Football
Favorite athlete: Tyrese Maxey
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: District Semifinal Win Against CB South in 2024
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Locker room trash talk
Music on playlist: Country, Rock, RnB
Future plans: Get a degree in engineering
Words to live by: “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel outside of the US
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to build Legos.
By Mary Jane Souder
It wasn’t that long ago – one short year ago, to be exact – that Aidan Eves was making big plays for a North Penn football team that advanced to the District 1 6A title game. That, however, has got to feel like light years ago to the 2024 North Penn grad, who is in his rookie season at Sacred Heart University.
The differences? There are many, said Eves.
“I turned 18 a couple of weeks ago, and I’m going against 24-year-old kids, so they are so strong and so fast,” he said. “My technique doesn’t really lack a lot – I had a lot of good coaching at North Penn. I’m kind of ahead of a lot of other kids on that.
“I’m a relatively bigger kid – I’m 6-2, 225 pounds, but these guys are so strong and so fast. They’re throwing me around like I’m in eighth grade again. It’s extremely humbling.”
For Eves, it’s simply a matter of putting it behind him and moving forward.
“Snap and clear,” he said of his mindset. “There are even littler technique tweaks that I do – keeping my butt down when I block so I don’t get pulled off my base.
“My coaches are really good. They’ll point out that little stuff to us in film when we are watching practice back.
“If I get thrown on my face, I’m just like, ‘All right, it’s happened before, it’ll happen again’ but – next play. I’ve got to remind myself that it’s my first year, it’s my first time doing this, and I’ve got to give myself a little bit of a break, which I haven’t done much of in my life, so it’s a hard switch to do that.”
Eves recognizes that his situation is hardly unique.
“I’m sure it’s a universal thing,” he said. “Everyone goes through it. Even D3 ball – you’re the guy at your high school forever. I had a great career, and you’re a senior and just kicking everyone’s butt, and then you get to college, and it’s like you’re a freshman all over again. You’re getting thrown on your face, you’re getting kicked around, knocked on your butt. These guys are so good. It really shows that there are levels to it.”
If it seems as though Eves might be discouraged, nothing could be further from the truth.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “I have a great tight ends room, I’ve got a lot of good leaders. A lot of them are already like older brothers. There’s a lot of good kids.”
Eves also receives plenty of support from those who know him best.
“My mom’s kept my head on straight, especially over these last couple months,” he said of his mother Michelle Eves. “I’ve done a lot of tough stuff actually before college and going into college, and she’s been my rock. That’s really important because you can really get overwhelmed almost.”
Add North Penn coach Dick Beck to the long list who believe in Eves.
“He was very, very versatile,” the Knights’ coach said. “He was like a Swiss Army Knife. We played him at tight end, we played him at wide receiver, we played him at quarterback, we played him at full back, and defensively, we would drop him in the coverage, we’d have him rush the passer. He played nose tackle against Haverford and had a great game at nose tackle. Sacred Heart can move him to many positions he’s going to be successful at.”
Back to the beginning
It’s always been football for Eves, who got his first taste of competitive football playing for the North Penn Squires. He also played a lot of basketball but dropped that sport when he reached high school.
“Basketball and football don’t really intertwine if you gain weight for football every season,” he said.
What made football his sport of choice?
“I loved the team aspect,” he said. “That fact that there are 11 guys, and if one guy messes up, you’re pretty much screwed on the play. I loved being on a team that big. There’s really no other sport close to football the way that the team’s really intertwined. It’s very different from other team sports.”
Eves always had his sights set high, but he was also realistic.
“I started playing in third grade, and everyone is like – I want to play in the NFL, but then you grow up and you realize – I’m a 6-2 tight end and not a 6-6 tight end, so then you start to tone down your goals, but you’re still setting goals that are attainable but high,” he said. “I always wanted to go D1, and I knew that was attainable after my junior year, and I started talking to a bunch of different schools. So, D1 was the goal, just to get a scholarship, and the life goal is to be a really good dad and a really good husband, so if I can set my family up financially without student loans, get a great degree – football is a great path into that step.”
A defining moment
Although Eves’ journey has seemed like relatively smooth sailing, there were some rough spots along the way.
“When I think back to my sophomore year high school, I just switched positions from quarterback to defense – I hadn’t played defense in forever,” Eves said. “I started my first game on homecoming night, and we got our butts handed to us by CB West. I got benched the rest of the season.
“That game I graded out the lowest for a North Penn defensive lineman ever in the history of the North Penn D-line. I got my butt handed to me. That was the worst game I ever played, and I wanted to quit so bad. My dad (Mike Eves) wouldn’t let me though. That was the best decision I ever made – not to quit.”
It’s an experience he’d pass on to aspiring young players.
“Don’t let mistakes beat you up – you have to learn from them,” Eves said.
A solid foundation and a bright future
Eves credit his experience at North Penn for preparing him for football at the next level.
“My North Penn experience is absolutely invaluable,” he said. “I tell everyone and especially being up here, a lot of my teammates haven’t been taught all the technique stuff we’ve been taught at North Penn or taught the weightlifting and all the technique. A lot of it is just inexperience, and that’s not a bad thing.
“North Penn sent me and my teammate Ryan Bocklet up here, and we were talking to Coach Zeb (offensive coordinator Kevin Zebluim) and Coach Beck - we were ahead in the pack going into college from the rest of the
freshmen because the coaching at North Penn is really on a different level. I don’t think there’s another public school in Pennsylvania, at least, that prepares college football players like North Penn does.”
Eves has fond memories of his years playing North Penn football.
“I saw North Penn kicked Downingtown East’s butt the first week. I was telling my buddies I miss them and wish I was out there,” he said. “I’m pretty young for my grade – I really should be out there for one more year.
“High school and college ball are different. College is a lot more like a business. I’ll get used to it, and when I put on a little bit more weight, stop being thrown around, I’m sure it’ll be just as fun as high school.”
An excellent student, Eves is majoring in mechanical engineering. He may be gone, but he is not forgotten.
“He was willing to play anywhere any time,” Beck said. “He’s a great student, and he was a fantastic kid, and he loves playing football. It’s very important to him, so he worked very hard.
“He’s unassuming. If you didn’t know he played football – if he wasn’t so big, people wouldn’t even think he played football. He’s very quiet and just kind of a happy-go-lucky kid that we just loved having him on the team. He’s a great example for younger kids.”
