Right Position, Diet, And Mentality Have Evans Primed For A Big Year

Note: Video of Des Evans interview posted below.

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CHAPEL HILL – If Des Evans has taken the next step, it will show out when North Carolina begins playing games in a little more than two weeks. It will also validate what he has said since the spring.

Evans is “home” now at defensive end. No longer chasing running backs in receiving routes 25 yards downfield, Evans’ primary mission is to get to the quarterback. And his process in becoming a player whom teammates speak of daily as one of the eye-brow raisers in fall camp hasn’t been a smooth one, but it has been laced with plenty of learnable experiences, thus, to his benefit.

“I had to really lock in and understand where I was going and the path I had to go into,” Evans said after practice Wednesday morning, recalling the process of the last two years leading to where he is as a player now. “The last two years really helped me out a lot. I had to get my speed up, explosion off the ball, my hand quickness, and that’s really set me up for right now.”

Right now for Evans is simple: He is being counted on as one of the Tar Heels’ top pass rushers, if not the main guy in new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik’s get-the-quarterback approach to playing defense.

Chizik wants to generate a significant part of UNC’s pass rush from the front four, and Evans now solely playing end with a hand on the ground pretty much every snap is a vital element to Carolina’s excelling in that mission. It is also his natural position.

But Evans spent time in the spring discussing being “home” there plus some of the negatives about his hybrid role in the previous defensive system. He has somewhat moved on from that, clearly embracing any positives from those experiences using them to enhance his current role. It also means he can just focus on a narrowed scope on the field, and it shows.

“I would say my speed and power, and getting off the ball (quickly),” he said.

That was there at times the last two seasons, but not consistently, and UNC fans should see more of it this coming fall.

Looking at Evans’ stats from his first two seasons can be a bit misleading because he is in a different role, one more suited for his skillset. But here they are anyway:

Evans played 319 snaps a year ago on defense, and 489 on that side of the ball in his two seasons with the Tar Heels. In his two seasons, Evans has been in on 28 tackles, with 4.5 TFLs, one of which was a sack, along with two fumble recoveries. He has also been credited with 15 STOPs, which are plays that result in failures for the opposing offense. In pass coverage, Evans was targeted seven times allowing six receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Here is more from Wednesday’s Q&A session with Des Evans:

*In addition to playing a bit out of position his first two seasons at UNC, Evans also had to learn some things about his mindset and body, both of which have played integral roles in his game getting to where some within the program are projecting a huge breakout season for the Sanford, NC, native.

“I just had to learn to have a passion for working out,” Evans said. “Understanding to eat right, and just eating right pretty much.”

*Eating right might be something most fans don’t think about with respect to high-level athletes, but athletes usually treat their bodies like a responsible owner of a Ferrari would their automobile. It wasn’t so much that Evans was putting the wrong things in his body, but more that he wasn’t putting in the right things as often as was required. Getting used to a 5,000-calorie daily diet took time.

“I wasn’t eating the right things,” he said. “I’m supposed to have like six meals a day, I wasn’t really eating that much. Six meals, I’ve got to drink water and hydrate because we’re out here running every day. You’re out here every day losing weight, so you’ve got to put that back in there.”

*Six meals a day is a real challenge, even for a 6-foot-6, 265-pound highly trained athlete.

“Well, yeah,” Evans said, when asked if it’s really hard eating that much. “Eating six meals, you’ve got to force yourself to do that. It’s really hard.”

As for what he’s eating and what the big change has been?

“In high school, I’d just go home, eat a pizza and some snacks, and just call it a day,” he said. “At that level, you’re just better than everybody, you don’t know what to do. So, coming in here, you’ve got to get some steaks, some things (like that) you like to eat, just bigger portions of meals.”

The routine?

“Wake up in the morning, get some breakfast, get some eggs, some hash browns,” he said. “I put some pineapples in water in two cups, and I get two more cups of water and drink that. That’s my breakfast.

“Lunch, I get three meats, I get some peas or something like that, some fruit. Carry on that all day.”

Evans doesn’t cheat, he says. The question was asked, but he replied immediately saying he doesn’t, and did so without smiling.

“I can’t cheat,” he said. “And that’s part of the game, you can’t cheat.”

Not even a snack?

“No,” he said.

*Back to football, Evans acknowledged his mindset wasn’t great two years ago. He struggled getting on the field, and there were times when he had some wet-behind-the-ears moments. A true freshman who came in as a high 4-star prospect, the transition was a considerable challenge for Evans.

“It wasn’t going that good,” he said, referring mainly to his freshman year. “I was at the hybrid at the Bateman spot, dropping in coverage, and I knew it wasn’t good for me. But my mentality was to attack it every day, do the right things, and it’s going to pay off.

“And now, it’s paying off with Chizik coming in and he knowing I like getting down and dirty, getting after the quarterback, putting my hand in the dirt. Just for him coming and understanding that I like doing that.”