Charles Chaney
Sports Editor
The scruff on his face is noticeable, but the passion even more so. First-year Assistant Tyrell Everett’s passion is the first you see and feel when you meet him.
“He was always in the game planning side of football,” Offensive Coordinator Bryce Vingery said. “He really understood football.”
Everett knows what football means to him being the product of a single mother who strived to raise two children on her own. He admits it changed his life.
“I don’t know where I’d be without football,” Everett said. “I know I didn’t have the best life growing up, but football was always there.
During his time at Topeka, Everett raised the expectations at Topeka High. The Trojans went to the playoffs during Everett’s junior season for the first time in 40 years. That, in turn, led to an opportunity to play at Butler. During his time for Butler, the Grizzlies went 22-2.
Everett came to Butler in 2011 to play defensive end, but realized quickly that was not going to be an option. Instead, Everett moved to fullback and helped the Grizzlies 2011 and 2012 squads to back-to-back National Championship appearances. During his time for Butler, the Grizzlies went 22-2.
“I have played with some really good running backs,” Everett said. “When I saw Demarcus Lawrence, I knew I wasn’t a defensive end.”
With the move to fullback, Everett shined on and off the field. He quickly became a bookworm, studying the playbook and knowing the ins and outs of the position.
“I had to tell him to be quiet, so others could answer the questions,” Vingery said.
Before his time coaching at Butler, Everett coached at Topeka High and taught Special Education. His mother, who suffers from a mental disability, is his drive.
“My mother is my rock and my mold,” Everett said. “To have a mental illness and know you cannot do certain tasks… her love and passion for life is just the biggest thing.”
While Everett’s end game is to be a head coach and give back through his coaching, it is the ability to mold and build players up that really drives the Grizzly alumnus. Each day is spent trying to build players into young men on and off the field. Which takes sacrifice.
“I haven’t seen my mom or family since the Fourth of July,” Everett said. “My niece plays football, and I haven’t seen that yet.”
For now, his time on the sidelines takes precedent. The ability to do a dream job only comes once in a life.
“I don’t take anything for granted,” Everett said. “This is a phenomenal opportunity to give back. I am the mold of my mother.”
