The 2022 Pitt football team will have a revamped look at linebacker when it heads into the season opener against West Virginia next week. The 2021 team featured plenty of experience at this spot, but guys like Johnny Petrishen, Phil Campbell, Cam Bright, and Chase Pine have all since moved on from the program.
One of the players brought in to help offset those losses has been Shayne Simon. He comes to Pitt as a graduate transfer after spending the past four seasons at Notre Dame. Simon had a productive run in spring ball and has carried that over into fall camp, and has been doing everything right in order to be one of Pitt’s starting linebackers in next week’s season opener.
Simon is one of two transfers in Pitt’s linebackers room for this upcoming season along with Tylar Wiltz from Missouri State. He said the two have been doing everything possible to grasp the defense in order to hit the ground running this season.
“We’ve been trying to be very versatile,” Simon told reporters following Monday’s practice. "I think we can both kind of play multiple positions and can learn the defense as a whole. I think we have some great veterans in the room that teach us as well as Coach Manny (Manalac). So come in and try to be a sponge as much as possible and take as many reps as possible.”
The linebackers may have some new faces this year with the two transfers and some underclassmen ready to take on larger roles. The one constant in the room has been SirVocea Dennis, a second team All-ACC pick from a year ago. Simon said it has been easy learning from Pitt’s star linebacker.
“He’s just very communicative, like he talks a lot and he’s able to teach and respond to questions that you have,” Simon said of playing next to Dennis. “I ask him a lot of questions and he’s very helpful with that.”
Simon has been able to come in and impress since he arrived in January. He recorded an interception and five tackles in the spring game, and has been making some big plays during camp as well. His mature approach is what has caught the eye of his coaches.
“He’s got football sense, football savvy,” Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates said of Simon. “All the concepts that we do, he picks up on it pretty quickly because he understands the game.”
Part of that knowledge for Simon is coming from a very successful defense at Notre Dame. Simon was a four-star recruit and appeared in 32 games with the Irish, and started 8 games during Notre Dame’s run to the College Football Playoff in 2020.
“I think Coach Clark Lea’s defense was very similar to this and Coach Bates has a little more of an attacking style, but overall the fit, structure, and the ways the defense works is pretty similar,” Simon said of adjusting from one scheme to another.
Under Bates, Pitt has certainly employed an attacking style of defense. In the 2021 season, Pitt linebackers combined for 43.5 tackles for loss and 20 sacks. Part of that is playing fast, something Simon has said he has been working on since he got to Pittsburgh.
“I’ve just been trying to get better at reading the offense and get better at feeling plays, and just playing fast,” Simon explained. “One of the things I’ve been hesitant in my past was kind of playing with my feet choppy, so I’m trying to shoot gaps as much as possible and get better at that day to day.”
Simon has been doing his best to work on the little things and spend time with guys like SirVocea Dennis to learn more. He’s also really taken to playing under linebackers coach Ryan Manalac.
“Just learning football in general,” he said of what he has picked up on playing under Manalac. "There’s always more knowledge you can build and he’s been in this system a long time and being able to see things through his eyes has been very helpful for me.”
Bates said he feel he has six or seven linebackers that can rotate in and play this season. It is similar to last year’s team where there was a big rotation at linebacker. In addition to Dennis, Simon, and Wiltz there’s veteran Brandon George along with Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields who are pushing for time. Even walk-on Nick Lapi has been receiving strong praise during camp.
“I think Coach Manny has a great program in our room,” Simon said of the linebackers’ outlook in 2022. “He teaches everybody to be versatile and make plays, so I think everyone has the confidence to go out there and do the job.”
