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BRIGHTON, Mich. — Michigan got good news late last year when it was announced that running back Chris Evans was being reinstated to the university as well as the football program.
What seemed like an uphill battle ended up being won ultimately, and now the senior tailback is officially back with the team, back in class and now back in winter conditioning after having had a year away.
This weekend, Evans was back in the coaching chair, working with his non-profit CE Stars 7-on-7 youth teams, and while he’s overjoyed to continue his work on that front, he’s just as elated to return to the football field again as a player.
“Feels real good,” Evans told WolverinesWire. “One step at a time. Just ready to go. Ready to get it going.”
Losing what you love can be more than challenging, and Evans certainly endured said challenges.
Being away from the game in a playing capacity required him to push through a ‘dark place,’ a place he refused to entertain. So he did what he knew: he worked, confident in his eventual return.
Now that he’s back, he’s learned all the requisite lessons, and he’s looking to make the most of his opportunity redux in Ann Arbor.
“I’m real excited,” Evans said. “I feel like what happened to me has helped me for the better. Matured me. A lot of people don’t get second chances and I’m blessed to get it.”
Now a redshirt senior, Evans vows to be a leader on an offense that is suddenly very young.
Seniors Shea Patterson, Ben Bredeson, Jon Runyan Jr. and Sean McKeon are all gone, now trying their hand at getting into the NFL. Donovan Peoples-Jones and Cesar Ruiz are doing the same, leaving a year of eligibility on the table in the process. While there will be some established bodies still on that side of the ball — Nico Collins announced his return for his senior season earlier this month, and Nick Eubanks did the same in December — Evans is adamant that he use his experience to help the team — and not just on the playing field.
“The older guys can be leaders,” he said. “I’m gonna try to step into that role as soon as I feel everything out. Push the young guys, push the guys that are slacking off – get it like that.”
But, of course, the playing aspect plays a big part.
Away from the game for a year-plus now, Evans got his first opportunity to strap on a winged helmet and put on pads and everything for three practices in December, as Michigan readied to play Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
While he couldn’t rejoin his teammates in Orlando, it was a primer of what’s to come. And though he kept himself in pristine shape — he looks precisely the same as when he last strapped up to play Florida in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in December 2018 — it was still something of a shock to the system.
“My body wasn’t used to running around that much, especially with the pads on,” Evans said. “Then running around, then standing. Running around, standing. It was good to get that going.”
But there’s another element that Evans has to relearn — or, rather, learn entirely now that he’s back: the offense.
Michigan changed its offensive attack last January, just as Evans was going on hiatus, as it hired Josh Gattis to oversee a new, spread-oriented system. As Evans’ first real taste of it as a player came during those December practices. And so far, he’s a fan of the new system.
“I like it,” Evans said. “It’s more spread out. Like you said, ‘speed in space,’ and I’m gonna attack it wherever they need me at.”
So, given his versatility — when Evans arrived in 2016, he was considered more of an ‘athlete’ with no designated role, as he could play tailback or wideout — how does he feel like he fits into Gattis’ scheme?
Turns out, he thinks it suits him quite perfectly.
“I think it’s really good – it’s the type of player I am, it’s the type of style I am,” Evans said. “Of course it’s a change, but we all gotta make changes, adjust on the fly.”
Evans will continue going through winter conditioning until Michigan can suit up again in March, when it begins spring ball.