Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

What Happened to Corey Adams? All About Ole Miss Freshman DE

Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Tragedy struck Ole Miss Football on Saturday, July 19, as their freshman defensive end, Corey Adams, was killed following a shooting that took place in Cordova, Tennessee. According to the statement by the Shelby County Police, the first-year Ole Miss player was pronounced dead on the scene. The 18-year-old was reportedly found dead inside a vehicle near a residential area, close to Memphis.

Reports also indicate that Adams was one of five people to be shot. The other four victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, but none of them were in critical condition. While the investigation is ongoing, no arrests have been made as of yet.

Ole Miss Football announced the unfortunate incident on its social media, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of their player and requesting everyone to keep Adams in their thoughts while also respecting his family’s privacy in this tragic time.

We’re heartbroken by the passing of Corey Adams.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him. pic.twitter.com/sj7dzyWJbn
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) July 20, 2025

Corey Adams Career

Adams, a native of New Orleans, attended Edna Karr High School, where he was unanimously rated as a three-star prospect by all major recruiting agencies. He was a promising young talent who was a two-time first-team all-state honoree and a two-time first-team all-district selection, as per the information provided on the Ole Miss Football website.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 235-pound defender had outstanding stats in his junior and senior years of high school football. As a junior, Adams recorded 51 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, 12 sacks, one pick six, and six pass deflections. In his senior year, he not only kept up his consistency but registered even better stats, which read 62 tackles, 19 sacks, 21 tackles for a loss, one fumble recovery, and four pass deflections.

Horrible news to report this morning. Ole Miss freshman Corey Adams was a victim in a homicide last night. Prayers to his family and friends.

Just tragic. pic.twitter.com/QM90DR5rlk
— Everything Ole Miss (@EverythingRebs) July 20, 2025

Corey Adams Parents

Corey Adams was born to Corey Adams and Chantrel Bernhart on November 3, 2006. Corey’s father is reportedly in construction, while his mother, Chantrel, was a school teacher. Adams was the youngest of three children. He had two older sisters with whom he shared a warm bond, even helping them with their homework.

Tributes which poured in from Edna Karr High School, Ole Miss, and others who had covered his game at the high school level allude to the fact that Adams was an exceptional player and perhaps one day could have even played football at the professional level.

Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Corey Adams

NFL

Ole Miss Football

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!