Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Nico Evans' Twitter handle is @NextUp_Nico.
That's fitting, as Evans is next up to be the University of Wyoming's leading running back.
The fifth-year senior earned the starting job during fall camp, and will start in UW's season-opener Saturday night at New Mexico State.
"It feels great, but the job is not over," Evans said. "This whole season is going to be a competition, so I can't relax. I have to do all the things I have been doing to keep this spot."
On top of that, Evans was elected as one of six team captains by his teammates – the first time he has been a captain for the Cowboys.
No matter how many yards Evans rushes for, or how many touchdowns he scores, he is a great example of what patience, perseverance and hard work will do. But in this day and age of instant gratification and results, those things – and, in particular, patience – often get thrown out the window.
People want results, and they want them now. Not just in sports, but in everything. When those results don't occur, they want a change. They move on to something or someplace else.
In the sports world, that means a coach often gets fired if he/she doesn't win in two or three years, as opposed to four or five. For many players, especially at the college level, if they don't play right away, they transfer to another school for another chance.
Evans could have been one of those guys.
Part of fifth-year coach Craig Bohl's first recruiting class at UW, Evans had 36 carries for 108 yards and no touchdowns over the past three seasons (he redshirted as a true freshman in 2014), and has caught 12 passes. He has been a regular on special teams, and enters this season part of Cowboys' starting kickoff return duo with junior Tyler Hall.
Last season, Evans emerged as UW's third-down back.
Not to diminish the roles and contributions Evans made, but he wasn't "the man" when it came to running the ball. Maybe a change of schools for his final year – or sooner – was in order so he could play.
The Los Angeles product could have transferred to a Football Championship Subdivision school and played right away. Or, if he transferred earlier, he could have gone to another Football Bowl Subdivision school and sat out a year to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.
But that's not what Evans was thinking.
"I definitely knew my time would come here, but I didn't know when," Evans said. "Yeah, there were times I got down on myself, but I had to get those thoughts out of my head and keep pushing forward."
Evans pushed forward from the start of winter conditioning in January. Due to a rash of injuries to the running backs in the spring – including a minor leg injury suffered by Evans – he had a good spring and got a lot of reps.
"He started to emerge at the end of spring ball," UW associate head coach and offensive coordinator Brent Vigen said. "We felt surprised there more than anything. Once we saw that, our expectation level was that he would keep running with it."
Evans came out of spring as one of three backs listed as "or" in terms of the starter. The other two were junior Kellen Overstreet and sophomore Trey Woods – UW's top two rushers from 2017.
Entering Saturday's opener, Overstreet is No. 4 on the depth chart coming off a shoulder injury from the spring and a recent hamstring strain. Woods is now a defensive end, and the top two players listed behind Evans this week have never played in a college game.
When asked if Evans' emergence as the starter was one of the biggest surprises of fall camp, Bohl said: "I would say yes."
"Nico has been here several years and has been kind of a mix-in guy," Bohl added. "His offseason efforts have showed up. They showed up during the course of the spring, and they showed up during camp."
Bohl said Evans has been one of the more explosive players for UW during camp based on GPS chips all the players wear during practice. Vigen said Evans changed his body composition, going from a guy who always could break tackles to one who added speed and quickness.
While the physical changes for the 5-foot-11, 211-pound Evans are impressive, what is more so are his patience, perseverance and hard work, something a lot of people – young and old – could learn from.
As a result, like his Twitter handle says, Evans is next up to show if all of his efforts will pay off.
"I am extremely driven to make this happen," Evans said of being a starter. "To get the first shot at it, I couldn't ask for anything more."
