QB Deuce Adams becomes first Louisville football signee from Texas high school since 2010

Deuce Adams had a busy spring.

Between college visits, football recruiting and leaving New Braunfels, Texas, the three-star quarterback wasn’t short of things to do. But, by the end of April, everything had come together.

The Adams family moved back to Austin, where Deuce's father, Mike, rejoined Vandegrift High School’s coaching staff. And Deuce made his college choice: Louisville.

It was the only out-of-state school Deuce visited, and he knew early on that it was the right fit. Not only did he have things in common with Louisville coach Jeff Brohm but he found out his dad did, too. Mike was a stellar sophomore receiver for Texas and played against Brohm, then Louisville’s senior quarterback, in 1993.

Mike, who is in UT’s Hall of Honor, also played against Louisville wide receivers coach Garrick McGee, who was Oklahoma’s quarterback. Though Mike and his wife, Rachel, had some reservations about their son leaving the state — Baylor was one of Rachel’s top choices — the connections with the coaching staff created a convincing case for the Cardinals.

“There was just some commonality there which was, you don't see that a lot,” Mike said. “It all pretty much had come full circle for me being a dad and you're my son being in this position. He's being courted and offered scholarships by guys that I actually played against, so that definitely made it a lot easier.”

Eight months after his visit to Louisville, Deuce became the Cardinals’ first high school signee from Texas since 2010, according to the 247Sports database. He signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday morning.

Deuce’s brother, Eli, also is coming to Louisville as a preferred walk-on wide receiver.

“Playing QB at Louisville, there's something (special) to it, especially in this new offense with Brohm,” Deuce said. “It could be very dangerous.”

Going back home

Mike was in the perfect spot at Canyon High School in New Braunfels. Not only was he on the Cougars’ football coaching staff but he also was able to pursue his career aspirations as an assistant principal.

But when Canyon head coach Travis Bush became the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s inaugural head football coach and the school district hired a new superintendent, changes were made. Mike said he was told that he needed to choose between coaching and administration. He had planned on coaching for only one more year with sons Deuce and Eli, who are 1 year and 2 weeks apart, going into their final year of high school.

“I just thought it may be a good opportunity to try to move back home to Austin,” Mike said. “It just so happens that we had an opportunity at Vandegrift."

In April, Mike returned to Vandegrift after leaving in 2018, becoming the Vipers' wide receivers coach and teaching economics. Deuce and Eli reconnected with old friends and coaches while getting acquainted with new ones.

“It was fun to get to know him as a young adult now and just get to know his personality, how competitive he is, how much of a perfectionist he is, how much he cares about his teammates,” Vandegrift coach Drew Sanders said of Deuce. “All those aspects were really fun to get to know how he's grown and matured over the years.”

Deuce also had to learn a new system. It was different than the one at Canyon, where he threw for 3,007 yards and 34 touchdowns. He completed 67% of his passes (216 of 323) as a junior and was intercepted six times.

“We played a faster-speed tempo in New Braunfels,” Deuce said. “It was a slower kind of tempo down here. But it wasn't a hard transition because I feel I can play in any system. It was just something different.”

Because of spring football and 7-on-7 during the summer, it took Deuce only a couple of weeks into fall camp to feel comfortable in the Vipers’ system. That was apparent when he was Vandegrift’s leading passer and rusher in the 27-7 season-opening win over Dripping Springs. He was 8-of-11 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown. Deuce carried the ball seven times for 60 yards.

“The first thing that stands out is how effortless everything looks,” Sanders said. “If somebody were to watch him, every movement is just super athletic and effortless. When he throws, it just looks really natural. That's how I would describe him as just a really elite athlete.”

The undefeated Vipers played Lake Travis, the alma mater of NFL players including Baker Mayfield and Garrett Wilson, in the playoffs and lost, 13-10. Up until then, the Vipers had outscored their regular-season opponents, 443-67, so Deuce rarely played a full game. He ended his senior season 151-of-216 passing (69.9%) for 2,128 yards and 27 touchdowns. Deuce gained 221 yards and scored four TDs on 68 carries.

“I just did what I was asked to do the entire season, just going out there and doing what I do distributing the ball, just being a playmaker,” Deuce said. “It was a great senior season.”

Commonality creates a Cardinal

Brohm started recruiting Deuce before he took the Louisville job. After Brohm left Purdue and took over at Louisville last December, he and Cardinals offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm went to Canyon High School to watch Deuce throw. Louisville offered him a scholarship a few weeks later.

U of L already had Deuce’s interest because of the connection he had with the Brohms outside of football. Jeff and Brian were stellar baseball players, and Deuce was a two-year varsity shortstop at Canyon before moving back to Vandegrift. He also thought it was cool that his dad and Jeff were once on opposing sidelines.

Football-wise, the offense that Vandegrift runs is similar to Louisville’s, which gave Deuce more incentive to become a Cardinal.

“Simplicity is definitely not one of the traits,” Mike said. “You've got to be able to be pretty smart, be pretty intelligent to learn the offense.”

The decision for Deuce was a no-brainer. By Day 2 of his unofficial visit April 2, he knew Louisville was where he wanted to be, but he waited three days after the visit to announce his decision.

“I wasn't gonna make anything official yet, but I knew it was where I'd be going to college because I just had so much in common with coach (Brian) Brohm and coach Jeff Brohm,” Deuce said. “It's just a great place for me to go and get developed.”

Just as Deuce was destined to lead Vandegrift to one of the program’s best seasons, commonality and destiny led him to Louisville.

“It was just all the T's were crossed and I's dotted,” Mike said. “The stars lined up, as they say.”

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: National Signing Day 2023: Deuce Adams signs with Louisville football