Buffs Safety White Plans To Make Most Of Second Chance

BOULDER — Evan White is bigger, stronger and faster than he was the last time he set foot on the field in a Colorado football uniform. He looks every bit like a Pac-12 safety should look.

But the biggest change in the Colorado junior might not be his physical frame. Instead, it might be his frame of mind, a circumstance of spending a year away from football.

White, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety, has returned to the Buffaloes after being dismissed from the program just before spring ball in 2016 for a violation of team rules. Now, he says, he's ready to take advantage of the opportunity — and instead of dreading offseason conditioning workouts, he looks forward to them. The opportunity to work, sweat and push himself is something he greets with a smile.

"Not everybody gets a second chance," White said earlier this week after a morning weight room session. "I think what I realized is that when I was here before, I was taking all of this for granted. I'd be waking up early for conditioning and lifting and I'd think, 'I really don't want to do this.'

"But now, I'm really glad to be here. Once you sit out for a whole year, you learn to look at it from a whole different perspective. When it's taken away is when you really begin to realize how much you miss it. I really think this is what I'm meant to be doing, and I'm not sure I realized that before."

White played in all 12 games as a true freshman, including three starts at safety. He finished with 31 tackles on defense, and also finished third on the team in special teams points.

But an expected step forward his sophomore year didn't materialize, as he played in 11 games (no starts) and was credited with just two tackles. That was followed by his departure from the program last spring — which meant he watched last year's 10-4, Pac-12 South title turnaround season from a distance.

"It was good watching it and tough at the same time," White said. "I was really happy for the team and the guys that I knew, but not being able to be a part of it was really hard. Just watching … I didn't realize how much I missed it. You take it for granted and then when it's gone, it changes the way you think."

White says he has matured. He took care of classroom duties in his time away from CU and did his best to maintain his physical conditioning.

Now, he's basically back to square one, with a chance to earn some playing time — and knowing that nothing is guaranteed.

"I've got some catching up to do," he said. "I'm excited to be here and I know I have to keep working hard every day, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I think I've matured and I know what I need to do. It's not just football. It's all the little things that are important."

One important piece to the puzzle White believes he has added is a work ethic.

"When you get here from high school, you think it's going to be the same," White said. "You kind of think you just have to play and everything will happen. But if you don't have that work ethic, you're not going to find yourself on the field. You have to earn it here and you have to earn it every day. You learn that what you do in the weight room and what you do in spring and summer has a big impact on what you do on the field."

White will step into a secondary that lost standout strong safety Tedric Thompson to graduation. Starting free safety Afolabi Laguda returns, as do Ryan Moeller and Nick Fisher. Fisher will likely fit into the equation at safety while Moeller will likely play the "Buff" back, a combination nickel back/outside linebacker position the Buffs developed last season.

White, though, isn't looking that far ahead. He's concentrating on conditioning, then will move on to spring drills, which begin Feb. 22.

"I just have to do everything I'm supposed to be doing," he said. "I have to get my head back in the game and make sure it stays on straight. I've been out for what feels like forever. Now I just have to take care of my stuff every day. Like I said, I've got some catching up to do."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu