams has lost some of his motor skills. In Florida, Make-A-Wish got him a tricked-out golf cart to help get around.
Yet the boy has spunk.
"I remember being at my wits' end," said the coach. "I went and laid in a bed. I said, 'Bud, I think I'm going to step away from ball for a little bit.' He was wired up and didn't have the best energy. But he sat up and said, 'Dad, why would you do that? We're football coaches.'
"That was the last time I second-guessed that."
So to Morgantown Adams and his family went. They are on a mission and the coach has much wisdom to impart on the Mountaineer corners. He listed influences from Pittsburgh Steeler head coach Mike Tomlin, Cincinnati Bengals assistant Kevin Coyle, ex-Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, Minnesota defensive coordinator George Edwards and Kansas City Chiefs secondary coach Emmitt Thomas.
"Basic movement," Adams said. "Just basic movement that any DB in America should have: the backpedaling, the open-ended hips, the change in direction, the explosiveness ... where your eyes are. Those are all things that are important."
They are just not as important as the guy Adams calls his "little dude." The coach said his family has tried to be strong. Syre has been to Boston for surgeries. Whenever they go, dad gets his head shaved with his son in a sign of support. Blue Adams wears a wristband with #SYRESTRONG and #WINTHEDAY in honor of his son.
Hopefully, the move to Morgantown and WVU will help.
"Usually when we move we wait for our kids to get out of school," Adams said, "but this time [Syre] was jacked up to get here. Part of the reason I wanted to get back into a college atmosphere is because I thought it would be great for him.
"The NFL is great for him as well, but it's just, I guess, I want to one day get him enrolled in college. As for a timeline, we don't talk about that. We live each day as strong and as hard as we can. But I want him to experience that college life, the college atmosphere. There's nothing like college ball. It's a different atmosphere."
The new Mountaineer assistant smiled widely.
"I can't wait until Syre gets around the guys and understands and feels the energy and enthusiasm of West Virginia football," he said. "I hear it gets crazy - and I'm counting on it. I want him to be smack-dab in the middle of the experience. I want him to taste every drop of it.
"We're going to live this day as strong as we possibly can."
With full support, undoubtedly, from both WVU and its fan base.