MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — He is listed on the official WVU roster as Beanie Bishop. And for Shannon Bishop Jr., the name ‘Beanie’ has been with him almost his entire life.
“I just got it from my Godmom. She was saying, ‘My beanie baby’. It kind of stuck. As soon as I was born, the name Beanie came and it stuck,” Bishop said.
After a second trip into the NCAA Transfer Portal, Bishop arrived at WVU this offseason to cap his six-year college football career. Bishop played four games in his freshman season at Western Kentucky in 2018, preserving a redshirt year. Bishop played 13 games in both the 2019 and 2021 seasons, sandwiched around the free-year-of-eligibility COVID season in 2020.
Bishop earned Conference USA first team honors as a defensive back in 2021 and opted to test his skills at a higher level. He then transferred to Minnesota.
“I wasn’t really heavily recruited coming out of high school. I got the chance to play closer to home at Western Kentucky. I followed my cousin there. I was there four years and I was All-Conference in 2021. I decided I feel like I had the ability to play Power 5 football and take the next step and show I belonged in a Power 5 conference. I took my time to Minnesota and played in the Big 10. I just wanted a bigger role to have the ability to make more plays in the passing game. The Big 12 is more of a passing league and I wanted to showcase my abilities on defense and in the return game.”
Bishop played in all 13 games in his lone season at Minnesota. He finished with 29 tackles and one sack. But Bishop wasn’t satisfied with his time on the field, particularly on special teams.
“I didn’t have the rep count as I would like or what I thought. I came in and I was thinking I would be able to play on kick return and punt return. I didn’t have that chance.”
With one season of eligibility remaining, Bishop transferred to West Virginia. He has made an immediate impact at cornerback and on special teams. Bishop could be in the mix to start on defense and on kick return units.
Cornerbacks coach ShaDon Brown has called Bishop the ‘Alpha in the room’, imparting instant leadership despite being a newcomer.
“It has been instilled in me from growing up, to be a leader. Show guys instead of being the guy that is in the back of the line. Be one of the guys who is in the front of the line. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you have a lot of effort and a lot of energy, you can fix the mistakes. But a lot of guys, if you don’t have effort, it doesn’t mean anything.
“Our motto is EAT (Effort. Aggression. Together). As long as you have effort and you are aggressive, just fly around to the ball. Don’t be scared to shoot your shot. Don’t be scared to miss tackles. You’re going to have ten other guys pursuing to the ball. Guys are flying around.”
The Mountaineer defense collected just four interceptions last season, a total that ranked 126th out of 131 FBS teams.
“Every day, get your hand on the ball. We’ve got guys raking at the ball, breaking the zone, breaking off the quarterbacks. We’ve been able to get more takeaways and make that important.
“Whatever way I can get the ball in my hand, an interception, a fumble recovery, being able to kick return or punt return, I want to be able to showcase that I am special with the ball in my hand.”
Bishop will play at Beaver Stadium for the second consecutive season. Last year, Bishop recorded five tackles as Minnesota fell at Penn State, 45-17.
“I tell them it is going to be a lot of 12 personnel, a lot of under center, play action shots. It is going to be a heavy, heavy run game. This is going to be a game where we are going to have to tackle. We’re going to have to be physical. The Big 10 is a physical conference. It is heavy run so we have to be ready for that and stay on our P’s and Q’s for the play action shots.”