From the sunrise to beyond the final whistle

by

Sports

Robert Evans sits in his office, filling out a notecard not much bigger than the ones legendary Texas Tech and Mississippi State coach Mike Leach used to carry into games.

A few reminders, points of emphasis, etc. It is closing in on 7 p.m., and after nearly 13 hours at Vestavia Hills High School, this is the only remaining stretch of quiet Evans will get before his team takes the field for the season opener against Parker on Thursday, Aug. 20.

There is unease and uncertainty leading up to kickoff. Are the Rebels as prepared as they can possibly be entering a season in which many people expect them to be a top five team in Class 6A?

After a few more moments, Evans folds up the notecard and rises from his chair.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said.

The quiet rarely comes easy on a day planned out to the minute, each one accounted for since sunrise. Evans is now in his fifth season at his alma mater, following stops as a defensive coordinator at Hoover and Mountain Brook, and the schedule he keeps on a Thursday like this one has become as familiar to him as any playbook.

Evans arrives at the school at 6:15 or 6:30 a.m., about an hour before anyone else, just to get, as he puts it, “the peace of life” before it disappears for the day.

An optional team devotion follows at 7:30 a.m., led that morning by Buddy Anderson, the legendary former Vestavia Hills coach who retired in 2020 and still shows up on gamedays.

Breakfast is Chick-fil-A biscuits from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m.

By 8:15, players are on the field for a 30-minute walkthrough. At 9:15, players head to the school’s pep rally, and Evans speaks for a few minutes, then heads back to the weight room for a morning lift.

The stretch between the pep rally and kickoff is, in Evans’ own words, the hardest part of the day. There’s nervous energy. There’s also the never-ending chorus of “Hey coach!” that emanates from anyone and everyone that has a question or a need.

“This is the worst part by far,” Evans said of the hours of waiting that stand between him and the opening whistle. “I’m just waiting around. That’s why I try to kill time.”

At 10 a.m., Evans meets with defensive coordinator Chad Merrill for 20 to 30 minutes, then offensive coordinator Josh Franklin at 10:30. These aren’t sessions for installing anything new. They’re about making sure the staff is thinking the same way once the game moves fast.

“I just want to know, what are your first few calls?” Evans said of his talk with Franklin. “What are you thinking on fourth down? Are we on the same page?”

Lunch and a conversation with his wife follow, then a run at the baseball field around 2:30 p.m.

“After a good sweat, you just kind of think better,” Evans said. It’s his last chance to settle his thoughts before finalizing a short list for the officials and the one or two points he’ll leave with his team before kickoff.

Evans doesn’t lean on a big pregame speech.

“And I’m not some big rah-rah guy on here,” Evans said. “There’s been a handful of times, but I’m not normally.”

By 6:25 p.m., Evans’ wife and two young daughters are in the team room with the other coaches’ families for a pregame meal.

“That’ll be the only time I see my girls [all day],” Evans said, calling that his favorite time of the day.

Ten minutes later, he’s back in his office wrapping up last-minute business.

By then, the locker room already has its own rhythm. Music plays loud while players get dressed and mill around, until one particular song comes on, a cue everybody recognizes: players filter into their locker stalls and start clapping to the beat. That’s the signal, and Evans walks in, the team gathers around and he delivers his message.

“It is tough, it is hard and it’s life,” Evans said. “This game right here ... it’s what you guys are going to experience when you’re an adult. All the ups and the downs, it’s going to happen tonight.”

He asked his players to keep their composure and stay locked in on the sideline, then led the team in a prayer for protection and the wisdom to perform to the best of their ability.

At 7 p.m., the coin toss and kickoff turn three months of preparation loose. What started as a track meet, with Vestavia Hills and Parker trading early touchdowns, settled into a convincing win.

Quarterback Charlie Taaffe scored all four Rebels touchdowns, running for 178 yards on 18 carries and Vestavia closed the game with 17 unanswered points for a 32-14 win.

Noah Boylan added 58 yards on 14 carries, and Luke Stubbs led all receivers with six catches for 39 yards. On defense, linebacker Daniel Richardson and Jack Cowan, who had multiple sacks and forced fumbles, helped Vestavia hold on.

Evans spends the game pacing the sideline, often barking at officials to point out calls he believes should or should not be made. He interacts often with Franklin and Merrill, making sure everyone is on the same page.

Evans cut his teeth coaching defense, but now as a head coach, he is glad to have someone he trusts like Merrill. He said there is no way he could adequately manage a game if he was trying to call defensive plays. Even in the game against Parker, there are a couple of calls he’d like to have back.

After the game, Evans gathers his team on the field one more time, telling them to rest and recover with a trip to Benjamin Russell awaiting next week. Then he meets with the media, crediting his staff for adjusting after the Rebels lost two or three key defensive contributors to injury in the first quarter.

“Our staff was outstanding tonight,” Evans said. “Really was.”

He also praised Taaffe, who was 16 of 20 passing for 107 yards to go with his four rushing touchdowns.

“If he stays healthy, we’re a tough out,” Evans said. “We really are.”

Taaffe, for his part, credited the offensive line and Parker’s disciplined defense for limiting him mostly to checkdowns through the air.

“Our running game, our O-line in general, was outstanding,” Taaffe said. “[Parker’s] a really disciplined team. All the schemes we had drawn up, they covered for the most part.”

That’s where the night exhales. Coaches drift in and out of the office, trading updates on injuries and how other teams fared across the state. One by one, they say their goodbyes and head home, until only Merrill is left, cutting up game film clips at his desk.

Evans is the last one out. He watches the film alone, reacting aloud to the good plays and bad ones, jotting notes for the next day’s breakdown with his staff and team. He was headed home around 11:45 p.m., earlier than the roughly 12:30 a.m. departure that’s typical for him on a Friday night.

The turnaround is tighter than usual this week. With a middle school jamboree scheduled for Friday night, Evans planned to be back at his desk reviewing tape by 6 or 6:30 the next morning.

The best teams peak in the month of October, as teams make their push to the playoffs. Vestavia Hills plays Tuscaloosa County, Hoover, Hewitt-Trussville and Prattville, all region foes in October.

Evans will look to make the most of those quiet moments in his office to have his team ready when the playoffs roll around.