The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Coming Off Breakout Game, Everett Looking At Expanded Role
9/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Irvine
uabsports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Gerald Everett didn't have the luxury of easing his way into learning his role as part of a crowded tight end position at UAB. That didn't keep him from looking mighty comfortable last week during the Blazers convincing win over Alabama A&M at Legion Field.
He caught three passes for 94 yards. All three moved the chains for the Blazers. All three gained at least 30 yards. The final one, which gained 31 yards, ended with him dragging a couple defenders along over the final 10 or 15 yards.
It should have surprised no one this week when UAB head coach Bill Clark said: "You're going to see his role expand."
Actually, it wasn't just what happened on Saturday that led Clark to make that proclamation. Clark and offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent knew that it was just a matter of time that the athletic 6-foot-3, 215-pound Everett blended with Kennard Backman and Tristan Henderson to help make a strong position even stronger.
"When we recruited him, we thought he was a special athlete," Clark said. "We saw him when he got here for camp and it was a big shock to me just how athletic he was. Maybe Coach Vincent had seen that. To get out there during the game and make those big plays, it was really just an understanding of what we were doing, getting in shape."
Everett didn't have the luxury of arriving in Birmingham early because his recruitment started so late.
The Atlanta area product played basketball for his first three high school seasons before picking up football as a senior at Columbia High in Lithonia, Georgia. He had little recruiting interest, partly because of his late start in football, but eventually signed with Bethune Cookman. After spending the 2012 season as a redshirt, Everett decided to move to Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College with hopes of eventually landing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
"It was an adjustment to make," Everett said of the decision to move to Kansas. "It was a good program too so I didn't look at it as going halfway across country, I looked at it as a business trip."
He played for the school last season and thought he was headed back for a second JUCO season. During the spring semester, however, he got a call from the UAB coaches and was eventually offered a scholarship. Everett chose to come to UAB, instead of playing another season at Hutchinson, and has two years of eligibility after this season.
Everett had to finish a class this summer to get his Associates Degree from Hutchinson, which meant he didn't show up at UAB until early August. It was a whirlwind trip through fall camp but, not only did he get good teaching from tight end coach Richard Owens but he also had a couple of other tutors.
"I learned a lot from Kennard and Tristan," Everett said. "When I came in, they accepted me as a little brother. I learned a lot from just watching them play."
Everett caught a short pass, gaining six yards, in the win over Troy and played in the loss at Mississippi State. His role expanded last Saturday and, as Clark said, will continue to grow. That means the Blazers have yet another weapon on an offense that already has proven to have plenty of big-play options.
