Evans IU football's ultimate utility man

Mitchell Evans has never cared where he was on the football field, as long as he was on it.

Evans just wanted to play football for the Cream and Crimson.

The senior safety has been shuffled around the IU football team’s starting lineup ever since he came to Bloomington. Whether it was playing safety, wide receiver, quarterback, returning kickoffs or even punting, Evans has been the ultimate utility man for the Hoosiers.

Evans’s journey began when he came to IU in 2007 as an All-State quarterback and safety at Milton Union High School in West Milton, Ohio. With the highly-touted Kellen Lewis having a stronghold on the quarterback position, Evans switched from quarterback to safety in pre-season camp.

“We knew where he was when we were recruiting him, and that’s why we wanted him,” co-Defensive Coordinator Joe Palcic said. “Defensively, we knew that he could play safety, and that’s where we wanted him from the get-go.”

The switch paid dividends for Evans, giving him the chance to show off his relentless tackling abilities on special teams. Evans was one of two true freshmen to play in the 2007 season, playing every game at safety or on special teams.

With the heralded James Hardy departing to the NFL after the 2007 campaign, Evans switched to wide receiver to add some needed depth. Not only did Evans play in all 12 games in 2008 as a wideout, he also played quarterback in three games and was named IU’s special teams player of the week on six separate occasions. Evans quickly became a guy that needed to be on the field as often as possible.

“We just wanted to get him out on the field somehow,” Palcic said.

That theme carried over to the 2009 season. In addition to appearing in every game as a receiver, he also became the quarterback in the Wildcat formation.

Evans got the chance to display his plethora of talents in the Oct. 17, 2008 homecoming win against Illinois, as he rushed for 84 yards, caught three passes, recorded eight tackles and kicked a pooch punt that resulted in a fumble that went the Hoosiers’ way. That versatility led IU to its only Big Ten win in 2009.

Already used to the transition process, Evans switched back to safety in the offseason, spending spring and summer re-learning the position he had played as a
freshman.

“I had to kind of get the cobwebs out,” Evans said. “The coaches and the players all helped me transition back into it.”

He wasted little time.

In IU’s season-opening contest against Towson on Sept. 2, Evans recorded an interception of Towson quarterback Chris Hart.

“That was a great feeling,” Evans said. “The defense loved it, and they were all excited, and it’s good to see guys flying around having fun like that.”

Besides making catches, Evans also displayed what has made him a special teams rock the past few years. Evans came out of nowhere and made two touchdown-saving tackles against the Tigers.

While such tackles may not show up in the box score, Evans’s efforts are far from lost from this coaching staff.

“When I think of Mitchell Evans, I think of him as a steady guy,” Palcic said.

Evans might not earn a spot as one of the all-time IU greats, but he said he hopes his role as the human Band-Aid for the Hoosiers will not soon be forgotten.

“I’d like consider myself a football player,” Evans said. “I’d like people in the future to think of me as a guy that just likes to go out and play the game and play
it right.”