Shayne Simon Taking Mid-Camp Crash Course on Pitt Football
PITTSBURGH -- Facing a linebacker room that had been depleted by a particularly nasty cycle of offseason attrition, Pat Narduzzi turned to the transfer portal. One piece of his solution to the Pitt Panthers' conundrum at linebacker was adding Shayne Simon, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame.
Simon boasts extensive experience after logging 27 starts for the Irish, including eight during their run to the 2020 College Football Playoff. But for as seasoned as Simon is, he still needs to adjust to a new team, scheme and school. Before he could put his physical skills to the test in training camp, Simon, alongside fellow transfer backer Tylar Witlz, have had to go through a crash course on Pitt's defensive scheme and personnel.
"We've been trying to be very versatile, learn a lot of different positions and kind of learn the defense as a whole," Simon said. "And I think we have some great veterans in the room to help teach us, plus Coach [Ryan Manalac]. So we've come in and tried to be a sponge as much as possible and learn as much as possible."
Right now, the Panthers are still figuring where all of the moving parts - former benchwarmers moving up into the rotation and new transfers - fit into the 2022 defense. Manalac, Pitt's second-year linebackers coach, said earlier in camp that while he likes to "cross-train" his players at at all three linebacker positions, he wants them to narrow their focus as the season approaches. Defensive coordinator Randy Bates also said his attention is zeroing in on six players that will make up the bulk of this season's snaps.
Simon figures to be one of those six and in order to meet that task, has devoted his time to catching up with his teammates who have spent years within the system. And improving his mental processing has physical effects, according to Simon. Understanding scheme and game flow better allows him to play faster.
"I'm actually trying to get better at reading the offense, get better at reading plays, get better at feeling plays and get better at playing fast," Simon said. "That's one of the things, I was hesitant in my past. I was playing with my feet choppy and so I want to shoot gaps as much as possible."
The transition hasn't been particularly grueling though, according to Simon. He says many of the concepts he learned at Notre Dame are similar to what Pitt runs - albeit with a more aggressive twist - and so is the daily training camp schedule. Bates also said that Simon is a particularly smart person, so this transition to Pittsburgh has been mostly seamless.
"He's also a smart young man," Bates said. "He's got football sense, football savvy. So all the concepts that we do, he picks up on very quickly because he understands the game."
Still, no amount of film study can prepare Simon for what awaits he and his teammates in nine days, when the West Virginia Mountaineers roll into Acrisure Stadium, carrying with them more than 100 years of rivalry hatred. Fans around town have given hints about the weight of the game and it's left Simon eager to hit the field for his first game as a Panther.
"I think when I was super, super young they were still in the Big East so that kind of the whole rivalry," Simon said. "But I hear all the fans walking around Pittsburgh saying 'Go beat WVU' and 'We hate them'. It's big and I didn't know how big it was until I got here, so I'm excited to go play."
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