TCU’s signing of Zachary Evans merits a question more than a red flag
Gary Patterson previously made a point of shying away from “knuckleheads,” and this is not suggesting his highest-rated recruit ever fits that description.
Gary is also known to say TCU doesn’t land five-star kids; that TCU must take a two- and a three star and turn them into a five-star.
Now he has to take the five-star talent and convince him he’s just a two-star.
“I am not in town but he was a 3.1 GPA student and graduated early,” Patterson said Thursday afternoon about Evans’ arrival in a direct message via Twitter. “We will write the rest of his paragraph as it unfolds!”
No one understands the perception of TCU better than Gary, and sells it harder, which is why the addition of running back Zachary Evans merits not a red flag, but perhaps a question mark.
This week, TCU announced its highest-rated recruit in the signing of five-star running back out of Houston Galena North Shore. Of the big-name signees in the entire class of 2020, Evans is the most ... “interesting.”
Something about all of this does not add up. After talking to TCU staffers, and those familiar with Evans’ background, this still doesn’t add up.
His high school coach, Jon Kay, did not respond to an interview request. That could be he’s ducking it, or he didn’t see the request.
Evans is either a coup because of timing and circumstance, or Patterson is simply reverting on a previous stance and gambled. A coach, no matter how principled or learned, can’t overcome the animal instincts of wanting talent.
He has been at TCU for 20 years, and Gary never bagged the five-star. He got close once in 2010 with the son of former TCU defensive end Greg Townsend, but Townsend Jr. opted to stay closer to home and attend USC.
That’s not a knock on Gary. If you’re not a power name, you don’t win recruiting rankings, but you may win a lot of games.
Evans flipping to TCU under curious circumstances doesn’t establish the program along with the blue bloods. But what it does do is that it gives TCU a highly-coveted running back who had offers from virtually every top-tier football program in America.
It also gives TCU a player with a few “concerns” coming out of high school. He was suspended for last fall’s 6A state title game against Duncanville. He was also suspended for the second and third games of the 2019 season as well.
He told ESPN earlier this year, “First and foremost I want to apologize to all of my college coaches for everything that’s going on and what they’re hearing. I’m really a good kid. I came in, I learned from some former professionals on how to overcome adversity.”
He said of the suspension that forced him to miss the state title game, “It was stupid, it was an immature decision, I was being selfish to my teammates. I’m ready to come in and show that I’m ready.”
Evans signed with Georgia, but the Dawgs let him out of his National Letter of Intent. That’s not normal, even if UGA’s line of quality running backs are on a conveyor belt.
Evans’ comments will likely be the only time we hear from him until December. This assumes TCU actually makes a bowl game, and bowl games are played.
Like every other coach, Patterson doesn’t typically allow freshman to talk to the media. The horrors of such an event taking place are too scary to consider. Bowl games mandate all players be available to the horrible members of the press.
Gary is no different than most coaches not named Saban, Sweeney or Ohio State in that they’ll gamble on guys. He did it with running back Aaron Brown, who had some issues coming out of Houston in 2005 which explained why he wound up at a then Mountain West program.
Even though he was suspended for three games in 2008 for violating university policy, Brown was a case where the gamble worked. He played all four years, and was productive.
In 2012, Patterson collected talented players such as Brandon Carter, Ladarius Brown and Devonte Fields. All three could play, but they came to TCU with the baggage load of a crowded 747.
Carter had a problem passing classes, and drug tests, too. The same for Brown. Fields had a domestic violence incident.
All three talented players left TCU long before their careers were scheduled to end. The episode put such a bad taste in Gary’s mouth he famously said he was done with knuckleheads.
TCU won big without them, and there was no need to take big risks.
That was a long time ago but when a coach is 12-13 in his last two seasons, such as TCU is, even coaches with statues can feel the pinch of losing.
Now Patterson brings in a kid who is ranked as the most-talented player he has ever signed. A kid who signed with an SEC power, and was only available for “interesting” reasons.
If Evans is sincere, and is receptive to coaching, he wound up in a good spot.
Maybe Evans is a kid who simply is guilty of being a kid, and there is nothing more to this.
Or the reasons behind is availability are not good, and Gary is gambling.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
