Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie: Inside the powerful friendship that propels the USMNT

It's been more than a decade since his time in Residency, but McKennie still remembers it well. It was at that time he was first introduced to many of the teammates who would accompany him on this wild journey from Little Elm, Texas to the highest levels of soccer.

For those unaware, the Residency Program was operated by U.S. Soccer for nearly two decades before closing in 2017. The program was designed to bring in the very best young players in American soccer and expose them to high-level training, development that was previously unavailable in the U.S.

Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Jozy Altidore were among the famous graduates. By the time the likes of McKennie and Adams were involved, the names of past stars had been carved into some of the beds. American soccer royalty had passed through those dorms in Bradenton, Fla.

McKennie's story didn't begin with that U-17 program but, in many ways, this version of the USMNT's did. It was during that time in 2013 that this "golden generation" took shape.

"Christian [Pulisic] was my first friend, I guess you can say, on the national team," McKennie recalls. "The first camp, there were like 80 of us on four busses and, coincidentally, him and I were sat right behind each other. After that, we became friends every time that we came in. We'd be together at the Holiday Inn eating cookies in the lobby with all the coffees we all used to make."

Pulisic was one of the shining lights of the program back then, the player destined for superstardom. Borussia Dortmund would eventually come calling. From the start, most knew Pulisic was bound for the highest levels for both club and country.

"I played against Christian a lot with PA Classics when I was with New York Red Bull," Adams says. "That was my first introduction to him and, obviously, at that time, he was like the golden boy already."

There were other prospects earmarked for the top. McKennie remembers Josh Perez getting hype ahead of a move to Fiorentina. Haji Wright, a future World Cup teammate, was seen as a future star as well. McKennie, though? Not so much.

From the beginning, McKennie knew where he stood. He was not "golden." He was not expected to be a star. He was not among the favorites in the Residency Program. In fact, he felt lucky to even be there at all.

"I was B-team," he says. "I was even training by myself sometimes. Honestly, on the field, I was just happy any time I could get on it. Those were the best times for me.

"I was overlooked. I remember the coaches had me training off to the side and they just told me, 'Just pretend that you're on the field.' "

At the time, the teenage McKennie was starting to make waves with his hometown club, FC Dallas. However, that improvement did little to help his case with the national team program. Any time he was with U.S. Soccer, there was one player standing in his way. His name? Tyler Adams.

Adams wasn't with the Residency Program full-time. Instead, he was splitting time in Florida and back home, where he was looking to break through with the New York Red Bulls. But, when the U.S. needed a star for big games or an important tournament, the federation was quick to call Adams.

It was often at the expense of McKennie, who remembers what it was like to see his now-friend waltz in each time big matches were on the schedule.

"I just remember him getting called into Residency Camp to go on trips in my place," McKennie says. "I had to stay there and train the whole damn time and he'd just come in like a week before the big trips. I would then get cut and he'd be able to go.

"They'd basically call Tyler in to go in my place, so the first memories I ever had of him was that I'm living there, busting my balls every day, every week, and, come time for the roster, they're like 'Alright, we're going to call Tyler. Wes, you're going home.'

"It wasn't easy for sure, but maybe it's better that it played out that way because it instilled a different type of drive and want in me. It gave me a need to be successful."

For a time, Adams was seemingly the villain in McKennie's story. Adams, of course, doesn't necessarily see it that way.

"It's tough," he says. "Like, honestly, for me, we were both outcasts."

Adams, too, can look back at a time during his youth career when he felt unwanted. Throughout his early teens, Adams never got the impression that he was viewed the same way that, say, Pulisic was. While McKennie remembers his then-rival as one of the program favorites, Adams says he never really felt that love.

"Guys in the national team, like since the youth ages," he says, "unless I was playing with my own age group, I was never like 'that guy.' It's wild that, now, we're both looked at in this way."

In time, Adams, who was playing up a year at the time, formed a bond with the rest of those at Residency, including McKennie. On and off the field, the chemistry developed. In some ways, they were polar opposites and, in others, they were perfect fits.

"When I did come down to Residency, I knew Weston was a great player," Adams recalls. "Man, this guy could play forward, centerback, goalkeeper, whatever. He just had fun. He played everything with a smile on his face. Honestly, if players could play as relaxed as he did, there would be so many better players in the world, you know what I mean? Some people just can't handle it, but he was always very relaxed.

"I think at that time, we were both still developing. He was smaller, still growing, and same with myself. I played right-back or filled in at left-back, like I didn't even have a position at that time. They were playing Weston as a forward and, obviously, Weston is not a forward; he's a box-to-box midfielder.

"Even myself, I would always tell people 'I'm a center mid', but I'd play left back and right back'. It just is what it is. You just go wherever you can get a spot."

McKennie, ultimately, was cut from Residency and took his own path from Dallas to Schalke and, ultimately, to the USMNT, shortly after the side missed the 2018 World Cup. He was one of the call-ups for that initial squad to face Portugal in the program's first camp post-Trinidad & Tobago.

As fate would have it, Adams would be there, too. The midfielder had broken out himself with the Red Bulls. It all brought them full circle as they began their senior careers together. McKennie would score the opening goal that day, leading the U.S. to a 1-1 draw, setting the tone for the cycle to come.

"Getting called into that camp after we didn't qualify for the World Cup, I think it was a wake-up call for both of us," Adams recalled. "They relied on both of us to come in and try and change the narrative of what U.S. Soccer is. I think we both look at that as a big moment.

