After a standout high school football career with the Rich Central Olympians (Olympia Fields, IL), WR Shawn Mitchell, who put up 102 receptions for over 2400 yards & 23 touchdowns throughout his 4 years as an Olympian (56rec, 1015yds, 14 TDs during senior year alone), garnered the attention of colleges all around the country. Wyoming, Air Force, Florida Tech, South Dakota State and North Dakota State were among the schools that showed interest in the three-time All-Conference wide-receiver. When it was time for him to make a decision, he took an offer from Southern Illinois.

Three years later, Mitchell’s college football career has not necessarily panned out exactly how he expected it to, appearing in just 8 games in 3 years. However, It seemed as if he was going to have a pretty big role in the SIU Salukis offense this season as a senior. He stood out in the teams spring practices (below is a video of Mitchell’s spring ball highlights) but recently decided that it would be best for him to transfer to Eastern Illinois. Normally when an athlete transfers from one D1 school to another, they have to sit out for a season. Mitchell plans on writing an appeal to the NCAA in order to be cleared to suit up for the EIU Panthers this season. 

Last week I met up with Mitchell at his alma mater, Rich Central where we chatted about his past and future,  on the bleachers which overlooked the football field where he made a countless number of plays on.  When you take a look at his highlights, one thing that certainly stands out about Mitchell is his speed but when I asked him what he felt was his biggest strength as a wide-receiver, he didn’t single out any physical attributes. “I feel that the mental aspect of the game is something I have an advantage over a lot of people. Many think that you just go out there, run & catch… A lot of this game is just mental.” he said.  When asked about something he would like to improve on, Mitchell mentioned his blocking skills. “If Im able to hold off defenders just a little bit longer, I’d be a better receiver on the outside when the running-back is coming my way.” Mitchell then credited his high school wide receivers coach & former NFL WR, Ryan Yarborough for the improvement in his route running and ability to create separation. “With the speed that I have, the techniques that he taught me about getting that separation, it was the secret ingredient.”

Lately, Mitchell has been working out at FitSpeed Athletic Performance, a training facility that former Chicago Bears WR, now with the New York Jets, Brandon Marshall opened late last year in Northbrook, IL. Every-so-often, some of Marshall’s former teammates, including Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett, stop by, “I’m the type of guy that has always watched the people in front of me and waited until it was my turn, so right now when I go to FitSpeed, I go in, work hard, watch the guys ahead of me and try to mock what they do.” Mitchell says that it’s very encouraging that he has the opportunity to be able to workout with and take some pointers from NFL stars.  As you may expect, one of FitSpeed’s main focal points is to improve their athletes speed and agility. When asked how fast he thinks he can run a forty yard dash, Mitchell is confident that he would clock “at least a 4.3.”

Although it hasn’t even been one week since he decided to transfer from SIU to EIU, Mitchell’s already holding himself and the Panthers football team to some high expectations. “I definitely expect us to win conference (OVC). Personally, I want to lead not only the conference but the NCAA in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. I want to be the best. I feel like, if anybody’s doing something, you shouldn’t just be in it to just be in it. You should be in it to be the best.” Last season, Eastern Illinois finished 5-7, 4th in the Ohio Valley Conference. They started off the season switching back-and-forth at QB between Andrew Manley (New Mexico State transfer) and Jalen Whitlow (Kentucky transfer) but before their 5th game of the season against Ohio, it was announced that the Panthers were going to roll with Whitlow for the remainder of the season. Once that decision was made, the Panthers split their next 8 games (4-4). While Mitchell was at Southern Illinois last year, I did ask him what his thoughts were about the team not having a regular starting quarterback for the first month of the season “I got to see things from the other sideline last year and I was watching them switch back-and-forth at QB and even I was kind of confused like, what kind of offense are they running over there? The offense is going to be more comfortable when they know who their QB is going to be. As a quarterback, you’ve got to have confidence. I don’t think you can really build any confidence if you’re being pulled out as soon as you make a mistake.”

Just about every Division I athlete wants to make it to the pros in their respected sport and thats no different when talking about Shawn Mitchell. “Ever since I was in little league, I always felt that I could make it to the NFL. My dad always told me that if you put in the work, the results will come.” Slowly but surely it seems like he’s gaining attention from “Draft Twitter”. What goes through his mind when he hears his name mentioned along the same lines of “NFL draft prospect”? He began shaking his head and went on to say “I’m not there yet, I gotta say focused. Cant let all of that get to my head because at the end of the day, I can mess up and all of the handwork that I’ve put in can be gone that quick.” he replied as he snaps his fingers “I have to stay focused and keep my eyes on the prize.”

There has been some Rich 227 alumni that has had success in the college ranks and were given an opportunity in the National Football League including Ryan Yarborough (mentioned earlier, Rich East alum who was taken in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by way of Wyoming) and Terriun Crump (Rich Central alum who went undrafted and spent some time with the Chicago Bears in 2012 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013. When some of the NFL talent from Rich 227 was brought up in our conversation, Mitchell stated “It just shows that somebody has done it, they were in my shoes here at Rich Central and they did it so why can’t I do it? It’s definitely encouraging to see somebody come from the same place as you make it big.”

Though the dream is and always has been to play in the NFL, Shawn Mitchell knows that he has a lot to do and will have to open a lot of eyes in order to make that dream a reality. Over the past two years, EIU has sent two wide-receivers to the NFL. Lets see if Mitchell can be the third.

Christian Shanafelt

Twitter: @ChrisShanafelt

Photo credit: NationalUnderClassmen.ning.com, AmateurSports365.com TheSouthern.com