‘I love my team’: Why Mizzou’s Shawn Robinson switched from quarterback to safety
Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz approached his backup quarterback Shawn Robinson about a month ago. Robinson had started the first two games for Mizzou at quarterback, the prized TCU transfer and former four-star recruit poised to take the reigns for Missouri at the game’s most important position.
But then Robinson hit some speed bumps and was eventually replaced by quarterback Connor Bazelak in the second quarter of the second game of the season. Since then, Bazelak has been Mizzou’s guy, playing just about every snap.
Robinson was set to appear in some packages to fool the opposition, but the opportunities were going to be limited.
Drinkwitz had an idea: How about playing safety?
“I had to take some time to really think about it and make sure that’s what I really wanted to do,” Robinson said. “... It was hard to just wrap my mind around it. About a week ago, I got peace with it and came back and started working on it. It’s been cool ever since.”
Robinson shined in his first snaps at safety against Mississippi State, donning a white No. 12 Mizzou jersey instead of the No. 3 jersey he started the season with. Once the Mizzou secondary thinned between injuries and a targeting call on Saturday, the coaches decided to ride Robinson.
It was a stellar safety debut for the former quarterback. He was noticeably all over the field, lining up as a dime-back against Bulldogs coach Mike Leach’s notable “Air Raid” offense. MU needed plentiful options at secondary, and Robinson delivered, one of a few positive spots for Mizzou in an otherwise brutal 51-32 blowout loss to the Bulldogs.
Robinson finished with five tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a pass break-up and his first career interception. He caused the deflection that popped the ball into the air, then he strong-armed it into his possession. Robinson, the dude who started at quarterback to start the season, had earned the right to wear MU’s turnover robe.
Now that his switch to safety is permanent, the former quarterback is going to finish with more interceptions caught than interceptions thrown.
“This moment was really cool to say the least,” Robinson said. “I haven’t even really felt it yet. Just all the emotions going on. It’s kind of hard to explain and express how I’m feeling.”
Robinson said he hadn’t played safety since 8th grade, the last lick of football he played on defense. He said he broke his finger playing safety, figuring it was time for him to stick solely to quarterback.
That was the plan throughout high school and heading into college. He was a top-200 recruit, according to 247Sports, and was a U.S. Army All-American, starting his career at TCU. After some injuries and other issues, Robinson elected to transfer to Missouri after two seasons starting with the Horned Frogs.
Robinson sat out the entire 2019 season because of NCAA transfer rules, playing primarily on the scout team. Once his shot came up this season, he was projected to be the starter in 2020. He did indeed start against Alabama, putting up a solid-but-unspectacular 185 yards passing and a touchdown, though it was mixed with some mistakes.
After starting the next week against Tennessee, a brutal first quarter saw Drinkwitz slotting in Bazelak. It’s been the Bazelak show since then with Robinson seeing limited action in other sets.
“Selfless, put your team first,” Drinkwitz said of Robinson. “Always compete. Do whatever you can for your teammates. … Just incredibly proud of that young man. In the day and age when other people would’ve put their name in the portal or transferred or opted out, he stuck with us.”
Once Drinkwitz asked Robinson if he wanted to play safety, he admitted it was “awkward” from his end. Especially playing at the SEC level, where he would need to contribute.
But Robinson said he realized if he wanted to play solely quarterback, there wasn’t a viable path for him because Bazelak was the guy. That’s when he decided to formally transition to safety, adding he didn’t want to transfer again and start anew, choosing Mizzou instead.
“I love my team,” Robinson said. “I love the coaching staff. I really love Mizzou. It was just like, I’m just going to stay and play for my dawgs.”
Robinson shined in an impressive debut, but it wasn’t without its fault. He pointed out some missed tackles, and most notably, a missed interception. Yeah, Robinson had two chances at picks Saturday, coming up with one but dropping the first. He said he would need to hit the jugs to make up for that.
The coaching staff eased him into anything schematically, Robinson said. Luckily, it’s not as complicated as installing an offense as a quarterback. His former position is more technical, he said, while safety is free-flowing and allows him to improvise. There are some advantages to his quarterback knowledge, he said. He can pick up on some tendencies and receiver formations, which gives him a subtle advantage.
Robinson said Saturday was just his first step — especially because Mizzou ended up losing to the Bulldogs. With a bowl game on the horizon, he said it’s one last chance at a statement victory to close what’s been a grueling season.
“It’s been a long year,” Robinson said. “Whole bunch of unprecedented things have been going on and happening. We’re tired, but our morale is up. Our main goal is just to finish strong. We’re all just banding together, finishing strong, leaning on each other.”