Father-son coaching tandems are easy to find growing up in little league sports, but at the college level, they’re a little harder to come by. However, Utah’s football team boasts one of those rare duos with cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah and linebacker Sharrieff Shah Jr.
Some family members may not necessarily enjoy having their father on the sideline for every single game, but Shah has made sure to not involve himself too much in his son’s play.
“I promised my wife and I promised him that I’d be just his dad, and if you ever ask me for anything, I will provide what I could at least from what I had expertise from,” Shah said.
Shah played for the Utes from 1990-1993 and loves being able to see his son out on the field, representing the school he once played for. And Shah Jr. enjoys his time carrying on the family tradition.
“I always dreamed about coming up here, being a Ute — it’s amazing,” Shah Jr. said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Shah Jr. appreciates that his dad tends to stay out of his business, but he knows he can always rely on him when he is confused about something on the field. Since Shah had coached his son from an early age, he helps him where he can when it comes to football, but because his son plays in a different unit, Shah prefers to leave it to his son’s specific coaches.
“I don’t coach him,” Shah said. “I tell him only football-specific principles that I may see is applicable to any position, but I try not to coach him.”
Like most sons, Shah Jr. doesn’t want to live in his father’s shadow, and although he is grateful for his father’s advice to this point, Shah Jr. looks to blaze his own trail at the linebacker position.
“I’m just trying to make my own path and do things how he’s taught me to do them and better than he did them when he was here,” Shah Jr. said.
Shah reiterated the fact that even if his son comes to him with questions, he will always tell him to go ask his coach. But even though the two won’t discuss linebacker duties, Shah admits that hardly a day goes by where he and his son don’t talk football at home.
“We always bring work home, daily,” Shah said. “We’re talking about plays and concepts and specials teams and certain players, certain rout combinations, certain runs that he sees.”
With all the commotion football can bring during a practice or game, some may find it hard to spot a certain someone in a sea of padded players and coaches. But for Shah Jr., all he has to do is listen for his father’s voice, which tends to carry above the rest.
“To me that’s [how he is] 24/7,” Shah Jr. said. “Everybody’s always shocked when they hear him, but it’s just normal conversation level to me. I’ve been used to it.”
Football may bring the two closer together, but the relationship between Shah Jr. and his father extends to much greater heights than just the gridiron.
“I can tell him anything,” Shah Jr. said. “He’s my best friend off the field.”
@kbrenneisen