Published Aug 26, 2020
Simpson is settling in nicely despite chaos of the last month
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Brad Franklin  •  CavsCorner
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A standout from Easton (PA) in the class of 2015, running back Shane Simpson played in 35 college football games at Towson. Surely, missing his freshman and senior seasons due to injuries wasn’t what he expected when he signed with the Tigers. Neither was transferring to UVa for his final year of eligibility.

But the 5-foot-11, 200 pounder is now in Charlottesville and given the flux at the position could very well be an important piece for the Cavaliers at running back.

A first-team FCS All-American in 2018, he was second in that division with 171.5 all-purpose yards per game as a redshirt junior. Now, after finishing with more than 5,000 all-purpose yards in three years on the field, his 36th game will be at the FBS level. And he can’t wait.

“It's not it's too big of a difference,” he said this week. “I mean, I did play against FBS schools, but going against them every day in practice is definitely different. The speed is definitely a little faster. The biggest difference I can tell from the FCS level to the FBS level is the offensive linemen and the defensive linemen. And then obviously you have elite skill players at each position. So, I’d say that's probably the biggest difference.”

It’s one thing to transfer but grad transfers like Simpson have to do a lot of heavy lifting in a short amount of time. That’s especially the case given the limited amount of time he had between when he committed to Bronco Mendenhall and when practice began.

“It’s been wild, to say the least,” he explained. “Obviously me picking UVa and obviously coming down here that Saturday, everything was real rapid. I had to get all the paperwork and everything situated. But since I got here, they’ve treated me like family and I can't thank Coach Mendenhall and the staff and my new brothers enough for bringing me in.”

Though he didn’t have a lot of time to get up and running on the offense he’d be playing in, that doesn’t seem to have slowed him down much thanks to a stroke of luck.

“Our offense at Towson was more spread, pro-style offense, and that's pretty similar to what we do right here,” Simpson said. “Definitely a lot of zone, a lot of zone schemes at Towson that translate over to here. And it's meshing really well.”

The offensive line he’s found at Virginia certainly has him excited, too.

“Yes, I love the big fellows up front,” Simpson said. “Obviously, Coach Mendenhall wants to make sure that we're running the ball and we're doing a really good job of doing that as of right now. Obviously, we're still trying to build chemistry with everybody. And obviously we have enough time. We have three weeks left before Virginia Tech, so I think we'll be more than prepared.”

Having chosen UVa over Texas, Simpson is one of several grad transfers that Mendenhall and Co. brought in this summer. Two of them, safety D’Angelo Amos and defensive lineman Adeeb Atariwa from JMU, may well have landed in Charlottesville in part because of Simpson himself.

“When I committed to UVa, I made sure that I got them here as well because they hit me up right after I committed saying they were entering in the portal,” he recalled. “And I was like, 'I gotta let Coach Mendenhall know' so I did that. And I'm thankful that they came here, and they're definitely going to get two studs at the D-line position and safety position. D’Angelo adds value at the punt return position from him being All-American at JMU. So, we're definitely in good hands.”

So Keystone State running back, who is also seeing time on both return units, said he feels right at home in his new digs.

“I'm definitely really, really, really comfortable in Charlottesville, especially transitioning from Towson to UVa,” he said. “The offense isn't too much different. Just had to get accustomed to how everything is run here, different signs and stuff like that. Then ultimately, I had Wayne (Taulapapa), Ronnie (Walker), and even to the youngest guy Chris (Barfield) in the room and Coach (Mark) Atuaia teaching me the plays, showing me the signs and stuff like that. So I can't thank them enough. And it was really, really easy to transition, especially me knowing somebody here personally, De’Vante Cross. That's been my brother since 10th grade in high school. So it definitely was an easy transition for me.”

Thing have been made easier because guys are more than happy to help him. It’s also better because he fits in well given his versatility. That’ll include not only running the ball but being involved in the passing game.

“Obviously, this is football so people will go down at times,” Simpson said. “So QBs are going to look to us to catch the ball, block, run, do all the things. Especially in today's day and age of football, a running back just can't be able to run the ball. We have to catch, block, receive out of the backfield, and sometimes even motion out of the backfield and run routes. So that's something I pride myself on and the guys in the room do as well.”

“I would say that he's a very seasoned player, veteran player,” Taulapapa said of Simpson. “When you see him run the ball, when you see him go out for passes, when you see him block, you can tell he's been playing the game of football for a long time. Very educated on what's what and it's really easy for him to pick up the plays. So, it's kind of nice to have that as a player beside [me] that I can learn from but also teach in a way where we're both making progress and making an impact on the offense. And so, I'd say he's a very fast runner, kills the outside when it comes there. And so, trying to gain knowledge from him and him from me is kind of our goal right now.

“The pandemic that we're in, you know, we're tied together as a running back group,” he added. “So it's basically family and the car rides, from his music taste to the way that he talks about certain things from Towson, you get to know the guy. He’s a really fun person. We call him the old man of the group, just because he’s an old soul. But, you know, I love him for that and we're learning from him each and every day.”

All told, the move has been everything Simpson could have hoped. Now, the work continues.

“Definitely during this pandemic, everything's tough,” he said. “And then obviously me being the new face in the room, and Wayne being the leader in the room, he ultimately brought me in and taught me to the offense right away. And that's everybody in the room. So it's been a very family atmosphere and I love that because I'm a family oriented guy. Just being able to learn from your teammates, not just your coaches, speaks dividends about how Coach Mendenhall runs the program.”


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