August 26, 2011

Jake Brown
IrishIllustrated.com Recruiting Analyst

It's about time Prince Shembo explained some football nuances to his parents.

Over the years Shembo's parents, both born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have learned more and more about football. Shembo took up the sport as a child and eventually chose it over soccer, a decision that turned into a scholarship to continue his career at Notre Dame.

But now more than ever evaluating their son on game day will be tricky.

A defensive end in high school, Shembo transitioned to the Cat linebacker position as a freshman under head coach Brian Kelly and made a splash by chasing down quarterbacks. Now Shembo is the starting Dog linebacker. That means more time dropping into space and less with the single focus of finding a way into the backfield.??

"I've gotta start telling them about the drops," Shembo said. "They know about interceptions. They know about the big play things. If they don't see that they just think you had a bad game. No sacks? Bad game."

Last season defensive coordinator Bob Diaco cut Shembo loose as a pass-rushing specialist. In limited playing time he compiled 4.5 sacks, two coming against Boston College, and five tackles-for-loss.

Being a disruptive force came naturally to a player that turned himself into a four-star recruit with one hand in the dirt. Reining in those instincts has been more difficult.

After the season Shembo switched to the other linebacker position, a spot that includes Danny Spond, Ben Councell and Troy Niklas. At that point he had to learn more about playing in coverage.

"I read and react all the time when I see movement," Shembo said. "I've gotta be patient and hold back a little bit. That's one thing I've been working on. That's when your eyes come into hand."

Shembo has excelled despite lacking the ideal size Kelly and Diaco want at the position.

Councell and Niklas, both 6-foot-5 or taller, are more the prototype. While Shembo would like to borrow an inch or two from his younger teammates, he makes up for his deficiencies in other ways.

"He's not in profile," Kelly said, "but he has other qualities that make him an effective player. He plays obviously very strong at the point of attack. He's great in pass rush. Even though he's 6-2, he has some other traits that no one would be able to guess by the position he plays.

"We would prefer to be longer at that position and we are with some of the younger kids. He would be good if we played him at a number of different positions, quite frankly."

Shembo draws on the NFL for some guidance when it comes to being undersized. He did the same as child when Tim Biakabutuka, who is from Zaire, was a role model while playing for Shembo's hometown Carolina Panthers.

Now he looks at some of the game's great outside linebackers and tries to put himself in the same mold.

"It comes with a mindset," Shembo said. "If you have the mindset you can do anything. In the NFL there are a lot of 6-2 outside linebackers. James Harrison is, what, 5-11? Lamar Woodley is 6-2, guys like that. Clay Matthews is 6-3. If you have that mindset you'll be fine."