Salem native Gottlob makes impact on Jacks' scout team

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This fall, Salem native Shayne Gottlob has had an impact on the football field for South Dakota State, although weekly box scores don’t reflect it.

In fact, Gottlob is not on the official roster for the Jackrabbits and has not played a single down this season. That’s because he’s redshirting in his first season with SDSU, like many incoming freshmen do.

And although he cannot get any field time due to his redshirt status, Gottlob’s mark has been made on the practice field in Brookings, where he has been named scout team offensive player of the week three times.

A scout-team player is usually a non-starter or a player who’s not expected to play in the football game for the upcoming week. Typically, these players are used to simulate opponents’ strategies in order to help the first team defense or offense become familiar with what the opposing team will do in an actual game.

“This has been a pretty good experience for me,” Gottlob said.

The award is given to a scout-teamer on each side of the ball who has done the best job of preparing the first team for the upcoming opponent.

This week, the Jackrabbits have been preparing for its Missouri Valley Conference foe North Dakota State University for the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The game, held at 3 p.m. today in Fargo, is the 100th meeting between the schools and the first in the playoffs.

But because of injuries, Gottlob has not been able to take the practice field and help his teammates prepare for NDSU. Although Gottlob has not been with the scout team this week, he was three weeks ago when SDSU was preparing for NDSU during the regular-season matchup in which the Jacks lost 20-17.

“A few weeks ago, I helped prepare for NDSU and it was great,” Gottlob said. “Our scout team offense knows this is really an important game for our defense and for our team.”

Just one year ago, the former McCook Central athlete was fielding interest from NAIA schools like Dakota Wesleyan University and Briar Cliff and NCAA Division II schools like Northern State and Augustana. But instead of signing at one of those places and possibly making an impact right away, he decided to walk on at South Dakota State.

“It’s always been a dream to play for a Division I school and I always followed SDSU, so it kind of felt right for me,” said Gottlob, who was an offensive lineman for McCook Central/Montrose but has made the transition to tight end and fullback since arriving at SDSU.

“Shayne was amazing; he is what you want in every athlete,” McCook Central head football coach Ryan Evans said. “He is all that a coach would ask for regardless of what sport he it is.

“I am very proud of Shayne. He has overcome some injuries in high school and he has definitely done his best to help his team this year.”

For Gottlob, the next step is to vie for a spot in spring camp and fall camp in hopes of making the team next season.

“I am just going to use all the motivation I can and work as hard as I can to get some playing time,” Gottlob said.

Tags: sports, updates, football, sdsu, salem