Oct. 6, 2006
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Two years ago, linebacker Shane Simmons was seeing action as a true freshman at University of Idaho. Last year, Robin Ross was the linebackers coach at Oregon State University.
This season, through a series of events, the two are together at Western Washington University and the combination has been electrifying. Ross, the Vikings' new head coach and defensive coordinator, has built his stop unit around Simmons, moving the junior from outside to middle linebacker.
Simmons has responded by leading the North Central Conference in tackles and topping the NCAA Division II nationally in solo stops.
"He was the guy that I wanted to build the defense around," said Ross. "We wanted somebody with his range, speed and instincts to play that position. We thought it was a very good fit, even though he had not really played inside linebacker before."
Through five games, Simmons has been credited with 56 tackles, 49 of them solo. Last year, he played in all 10 games, starting the last nine, and took part in 66 tackles (41 solo), being named first-team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
"His speed allows us to do a lot of things," Ross said. "He gets involved in a lot more plays being in the middle. Basically he can be involved in every play, whereas if you're an outside backer they can always run away from you. And, if you look at his totals from last year to this, it shows that he's been in a lot more plays than a year ago."
In Western's 16-13 upset of No.15-ranked Washburn, Simmons had 11 tackles, 10 unassisted, and forced the fumble that led to a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. That performance earned him NCC co-Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Simmons had 12 tackles, all solos, in the Vikings' 26-20 loss at No.4 North Dakota, which saw them lead 20-17 at halftime and be inside the Fighting Sioux 40-yard line with less than two minutes to go.
"I was excited and a little unsure at the same time because I had never played the position," Simmons said of the move. "But I'm the leader on that side of the ball and I like having that responsibility."
"He's been very productive and is playing very good football right now," said Ross. "He's doing what we expected him to do - really showing leadership and playing better and better each week."
As a senior at Kentlake High School in Kent, Simmons was a first-team All-Area pick by the Seattle Times, Seattle P-I and Tacoma News Tribune. The South Puget Sound League North Division Offensive Player of the Year as a quarterback, he was an all-league pick both ways.
Last December, Ross replaced Rob Smith, who resigned in November after 17 years at the helm. Ross was the Vikings' defensive coordinator under Smith in 1994 and 1995, Western leading NAIA Division II in scoring defense in 1994 and being ranked among the top 10 nationally in several other categories.
During his previous 29 years of coaching, all of them as an assistant and most at the NCAA I level, Ross was the defensive coordinator at Iowa State and Fresno State. He also coached in the NFL with Oakland for two seasons, the Raiders reaching the AFC Championship Game in 2000.
"He's been around big-time Division I college programs and the NFL, he's a defensive-minded guy and he knows his stuff," Simmons said of Ross. "He has a way of coaching that we can all relate to and want to work hard for him."
