Former Missouri Tigers QB Shawn Robinson is making an impact at safety
Shawn Robinson pursued his receiver down the field, following Boston College’s Jaden Williams tightly on his route. Then he noticed Williams’ eyes flutter — a tell-tale sign. Oh, the ball is probably coming, the Missouri safety thought. And it was.
Backpedaling, Robinson shifted his body to cut his opponent off and reeled in the ball, bobbling it a few times before fully securing it and falling to the ground.
He then threw the ball in the air and rushed towards the sideline. As he made his way across the field, he lifted his arms and shrugged as if to say, “Who me? Yeah, I did that!” before enthusiastically punching the air with his right hand and being mobbed by teammates.
The interception, which ended the Eagles’ opening drive of Saturday’s game almost as soon as it started, was Robinson’s first of the season and second in five career games since making the transition from quarterback less than a year ago.
“I’ve been blown away at what he’s been able to do and how quickly he’s been able to do it,” Mizzou head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “He is playing a lot of football for us, playing a lot of different positions, doing a lot of different things and still making a lot of plays with effort, technique and toughness.”
Robinson started the 2020 season at quarterback for the Tigers after transferring from TCU, but was replaced by current starter Connor Bazelak in the second quarter of the second game against Tennessee. Once it became clear Bazelak was the team’s best option under center, Drinkwitz approached the former four star recruit about switching to safety, a position he hadn’t played since eighth grade.
After taking some time to contemplate the decision, Robinson played his first snaps at safety in the final game of last season against Mississippi State, finishing with five tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a pass break-up and his first career interception.
Through four games this season, Robinson has recorded 11 total tackles (7 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one pass breakup and one sack.
The sack came in the fourth quarter of the first game of the year against Central Michigan. On third and 7 at the 26-yard line, Robinson found a gap in the offensive line and charged towards quarterback Jacob Sirmon, sending the quarterback to the ground. Following the play, the redshirt senior ran down the field while waving his arms above his head in excitement.
“Oh my gosh!” Robinson recalled telling Drinkwitz on the sideline. “I want that again. That’s a great feeling.’”
Robinson didn’t have the words to pinpoint how exactly to describe that feeling. It wasn’t quite like throwing a touchdown or really anything he had experienced before. “Just all the emotion comes out of you,” he said.
As much fun as the transition has been for Robinson, it’s also been tough. There’s been a physical adjustment; a lot more running and hitting is involved at the safety position and he is learning to take better care of his body. There’s also been a mental adjustment; he was used to examining the entire field under center, but on defense he has to key in a few things on each play.
Drinkwitz noted the extra work Robinson has put in over the past several months to learn the new position, including how much time he spends in the facility breaking down film. He prepares for each week with a similar approach to when he played at quarterback.
“He’s always wanting to know more, he’s always trying to pick up tendencies and all that stuff,” Drinkwitz said. “So he’s doing everything you can ask from him.”
The newly minted safety has also made an effort to regularly meet with coaches to try to “get on the same page” as he continues to find his footing on defense.
Robinson has a special tie to secondary coach Aaron Fletcher through his high school coach, Todd Peterman — Fletcher and Peterman spent time coaching together in the high school ranks and still keep in touch. The former DeSoto head coach now gets updates on his former player from the Mizzou position coach and said the pair have even called him together on speakerphone a few times this season.
Peterman isn’t at all surprised by how well Robinson has handled the transition, noting that much of his work ethic circles back to his parents. His father, Othell, is a high school football coach that spent many years alongside Peterman, and his mother, Andrea, coaches girls basketball.
“He’s a coach’s kid, so he knows what teamwork is and knows at the end of the day what it’s all about,” Peterman said. “He could have found other places where he could’ve went and and played quarterback, but yet he chose to stay where a lot of other guys would have just entered the portal and went on.”
Choosing to stay meant taking on the challenge of learning a position he hadn’t played since the eighth grade — and SEC football is certainly a completely different beast from middle school. Robinson is still in the process of doing so and he knows there is a lot of progress yet to be made, but he’s making an impact for the Tigers regardless.
“I like where he is,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said. “He’s still learning, he’s still growing, and hopefully he can come out and make some plays for us this week.”