"We were roommates in that camp, and we just enjoyed that time so much because we both felt like 'Yeah, we deserve to be here', but we just kind of laughed at each other like, 'I can't believe they're leaning on us right now to change everything'.

"Now, we look back and we were those guys. It's changed a lot."

Spend five minutes around McKennie and you'll get an idea of who he is. There's a certain happiness to him, a certain goofiness, even if he can turn it off when the time comes.

It shows plenty on the day of the Truly shoot. McKennie continues to make faces at the camera, struggling to find the seriousness needed to pull off the shot. It happens eventually after the destruction of dozens of cans of the beverage. In the end, McKennie does know when to go into serious mode.

In some ways, Adams is the opposite. It even shows in their outfits on the day. While McKennie walks around the set shirtless with a chain, the ad calls for Adams to wear a collared shirt and dress pants. There's symbolism in there.

At just 23, Adams was handed the USMNT's armband for the 2022 World Cup, becoming the team's youngest captain at the world's biggest tournament since 1950. When faced with a series of provocative questions ahead of the USMNT's clash with Iran, Adams showed the maturity and poise to answer them, likely avoiding an international incident in the process.

But Adams, like McKennie, does have a fun side. He doesn't go full Harry Potter like his longtime friend, but Adams has no problem making jokes, particularly at McKennie's expense. Their relationship only grew during their time at Leeds, when both leaned on each other during what ultimately proved to be the toughest few months of their careers.

It's their differences that make their relationship so strong, the McKennie Yin to the Adams' Yang. Where McKennie is emotional, Adams is serene. When McKennie pushes for a laugh, Adams is quick to calm things down. The two bring different energies that, when paired, can bring a room together.

"We get along well for sure, but I'm not normally hanging around people that have his type of energy," Adams jokes. "His type of energy, that's a lot to handle. That's why these national team camps every three months are perfect."

At the center of their relationship? Competitiveness. It's been there since the beginning, and it remains as the two find new ways to one-up each other. Whether it's on the commercial set or the training field, the competition never stops.

"I can't be around him 24/7," Adams says with a laugh. "Like even at national team camp, I'm just like, 'You go have dinner by yourself, I'll go have dinner by myself'. I'm way more low-key.

"Even when I would come into camp, we would chill, but everything just turns into a competition with him no matter what it is. You can't just do something for fun. I'm the most competitive person, like I love to compete, obviously, but we could just be walking to dinner and he has to be in front, you know what I mean?"

"He's like a little kid," Adams adds with a big smile. "You always have to have him on a leash."

As the Copa America gets set to kick off, Adams and McKennie are as important as ever for the USMNT. Throughout the 2022 cycle, they formed two-thirds of the MMA midfield alongside Yunus Musah, and that trio became the backbone of the U.S. all the way through the World Cup.

This cycle, injuries have prevented Adams from reforming that midfield. He's appeared just three times since the World Cup and certainly won't be at 100 percent for the start of the upcoming Copa America. In either case, Adams will know he has McKennie alongside him, doing whatever is necessary.

"Me and Weston are just such different players," Adams says, "and that's why we have such good chemistry on the field... There probably aren't two players on our team that have more chemistry. Whenever we play games together, we just find ways to win. We find ways to be successful, and we just always got each other's back."

McKennie, meanwhile, is ever the optimist. It's something he learned during those early days together. Even when he was overlooked or passed over, he remained determined. It's what helped him go from being Adams' backup to Adams' partner at the highest level.

"One of the best things I took from Residency," McKennie says, "we had a mental conditioning coach that said to me, 'If you have an A plan, stick to it and don't go to a B plan because, if you do, you can't give everything to your A.' That was the best advice that I ever got, and the best thing I took from Residency other than the relationships and friendships that I built."

Those friendships are scattered throughout the USMNT. Adams, McKennie, Pulisic and Wright all grew up together. So, too, did Timothy Weah and Luca de la Torre. What makes this group so tight-knit is the fact that so many of them were together before the World Cups, the fame, and the pressure that goes with it all.

Back when Adams and McKennie first met, none of those things mattered. They weren't worrying about sponsorships, contracts or their roles in changing the face of American soccer. McKennie's biggest worry was trying to win a new pair of boots off someone in camp by beating them in a hallway penalty shootout.

When Adams thinks of McKennie, that's still who comes to mind. It's not the shirtless superstar popping open cans on the other side of the camera; it's the little kid who used to push him every time they competed against each other in Florida.

"Those are the best memories," Adams says. "That's why you played soccer, to get to the point of playing pro. Now, I make amazing memories playing pro but my memories with Weston are always going to be more valuable as a kid. It's the memories of us getting to this stage, even more than where we are now.

"We both earn money. We both can go to the same restaurants. We both can go buy things. As a kid, you dream of achieving that. Now that you achieve it, it's like, you worked hard for it but..."

Adams' voice tails off. A wave of memories surely floods through. In that moment, he and McKennie are those teenagers again, the ones dreaming of someday being in the position they're in now.

He wouldn't trade it for anything, and neither would McKennie. They've achieved their dreams together, and in many ways, it's still only just beginning. They both have a World Cup appearance on their resume and, if all goes to plan, it won't be their last.

If only those two kids in Bradenton knew what was in store. If only they knew what they'd achieve on their own, and if only they knew the things they would do and see together.

But for now? All that's left to do is laugh... that is, until the next competition begins.