Rover was new to then-freshman linebacker Shayne Simon last August.

So too was the Buck position last fall.

That made Buck a little easier in late March when Simon again moved there—after he had previously moved back to Rover in the off-season.

Confused?

Simon’s not, and that’s what matters, especially since he’s now at Mike linebacker, the middle of Irish defense.

“It’s all kind of new,” said Simon after a solid Blue Gold Game outing. “Wherever I can make plays will give me a comfort level. I just try to stay level-headed. Try to stay ready to play at any time, whoever I’m with, whoever is next to me. Just go out there and try to play together. It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s just about having a comfort level.”

Simon finished the spring repping behind fifth-year senior Asmar Bilal—last year’s starting Rover. Bilal moved to Buck to begin the spring before settling in at Mike for the duration.

He’s the presumed starter though nothing is given at the second level of coordinator Clark Lea’s second edition Irish defense.

“That’s part of the evolution of the unit and there’s also still strategic moving of parts and pieces just to try to figure out the right combination,” said Lea near spring’s conclusion. “I think if we’re coaching it conceptually, the ability to move people around becomes an advantage. To a man we are better equipped, better skilled from where we started (in early March). If you look at our room, it’s an interesting makeup just in terms of the multiplicity of position.”

Simon and Bilal have played each of the three spots. Junior Jordan Genmark Heath has only worked at Buck but he was previously a safety, a move he believes offers a better understanding of how pieces along the back seven and front seven alike should fit. Only junior Rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has remained at one position throughout the Clark Lea era that followed former coordinator Mike Elko in the same scheme. Owusu-Koramoah’s backup Paul Moala was a safety less than two months ago.

“We’ll keep this movement going through the summer and into the fall and hopefully, by the time we’re lined up against Louisville, we have a unit we think can win at a high level for us.”

Simon plans to be part of it.

“I think we’re all very athletic,” he noted. “We all can move, we all can flow. If we can bring that hunger and intensity we’ll be ready to roll.”

With a move back to Rover and the wide side of the field unlikely, Simon has welcomed the confined space of the box. That spatial relation initiated the move.

“We felt like early in the spring, that as much as we liked what he was doing to the field, that his physique, his body type, how he’s grown…we don’t want to put limitations on — he’s still in his first year so that frame will continue to grow,” said Lea. “And tighten spaces for him allow him to play physically to play physically and play fast. We see him as a factor in the box.”

The box puts Simon closer to the ball—it seems to fit.

“It’s an opportunity to make plays, to hunt the ball, and be a playmaker, a ballplayer, really. That’s what I want. (Mike) is a little different than Buck. The way the defense works it’s all the same stuff in the end and you kind of play off each other. So if you learn one you kind of get the sense of the other. It’s not knowing a whole new situation—Mike flows to the Rover, it all works together.”

Asked if he had a preference or comfort zone among any of the three positions now that he’s played each in less than a calendar year, Simon issued a team-first truth that fits any competitor.

“My comfort zone is being on the field.”