Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin

Eastern Washington head coach Beau Baldwin stands on the sideline against Washington on Sept. 6, 2014.

(Elaine Thompson/The Associated Press)

On Sunday, Vernon Adams was still an Eastern Washington teammate.



But by Monday morning, he'd become just the newest season-opening opponent for the Eagles, a distinction made clear in EWU head coach Beau Baldwin's comments during a radio appearance the same day that the All-American quarterback was no longer welcome at team facilities or workouts.



"We're not rolling out the red carpet around here for a guy that's playing against us Game One," Baldwin said to ESPN700 in Spokane (the full audio is below), which is close to Eastern's campus in Cheney, Washington. "He's going to have to figure out where to work out."



Baldwin's statement came after Adams announced his plan to transfer to Oregon to use his fifth year of NCAA eligibility and compete to become Marcus Mariota's successor once he graduates from EWU this spring.



His rare transfer from the Football Championship Subdivision to the larger Football Bowl Subdivision adds an intriguing, and awkward, element to a Sept. 5 season-opening game between the Ducks and Eagles at Autzen Stadium that has been on the books since 2012, when Adams was a unknown redshirt freshman, long before any issues arose between the programs.



Barring Adams isn't likely much of a surprise to the player himself.



On Monday, shortly after announcing his eventual transfer, Adams said he already planned to spend his spring in limbo -- unable to take part in either Oregon or Eastern's practices -- outside of team facilities.



"That's one of the tough parts," Adams told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "Definitely going to work out twice a day at our rec center and probably trying to find some guys who used to go here or something for me (to throw to). Trying to keep my arm loose. That's going to be the toughest part."



Adams will also spend that time attempting to make inroads with his future teammates.



"I'm going to talk with Bralon (Addison) and Dwayne (Stanford) as much as possible," he said. "I'm trying to get in contact with as much of guys as possible, get their numbers and call a guy every other week and just get to know them and let them know what I'm about and try to get that chemistry, since I won't be there physically."



Adams broke the news to Baldwin on Monday morning and said his now-former head coach "will support me all he can," a sentiment both Baldwin and EWU administration has consistently echoed.

But keeping him from team workouts underscores the hard feelings about larger NCAA issues those in Cheney have expressed since Adams' announcement. (And within hours of Adams' news Monday, the school-sponsored website built for Adams' awards candidacy, bigplayVA.com, was taken down; it now redirects to the main EWU athletic page.)

EWU officials have been open with criticism of the rule that allowed the situation in the first place. The NCAA's fifth-year transfer rule is more common in college basketball and FBS-to-FBS moves in football aren't unheard of, with Russell Wilson's transfer from North Carolina State to Wisconsin the most well-known. But Adams could be one of the first to use it to jump "up" a level.

Smaller FCS programs don't want to develop stars only to see them poached for their final season.



That fear goes beyond Eastern Washington's blood-red field. During the early months of the 2013 offseason, when his all-conference quarterback Denarious McGhee was returning for a fifth season, Montana State head coach Rob Ash -- a Big Sky Conference rival of Eastern Washington -- said he was concerned for that very reason.



"It was in the back of my mind," Ash said. "Thankfully he didn't think of it. We want to play the NFL card in a good way. Finish here and guys will find you at the next level. You don't have to prove it at the FBS level."

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Adams has said his NFL dreams spurred him to prove it against Pac-12 competition. And for the Ducks, adding Adams brings a proven starter into the race to replace Mariota, who followed his own NFL dreams and declared early for the draft after a Heisman Trophy season in 2014.



"Obviously Oregon doesn't feel like they recruited or developed a guy to the same level we did in Cheney, Washington," Baldwin said Monday. "I'll be honest, that can be a little bit frustrating and I would ask the question because I don't see myself finding my next QB at (Division III) Linfield in that regard."



During his radio appearance, Baldwin continued to thank Adams for three record-setting seasons while questioning why Oregon recruited his quarterback, saying, "I disagree with a lot of parts of it, both with Oregon and the rule, but all I want is Vernon to have success as a senior."



Baldwin also said he's spoken with Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich about the transfer.



"When you're Oregon, and over the last three or four years you're not recruiting a number of guys that can fill in when Marcus leaves, I'm kind of asking the question -- I'm flattered, I guess -- of what are they doing over there?"

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

503-221-8100

@andrewgreif