Samford’s C.J. Evans looking To RUn His Way To Top of RB ROTATION
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 13, 2025
The question posed to Samford running back coach K.D. Humphries about running back C.J. Evans was simple.
Did you know early when you saw Evans’ name pop up in the transfer portal that you wanted to recruit him?
“How early are you talking, because I wanted him two cycles ago,” Humphries said.
Samford failed to land the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Mobile native when Evans left Austin Peay after three seasons to play for College Football Hall of Fame running back Eddie George at Tennessee State. When he hit the portal again, Humphries acted quickly.
“I made a phone call again just to make sure he was interested in the Samford Bulldogs,” Humphries said. “I always saw the talent with his game. Of course, what he put on film, it was something that we saw that could make a difference in our offense. A Bama boy, we were always trying to get him back to the state of Alabama. He was high school teammates with (Samford linebacker) Jaden Mosley. We always had the eye out for him and finally got him on campus.”
Evans arrives at Samford with a degree in Finance. He began work in the spring in the MBA Program at Samford. On the field, he rushed for 1,618 yards and 15 touchdowns in four college seasons and added 819 yards and five touchdowns receiving. He accounted for 611 of those yards and six touchdowns in his lone season at Tennessee State. Evans said playing under George, especially for a running back, was rewarding.
“It was a great experience,” Evans said. “Coach George was a great guy. He really taught me a lot of stuff that I didn't know. It's just good having a guy who played at that level. You can listen to him, you can buy into what he’s teaching and he can buy into you.”
George moved on in March to take over the program at Bowling Green. By that time, Evans was well into establishing himself at Samford. By the end of spring practice, he had shown he was one of the top running backs in the program.
“I just came in and tried to be me,” Evans said. “I know how I can work, know what I bring to the table. As long as I keep bringing it to the table and stacking days, everything should take care of itself.”
What does Evans bring to the table?
“My agility, my energy, everything, just my vision, my work ethic,” said Evans, who was an all-state player at McGill-Toolen High. “I just want to bring whatever the team needs. I'm ready for the challenge. So anything that the coaches need from me, whether that's special teams or offense, I'm ready.”
Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said early in fall camp that there was at least a four-man rotation fighting for playing time at running back. Evans is clearly on top of the depth chart with sophomore Ken Cherry and freshmen Cam Bland and Emerson Russell also working to be in the mix. Evans has the most college experience but Cherry has the most carries at Samford. Cherry, a two-time all-state running back at Madison Academy in Huntsville, played in four games last season and gained 17 yards on 10 carries. Russell, a 5-foot-6, 160-pound walk-on, had one carry for six yards last season. Bland comes to Samford after starting for three years and earning all-state honors as a junior at Lambert High in Georgia.
“It's definitely a unique group,” Humphries said of his entire running back room. “They all come from different demographics and backgrounds and areas of the country. t's a mixture of older guys, walk-ons, we've got some red shirts in there, so it's been a fun group. Each one of those guys, they bring something different with their style of play to the team.”
What they need to bring is production to an offensive style under Hatcher that is often known for its quarterback success. The Bulldogs have another standout quarterback in second-year starter Quincy Crittendon. But a running game is critical to make the offense reach its peak.
Humphries is very aware of what a running game means. Entering his sixth season on the Samford staff, Humphries oversaw a running game in 2022’s SoCon championship season that included the No. 5 (Jay Stanton) and No. 7 (Jaylan Thomas) rushers in the conference. The following year, Stanton led the SoCon in rushing and he finished his time at Samford as the career leader in rushing touchdowns. Humphries, a former quarterback at Murray State under Hatcher, also spent his first two seasons at Samford as the quarterback coach and had Liam Welch, who was the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and second team All-American in 2021.
“I want to get back to those days (where) it's all about being able to run the football when you want to run the football and when they know that you're going to run the football,” Humphries said.