Photo by David Leong
Vestavia Hills head coach Robert Evans paces the sideline during a game between Vestavia and Auburn on Thurs, Aug. 28, 2025, at Thompson Reynolds Stadium. Photo by David Leong.
The countdown to the high school football season is on, with July 30 marking 21 days until the season kicks off.
Vestavia Hills will play on the first day of AHSAA competition, as the Rebels will take on Parker on Aug. 20.
As kickoff approaches over the coming weeks, Vestavia Voice and Under the Lights will be counting down the days until the season begins.
Vestavia Hills head coach Robert Evans said his coaching career started at one of the lowest points of his athletic life. He was released by the Boston Red Sox at 23 or 24 years old, with no clear plan for what came next, when a phone call changed his path.
"I get a call soon thereafter from my friend Ross Newton, who's the coach at Pelham, who was a graduate assistant coach at UAB," Evans said. "He said, 'Hey, we have a GA spot available,' and I was interested because I needed to get my master's."
Evans said Watson Brown was nearing the end of his tenure as UAB's head coach at the time, and defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt, a veteran offensive line coach who had reinvented himself as a defensive coordinator, taught him more football in two years than he knew walking in the door.
"I really thought I knew football, and after I took that job, I realized quickly I didn't know much of anything," Evans said. "It certainly was trial by fire, and many days were getting yelled at, and I'd go home dejected. But it was the best possible thing for a 24-year-old at the time."
Evans' first college game came at Neyland Stadium against Tennessee, an experience he still remembers vividly.
"I remember just being mesmerized, thinking, man, I want to do something like this with my life," Evans said. "What a fun experience for a 24-year-old with no money."
