Seth ‘Boogeyman’ Adams leads Aztecs’ remade tight ends room

San Diego State tight ends Jude Wolfe and Mikey Harrison exhausted their eligibility last season, making the position group one of the biggest question marks for SDSU coming into this season.

How the Aztecs regard the position in their uptempo offense was evident in the way they reloaded.

While SDSU added four players to the tight ends room, the only upperclassman among them was senior Seth Adams from Southeastern Louisiana.

The next pass he catches will be the first pass he catches.

“We feel like we needed to get more physical in that room, and we did,” said SDSU senior offensive analyst Ryan Lindley, who coaches the tight ends. “Obviously, he fits the tone with that. He’s the elder statesman, too. But the physicality he brings, we want that to seep down to the rest of the group.”

The rest of the group includes two returners, redshirt freshmen Arthur Ban and Ryan Wolfer; two other transfers, redshirt freshmen Jackson Ford (Tulsa) and Connor Irons (Air Force); and true freshmen Jack Lua and Jacob Alvarez.

Ford, Ban and Wolfer profile more as pass catchers.

SDSU coach Sean Lewis places a premium on the tight end being able to support the run game, however, and that’s why Adams was the most coveted newcomer.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Adams is from Dawsonville, Ga., and traces his roots to the offensive line, where he played at the University of Cumberlands (Ky.) and Kennesaw State before moving to tight end last year in his second season at Southeastern Louisiana.

Adams isn’t concerned with the Gronk-like glamour that goes with being a receiving tight end.

The closest he comes is with a catchy nickname — “Boogeyman” — dropped on Adams by his offensive coordinator at Kennesaw State for a habit of “finishing people, taking people to the ground” when he was along the O-line.

“When I step on the field,” Adams said, “I make sure my presence is known and I’m the most physical player on the field, whether it’s practice or a game. …

“Every play, no matter the assignment, I’m coming downhill to take another man’s will, set that physical tone, that physical presence.”

Adams needed to mature into that role. He had the size in high school, tipping the scales at 300 pounds, though it was not necessarily muscle.

“I was big on going to the gas station,” Adams said, “getting my Slushie, some Skittles and stuff like that after practice.”

He said the focus now is on carbs and protein, not sugar.

“I haven’t even had a birthday cake the last four years,” Adams said. “I cut all that stuff out.”

He believes coming to San Diego “was meant to be when Coach (Ryan) Lindley reached out.”

Adams’ grandfather served aboard the USS Midway, which was decommissioned in San Diego in 1992 and has served as a museum here the past two decades.

His grandfather often spoke about bringing Adams and his brother to San Diego to see the museum. His grandfather did not live to realize that dream, but Adams did tour the ship earlier this year when his parents and aunt came to visit.

“It was really cool to see,” Adams said. “It was awesome.”

Those memories will no doubt return Thursday evening, when Adams and his Aztecs teammates go aboard the Midway for SDSU’s annual kickoff event.

One more thing about Adams’ role in the offense: the Aztecs are going to make sure opponents don’t assume they’re running when he’s in the game.

“He’s probably been typecast at some of the other places he’s been as the fullback and run-game guy,” Lindley said. “One promise we gave to him when he came here is you’re going to get a catch here in the next couple weeks … Hopefully, a touchdown.”

That would be a moment to celebrate, though it doesn’t seem to resonate with Adams.

“I want our running backs to rush for more than 1,000 yards this year, 5 yards a carry,” he says. “That’s what I want.”