Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Billie Weiss
The Rising Star of Steve Shimko
April 06, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Jersey native one of the brightest young offensive minds in football
The third season of the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U shifted its focus between junior colleges. It left Mississippi, the site of its first two iterations, for a school based in Independence, Kansas. The new location issues an overhaul for the series because its new team never really succeeded until it hired a controversial new coach, Jason Brown.
The first year at Independence Community College provided fresh storylines and blew the lid off the series' shift when the school hosted the defending national champion, Garden City Community College, in its third episode.
The episode crafts a storyline around the two coaches, but the game itself is highlighted as an instant classic between two ultra-talented teams. Garden City's offense possessed immense talent and nearly led a two-minute drill comeback victory over ICC before stalling out at midfield.
Garden City's offensive coordinator left the team after that season to become an offensive assistant with the Seattle Seahawks. Now, Steve Shimko is in Chestnut Hill, coaching tight ends for Boston College.
"The tight end position is pretty simple," Shimko said. "It doesn't change (through different levels of football) because you have to be involved in both the running and pass games. You have to cut out to block defensive ends, and you have to create mismatches by catching the football. (The position) is just about how quick you can pick up the offense and how many different positions you can pick up. Our foundation is going to be based on technique and fundamentals and how we can be sound in order to go do those things."
Shimko is a unique case study in football because he had to rewrite his career on the fly. Ten years ago, he was a three-star, New Jersey quarterback recruit committed to play at Rutgers during the program's renaissance. In 2010, a shoulder injury required career-ending surgery, but head coach Greg Schiano turned Shimko into a student assistant under NCAA rules.
It seamlessly converted him into a coach, and he stayed on staff in 2013 as a graduate assistant after receiving his degree. He moved to Western Michigan and Georgia as both a recruiting operations coordinator and a graduate assistant over the next two seasons before landing at Garden City as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.Â
The experience and subsequent national championship helped elevate Shimko's profile, and in 2018, the former quarterback who once harbored dreams of playing in the NFL finally made the professional ranks as an assistant quarterbacks coach for Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks. He now returns to the college ranks as a position coach with NFL postseason experience less than 10 years after ending his playing career.
"I know the current group is very talented," Shimko said. "You see a lot of it show up on tape from the last couple of years. We just have to get a good feel before we build anything else. But we want to make sure that we can be accountable in the room before we perform on whatever is asked."
Shimko's arrival coincides with the rise of BC's limitless talent pool at tight end. The position's evolved into a hybrid over the past decade as the Eagles primarily used it in run-blocking schemes and red zone situations, but the development of Tommy Sweeney opposite the rugged toughness of players like Korab Idrizi opened the door for the raw potential of Hunter Long.
"We need to look at if (young players) can become big enough," Shimko said. "They have to pass the eye test, but they also have to bend and be fast. There are different kinds of tight ends who are primarily blockers, but some are primarily receivers and others can do it all. You have to be able to project a high school player to become big enough. He has to be tough, but everything else is a projection for you to teach him into the scheme expectations."
Long is obviously the centerpiece of the new offense because he's a unique athlete. He's big and physical with quickness and agility. He can catch passes on the run and showed it in flashes last season, catching 28 balls for 509 yards. Against Louisville last year, a play action duped the linebackers and safeties into the box, opening Long for a catch at midfield. Nobody was within 10 yards of him, but Long exhibited speed by dusting into the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown.
"Hunter is a very hard worker," Shimko said. "He's a great person, and he knows he's a really good football player. He's a great athlete who can do whatever we ask, and he can be elusive in whatever we want him to do. He can run any route and block any fundamental because he's going to work hard. He's gifted, and nothing is going to hold him back in what we ask.
"These tight ends have been coached really well," he continued. "They're knowledgeable and hard-working, and the most important thing is how they hold each other accountable. It's a structure to build off of. I've been able to use tight ends in various situations (in the past), so for me, I want to make sure they know what to do at any given point in time."
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The first year at Independence Community College provided fresh storylines and blew the lid off the series' shift when the school hosted the defending national champion, Garden City Community College, in its third episode.
The episode crafts a storyline around the two coaches, but the game itself is highlighted as an instant classic between two ultra-talented teams. Garden City's offense possessed immense talent and nearly led a two-minute drill comeback victory over ICC before stalling out at midfield.
Garden City's offensive coordinator left the team after that season to become an offensive assistant with the Seattle Seahawks. Now, Steve Shimko is in Chestnut Hill, coaching tight ends for Boston College.
"The tight end position is pretty simple," Shimko said. "It doesn't change (through different levels of football) because you have to be involved in both the running and pass games. You have to cut out to block defensive ends, and you have to create mismatches by catching the football. (The position) is just about how quick you can pick up the offense and how many different positions you can pick up. Our foundation is going to be based on technique and fundamentals and how we can be sound in order to go do those things."
Shimko is a unique case study in football because he had to rewrite his career on the fly. Ten years ago, he was a three-star, New Jersey quarterback recruit committed to play at Rutgers during the program's renaissance. In 2010, a shoulder injury required career-ending surgery, but head coach Greg Schiano turned Shimko into a student assistant under NCAA rules.
It seamlessly converted him into a coach, and he stayed on staff in 2013 as a graduate assistant after receiving his degree. He moved to Western Michigan and Georgia as both a recruiting operations coordinator and a graduate assistant over the next two seasons before landing at Garden City as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.Â
The experience and subsequent national championship helped elevate Shimko's profile, and in 2018, the former quarterback who once harbored dreams of playing in the NFL finally made the professional ranks as an assistant quarterbacks coach for Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks. He now returns to the college ranks as a position coach with NFL postseason experience less than 10 years after ending his playing career.
"I know the current group is very talented," Shimko said. "You see a lot of it show up on tape from the last couple of years. We just have to get a good feel before we build anything else. But we want to make sure that we can be accountable in the room before we perform on whatever is asked."
Shimko's arrival coincides with the rise of BC's limitless talent pool at tight end. The position's evolved into a hybrid over the past decade as the Eagles primarily used it in run-blocking schemes and red zone situations, but the development of Tommy Sweeney opposite the rugged toughness of players like Korab Idrizi opened the door for the raw potential of Hunter Long.
"We need to look at if (young players) can become big enough," Shimko said. "They have to pass the eye test, but they also have to bend and be fast. There are different kinds of tight ends who are primarily blockers, but some are primarily receivers and others can do it all. You have to be able to project a high school player to become big enough. He has to be tough, but everything else is a projection for you to teach him into the scheme expectations."
Long is obviously the centerpiece of the new offense because he's a unique athlete. He's big and physical with quickness and agility. He can catch passes on the run and showed it in flashes last season, catching 28 balls for 509 yards. Against Louisville last year, a play action duped the linebackers and safeties into the box, opening Long for a catch at midfield. Nobody was within 10 yards of him, but Long exhibited speed by dusting into the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown.
"Hunter is a very hard worker," Shimko said. "He's a great person, and he knows he's a really good football player. He's a great athlete who can do whatever we ask, and he can be elusive in whatever we want him to do. He can run any route and block any fundamental because he's going to work hard. He's gifted, and nothing is going to hold him back in what we ask.
"These tight ends have been coached really well," he continued. "They're knowledgeable and hard-working, and the most important thing is how they hold each other accountable. It's a structure to build off of. I've been able to use tight ends in various situations (in the past), so for me, I want to make sure they know what to do at any given point in time."
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