MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia linebacker Shea Campbell took a lot of pride in the summer workout he put together this offseason to trim down and play faster.
The 2015 Morgantown High grad was about to enter his final season with the Mountaineers, and all seemed to be going well — he was thriving in a new defensive scheme and made strides to get a lot of reps at middle linebacker.
“It was in the first five days of camp and I had been doing really well — I was into it and ready to go, and then bang, it just stops,” Campbell said.
The senior suffered a concussion in the first week of fall camp in early August, which sidelined him for 10 days before he could get back on the field. Missing that much time in the preseason will set anyone back a considerable amount, so the realization that Campbell was going to miss game-action hit him hard.
Campbell only practiced four times prior to the season-opener against James Madison.
“For me, I was set back a lot compared to everybody else,” he said. “The first week, I don’t think I was ready to play. Mentally, I knew what I was doing, but physically, I had to get some of the rust off.”
But it wasn’t just the physical aspect that weighed on Campbell while he was forced to sit. After working so hard to earn a legitimate chance to become a starter in his final season, that was taken away because of a football play that can happen in the blink of an eye.
After Campbell knew he was going to miss his last home-opener against the Dukes, he had to pull himself together and not get too down on himself, knowing at some point, he was going to get healthy and get back on the field.
“When I got my concussion, I was extremely frustrated,” Campbell said. “I was very emotionally vulnerable at that point because it was just a matter of, ‘That’s how it is.’ I knew I was going to miss some time and I was really devastated. After that first game, I was walking up the tunnel and saw my family and man, I was just destroyed.”
In his absence, Dylan Tonkery and Jake Abbott got the majority of snaps at that spot, which Campbell said they deserved since they didn’t miss any practice time and earned those reps. After the JMU game, though, Campbell was back to full go at practice and made his debut the following week at Missouri, getting in on eight plays.
But the next game, a home contest against N.C. State, was the redemption story Campbell was waiting for.
Before it even started, he ran out of the tunnel carrying the West Virginia state flag, which as a Morgantown native, was a significant moment for Campbell to do in front of the home crowd at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“That was a really special moment for me,” he said. “I actually had a lot of family there for that game. I didn’t even know (I was bringing the flag out) until we were at the hotel before getting on the bus to come over. When I found out, I was actually really nervous. I had butterflies until kickoff, but it was something that really means a lot and I won’t forget that, ever. I just remember seeing gold — it’s just a different experience to do it at home.”
After the butterflies subsided after kickoff against the Wolfpack, Campbell played 34 snaps and finished with four tackles. At Kansas last Saturday, he played 27 snaps and finished with two tackles.
Campbell feels “100% healthy” and is excited to see how the rest of the year plays out, utilizing the work he put in in the offseason.
“Now I’m in a position to be where I was to be,” he said. The coaches “didn’t realize much faster I could play until I realized I was making plays I don’t think I could have beforehand.”
