Patience pays off for Bears’ Philip
They say good things happen to those who wait, which holds true for University of Alberta Golden Bears defensive back Shaydon Philip.
The second-year Golden Bear has had a breakout year for Alberta. The team’s secondary is young and inexperienced and Philip is leading the way among the nucleus Bears head coach Chris Morris has put together the last few years.
But Philip didn’t just step on to the field turf at Foote Field and immediately make an impact. He redshirted his first year and then suited up and played for the Golden Bears last year.
This year, he’s been a big impact player for Alberta.
“He’s a tremendous athlete,” said Morris. “He wasn’t quite mature when he came out of high school. He was a jack-of-all-trades when he played high school. He played all over the field. We wanted him to red-shirt his first year and physically mature but also really work on his skills at one position and he’s become a very important part of our secondary.”
Philip embraced his red-shirt year, learned, developed and this year he’s blossomed into one of the up-and-coming defensive backs in the Canada West conference.
In five games, he’s recorded 26.5 tackles, leads the team with six pass breakups and has one forced fumble and one interception.
His first-career interception came two weeks ago against Manitoba in Alberta’s 36-25 victory.
“He’s confident, and it should happen more and more once he believes what his eyes are telling him. His speed and length are going to give a lot of teams trouble in the next few years,” said Morris.
Philip and the young Bears secondary are going to be in for a tough test this weekend when they host the No.8 ranked University of Regina (1 p.m.) at Foote Field.
The Rams have reigning Hec Crighton award winner Noah Picton at quarterback.
“Every game there’s pressure to perform. We know Regina loves to pass. They have a lot of weapons and we know we’ll be tested, but it makes the game more fun. It’s more opportunities for myself and others to make big plays,” said Philip. “As a young group of DBs, we love the challenge. We’re still learning, but we feel like we’re developing every week. We lean on each other more and more and our confidence is growing. We feel we can play against any team in our conference.”
Every week Philip gets tested and the 20-year-old has been able to step up. He isn’t afraid to try to make the big play. His first career interception last week came with 5:29 remaining. Alberta was able to break the game open late with an eight-yard TD catch from Nathan Rowe.
“He gets more confident every time he steps on the field,” said Morris. “In a couple of years, his name will be called in the CFL draft as long as he stays healthy and he takes care of school.
“He’s got a real bright future in this game.