Bob "Snake" Evans

Bob “Snake” Evans was a lifelong resident of Johnson City and worked for over three decades for his alma mater Science Hill. A four-sport standout at Science Hill where he graduated in 1954, Evans returned to lead numerous young athletes down a similar path provided to him by athletics.

“We didn’t have anything coming up,” Evans said in 2007. “The playground was about the only place we had. Athletics ended up providing me all kinds of opportunities. I’m just so thankful for all that Science Hill and the Johnson City school system has given me.”

Evans was a coveted recruit on the football field and went on to play a year at Virginia Tech before returning to East Tennessee State and finishing his schooling. He would graduate from ETSU and later earned his master’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Friends said Evans grew up hard in the section of Johnson City around Columbus Powell. He joked in 2008 about seemingly moving during his childhood every time the rent was due. Athletics was an escape – a place where toughness was not frowned upon, but rewarded. And there was a level playing field. Politics and money didn’t seem to determine opportunity the way it often did outside the lines.

Evans worked 33 years in the Johnson City Schools system, where he was a teacher, coach and administrator. He spent a decade as the varsity football coach that began in 1967 and he occurred a 67-30-2 overall record during his time. He also directed the Toppers to five straight Big Seven Cross Country meets when it begin in 1962.