Redshirt junior defensive back Ishmael Adams is suspended indefinitely, coach Jim Mora announced Tuesday. The decision came a day after the Daily Bruin broke news of Adams’s arrest early Monday morning.
Adams was held at $100,000 bail for allegedly robbing an Uber driver’s cell phone, but posted bail early Tuesday. Mora said that the coaching staff will determine Adams’s future with the program as more facts become available.
“As a football coach, as a parent, you hate to see young men get themselves into bad situations,” Mora said. “One thing that I do is that I take this very seriously and I take this personally as well. We consistently as a staff, as a university, as a support group stress the importance of making good decisions to our young men.”
While teammates expressed concern over Adams’s circumstance, they reiterated their focus on Saturday’s season opener against Virginia.
“You never want that to happen to your teammate, but you know, life goes on, we play this football game, we wish the best for him,” said junior offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch.
For the immediate future, the team will move on without Adams, who had been demoted to nickelback from his position as cornerback after being outplayed by redshirt junior Marcus Rios during spring practice. Adams’s kick return responsibilities have also been reassigned since his arrest.
“We’re looking at (senior receiver) Devin Fuller, (redshirt junior defensive back) Randall Goforth will be our main two,” said special teams coach Scott White. “Our starting punt return guy will be Randall Goforth so it will be those two really handling most of the return duties.”
With contributing reports from Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports senior staff.