EVANSTON, Ill. — Gavin Sawchuk’s college journey makes Ralphie’s run look like a Sunday stroll. It only took 2,690 miles, five seasons and three colleges for the former Valor Christian star to finally see the CU Buffs up close again.
“I wasn’t planning on transferring once, let alone twice,” the ex-Eagle, ex-Oklahoma Sooner and ex-Florida State Seminole tailback told me before his current team, hosted the Buffs on Saturday night at Martin Stadium in the first meeting between the two programs since 1978. “I mean, it’s been a crazy journey.
“And, looking back on it, I’m thankful for every moment and just thankful for the opportunity to be able to experience college football in so many different places. I’ve had an opportunity to play in four different (major) leagues now — Big 12, SEC, ACC and now the Big Ten. Just looking at it now, what better way to experience college than to experience every tradition possible?”
He’s hung with the Sooner Schooner. He’s run behind Osceola and Renegade. But in his final season of collegiate eligibility, Sawchuk, wanted to beef up his NFL Draft bona fides. And he figured there was no better name to add to the “references” part of his pro resume than Chip Kelly, the former NFL, Oregon and UCLA coach who became Northwestern’s offensive coordinator last Dec. 30.
“It was cool being able to be coached by DeMarco (Murray at Oklahoma), and all the knowledge he has, and just being able to be around somebody that shares the same kind of meticulousness to the way that they approach the game,” Sawchuk said of Murray, his old Sooners running back coach, who played for Kelly with the Eagles in 2015. “I’d learned that from DeMarco. He takes notes about everything.
“And just seeing Coach Kelly and the way that he approaches it, it’s the same way — writing everything down. You take everything that’s mentioned and then apply it out there on the field. I mean, he’s just a great offensive mind to be around in general, you know?”
Sawchuk took the scenic route to 2026. The former 4-star recruit exploded as a redshirt freshman with the Sooners in 2023, averaging 6.2 yards per carry and scoring nine touchdowns. But injuries and a bad Oklahoma offensive line slowed any momentum — Sawchuk saw massive drops in carries (129 to 39), rushing yards (744 to 128), touchdowns (nine to one) in 2024, and he elected to transfer out before the 2025 season.
What should’ve been the high point of his Florida State tenure last fall left a sour taste instead. After getting a season-high 20 carries at Stanford, racking up 70 yards on the ground, the ex-Valor bell cow was stopped short of the goal line on the final play of the contest
The Seminoles lost, 20-13, and Sawchuk only carried the ball 22 more times over his next five appearances. Kelly arrived in Evanston; FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn retired; and Sawchuk hit the portal again, hoping the third school would be the charm.
“It’s just a different environment,” Sawchuk said. “I’m used to being in ‘college towns.’ And now being in a major city with Chicago down the road, it’s just a different pace of life.”
Different climate, too. The average February high temperature in Evanston, a suburb nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan about 14 miles north of downtown Chicago, is 36 degrees. The average February high in Tallahassee is a balmy 67.
by Niche.com. A campus along Lake Michigan might be your best friend from June-September, but that lake turns around to slap you with cruel, icy fingers from December-March. Sawchuk visited in January — “it was snowing, and coming from Tallahassee, I didn’t have much cold stuff to put on,” Gavin recalled — and committed anyway.
“I’ve enjoyed it so far,” he said. “There’s always something to do, a new place to try out, a new place to go. Always something to keep you busy.”
Gavin’s been busy working on his master’s from Northwestern in sports administration. He’s on track to graduate in the spring.
“I think it was cool to me,” Sawchuk said, “because I see it as kind of an opportunity to learn the business side, the back end, of these sports programs.”
A member of Valor’s Magna C Laude Society as a teen, Sawchuk’s always been blessed with a curious mind, an inquisitive soul and a passion to try new things. Cooking. Fishing. Ghosts. He’s just as comfortable talking about the markets as he is discussing ‘man’ coverage.
“I think the world of Gavin,” Kelly told NUSports.com last month. “He’s one of the smartest young guys I’ve ever been around. He picks stuff up like that. He’s a one-timer. You really don’t have to explain anything to him more than once because he gets it the first time. He really understands the game.”
And he’s really learning to enjoy the road, no matter how long, winding, or weird it gets. In college football, you don’t always pick the right path. Sometimes, the right path picks you. Eventually.
“Being at so many different places, just truly taking advantage of the experience, sometimes we forget why we do it in the first place,” Sawchuk reflected. “Enjoy it while it lasts. Because it won’t always.”
