Vanderbilt Commit Adam Gehm Knows he'll Improve in High School Senior Year Ahead of Arrival on Campus

Vanderbilt commit Adam Gehm doesn’t know if he’ll be a day-one player at Vanderbilt, but he does know he’ll be a heck of a lot better in his senior year of high school than he was in his sophomore and junior seasons. 

Gehm showed enough to warrant a three-star ranking in his last two seasons of high school football, but feels as if there’s more to his game than what he was able to show. Why? Gehm played through a fracture in his right and left foot as a sophomore and through one in his junior season.

The 6-foot-6 tight end had the option to fix both injuries ahead of his junior season, but had surgery on only one of them so that he could continue to push for power-five offers in what he believed was his most important season of high school football. 

“The opportunities were kind of fading,” Gehm told Vandy on SI. “I didn’t want that to happen and my team did need me so I kinda just buckled up and went into the season with one [foot] fixed and one still hurt.” 

Gehm looks back on his decision to play through injury as a “great decision” that allowed him to help keep his high school team Seneca Valley as well as his recruitment above water. The 6-foot-6 tight end ended just junior season with 19 Division-I offers–including a few power-five ones–as well as a Vanderbilt commitment. 

Vanderbilt views Gehm as someone who could play a similar role as current in-line tight end Cole Spence. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck doesn’t want to put the rising high school senior in a box yet, though. At this stage, he’d rather let Gehm’s skillset develop and give him a chance to prove that he can become more than just an in-line guy. 

Gehm believes his senior season–in which he will finally be fully healthy–can allow Beck to see what he’s truly capable of. He also believes that Beck and the Vanderbilt staff took the proper steps in evaluating the effects of his injury.

“A lot of coaches recruiting me looked past that point,” Gehm said of his injury’s impact on his play. “I think Vanderbilt kind of noticed that along with a few other schools. Although I wasn’t putting my best game on tape, I was doing it through an injury for two years. It was all not even for myself, but for my team too, which is a trait you can’t actually see in somebody unless its in this instance. I think it’s a good display of myself.” 

As Gehm finally starts a healthy season with a new offensive coordinator–that plans to target him eight to 10 times a game–he won’t have to be as selfless. If all things go to plan, this could finally be the season in which he takes a significant leap. 

Now that he’s got a fully-healthy offseason to work with, Gehm is working primarily to re-strengthen his lower body after the effects of his injury. He’s also working to get faster and to balance adding athleticism while also adding strength. Perhaps the biggest thing; he can finally choose what he works on rather than being limited just to his upper body. 

“I haven’t had most of the offseason the past two years so I’m really using that as motivation to get back to where I expect myself to be,” Gehm said. “I’m kind of working double the amount, which is motivating me.” 

Gelm now has the motivation. He’s got the health. He’s older. All that’s left for him is one high school season in which he could take a leap. 

It appears as if it’s lining up that way. 

“A year ago today I was on one foot, I was rehabbing my one foot from surgery and one was broken,” Gehm said. “At this point, I have both of them fixed, I’m 100% and I’m getting back to myself as a player.”