Josh Shaw to lead LC defense

As the Lewis and Clark Tigers prepare for their season opener, Coach Tom Yearout knew he wouldn’t have any worries at defensive end. After all, with All Greater Spokane League end Josh Shaw back for his senior season, Yearout has perhaps the premier defensive lineman in the GSL.

So what did Yearout do? Well, how about move Shaw off the line to linebacker.

Say what?

“We think it makes better use of his skills,” said Yearout. “His ability to run, his ability to take on blockers, and his ability to play in space — he’s good at all three of those. It’s a big change to learn in one year, but in the first week we’ve been in pads, he’s already made significant improvement.”

“It allows him to be a leader of our defense in a position that has quite a few more responsibilities,” he said. “Your preparation to play linebacker is the highest in our defensive alignment.

“He’s not a real rah-rah guy, but he plays with tremendous energy.”

As for Shaw, he is thrilled about the chance to lead the Tiger defense.

“It’s definitely a move I’m looking forward to,” Shaw said. “I’ve been looking at playing linebacker ever since I started playing football.

“Now I’m finally getting a chance to, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun — being back off the ball, taking reads, making drops and going after the football.

“The best part of it is you get a running start at just blasting people.”

It also gives Shaw the opportunity to show off his smarts on the gridiron.

“He’s a very talented kid,” said Yearout. “He’s worked extremely hard in improving his strength, and one of the things that makes him a really good player is his football IQ.

“He’s an extremely intelligent football player. He has a knack for once he sees things one time, being able to diagnose what’s happening to him. That’s part of the reason he was a really good defensive end and we think he’ll be a real good linebacker.”

“I have to learn the position, watch a lot of film, and get used to seeing stuff,” Shaw said. “We call the huddles, call the plays, break the huddles and make sure everyone else knows what they’re doing … and that they get it done.”

Getting it done is something Shaw learned from his brothers.

His older brother Carl was an all-GSL wide receiver last season for the Tigers and showed Josh the meaning of preparation.

“He taught me quite a bit,” said Shaw. “He thought it was his responsibility to know every play, so he knew what every guy was doing on every play. He just knew it all.”

“Carl, Josh, and Julian — they’re all different,” said Yearout. “Carl and Josh are very intense about learning and preparing for each and every game. I think that’s one of the things he saw from Carl.

“Carl could coach any position we had here at LC. Josh saw that in his brother and picked up on how important that was.”

Shaw’s development in football has been fairly remarkable because he didn’t start playing organized football until his freshman year at Lewis and Clark.

“I played a little in elementary school, but I never played on a flag team or an AAU team or any of that. I did baseball, basketball, cross country, track and wrestling.”

His multisport athleticism now has Shaw being looked at by colleges like Washington State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and Colorado to play football next fall.

“He has the ability to play at a high level on Saturdays,” Yearout said. “Josh is a free spirit but is very intense about his learning during football. He’s very intelligent. He diagnoses things very quickly.”

Shaw though isn’t focusing on what may happen on Saturdays. The senior is hoping for bigger things from his Tiger teammates on Friday nights.

“I’m just hoping we play as hard as we can,” Shaw said. “If we play to our potential, we can be a great football team.”