By Jordan Kimball, Beat Writer
After receiving next-level opportunities to play baseball and football individually, Brady Shannon decided to return home to play both at Youngstown State, where he's a right fielder and quarterback for the Penguins. Courtesy of Brady Shannon
Some athletes balance packed schedules. Brady Shannon lives in overdrive. Little sleep, nonstop communication and two Division I sports are the root of it all.
After growing up 65 miles southeast of Cleveland in Youngstown, Ohio, Shannon’s returned home as a dual-sport athlete at Youngstown State. Once playing Friday nights at Stambaugh Stadium while at Ursuline High School, Shannon now stands in the pocket there on Saturday afternoons. When he’s not on the gridiron, he’s likely at Eastwood Field, fueling the Penguins’ lineup with power or making plays in right field.
“I was definitely very fortunate to have a school like Youngstown State,” Shannon said. “For them to give me opportunities and care for me on the athletic side and also on the academic side. I always think I got lucky.”
A deep baseball bloodline runs through Shannon’s family. His grandfather, Andy Kosco, played Major League Baseball for seven teams over 10 years. Shannon’s uncles, Bryn and Dru, followed in their father’s path, both drafted in the 1980s.
Shannon worked hard to seize a similar opportunity. During his junior year at Ursuline, his efforts began to pay off.
He traveled to Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati for a showcase with the Reds. Shannon went through infield drills, took batting practice and threw bullpens. His performance was so impressive it sparked conversations about the upcoming MLB Draft.
There was only one problem. He’d need to give up football, a love of his since attending Penguins games at a young age. Shannon couldn’t pull the trigger.
“Brady said, ‘If I don’t give football a try, I’ll have a regret, and I don’t wanna have regrets. I know I can still (play football), and I know that’s what I want to do,’” Shannon’s father, Dan, said.
Brady Shannon pitches during a game at Ursuline High School. While he's now a right fielder for Youngstown State and the Stompers, Shannon played third base and took the mound during his high school days. Courtesy of Brady Shannon
Outside of his Youngstown home as a kid, Shannon and his brother Nolan took ground balls, pop-ups and practiced pitching under the streetlights. Even at age 10, Shannon refused to come inside after hours of work.
When Nolan worked at Sports World, Shannon used the batting cages to get in extra swings. His power increased, and by age 15, he’d crushed 460-foot home runs for his travel team — Release Baseball — which garnered interest from Cincinnati and Bowling Green.
During the spring, Shannon’s favorite sport was baseball. The second the leaves turned, he liked football more. Upon entering Ursuline, he possessed the skills to play basketball, too.
Two weeks before Shannon’s first football season, the Irish’s starting quarterback broke his leg. Shannon was about 6-foot, 180 pounds and a junior still sat ahead of him on the depth chart. That teammate played one series, and Shannon never lost the job after that, Dan said.
He wasn’t handed success, though. Ursuline went 1-10 in Shannon’s first year under center. Three years later, he led the Irish to their first state title game since 2010. Shannon broke passing records held by former NFL quarterback Daryll Clark, which earned him offers from Massachusetts, YSU, Akron and Kent State.
“Larry Bird could see the court. Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby can see the ice. Brady can see the field. He can look at his five receivers in 2.5 seconds,” Dan said.
“Larry Bird could see the court. Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby can see the ice. Brady can see the field. He can look at his five receivers in 2.5 seconds.””
On the court, Shannon averaged 17 points per game but felt basketball “wasn’t in the cards he was dealt.” Come spring, Shannon had little time for more than training but still dreamed of college baseball.
His high school career kicked off with a home run in just his second at-bat. In Shannon’s sophomore year, his recruitment expanded, with the Yankees and Rockies coming to Youngstown to watch him play.
Just months before his senior year, Shannon announced his commitment to play D-I baseball at the University of Central Florida. But during his first year with the Knights, something was missing.
On Saturday mornings, Shannon would turn on the television and think he could make the same throws as those college quarterbacks. He’d speak with John Rhys Plumlee — a center fielder and QB at UCF — about the two-sport life. Shannon envisioned that for himself, but he wondered if he’d be able to achieve all he wanted to at UCF. The answer was no.
When longtime head coach Greg Lovelady left the Knights, Shannon saw the opening he needed to rethink his future.
“College sports is really turning into a business, and when someone’s investing their time and money into you, and that person leaves, there’s not much of an investment there anymore,” Shannon said.
Though his stint at UCF was brief, Shannon still played in 25 games. In his first two, he hit home runs — one, a walk-off — and became one of 11 Knights with multiple homers in the season.
Brady Shannon poses with John Rhys Plumlee at a 2023 UCF game. Plumlee — now a Seattle Seahawks wide receiver — served as a blueprint for Shannon’s decision to pursue both football and baseball. Courtesy of Brady Shannon
The stats were there. Now, Shannon just needed to make it known he was serious about two sports. He received numerous offers for baseball or football, but few were for both.
That was until Youngstown State reached out to him. Shannon practically lived on YSU’s campus growing up. He learned of Jim Tressel’s legacy, idolizing his four National Championships, with hopes to bring a fifth.
To Youngstown State, Shannon was “the hometown kid.” His first phone call with YSU baseball head coach Trevor Charpie was straightforward. Charpie expressed his interest, Shannon asked where to sign and the rest of the call was about throwing touchdown passes.
When Shannon entered Charpie’s office in person, the excitement escalated. Charpie saw Shannon as a “cool guy,” but most importantly, someone with a “crazy athletic ability.”
“He’s a freak. He looked like a Greek god,” Charpie said of their first interaction. “This guy is what you dream an athlete’s body would be. You could just tell right away he was gonna be a hell of a baseball player.”
Shannon’s arrival was during his sophomore spring, but it was too late to join the baseball team. He’d flipped to football and participated in spring practices and workouts. The whole time, though, Charpie had his eye on Shannon. They talked about Shannon’s health, but Charpie let him “do his thing.”
Football season crept up, and Shannon didn’t play much baseball but attended practices on Mondays — his football off-day. His appearances weren’t often, but Charpie said Shannon had a “natural aura” about him.
Sept. 7, 2024, against Valparaiso proved he’d chosen the right path. Before the game, the football team walked through the same parking lot where Shannon grew up tailgating. Hundreds of fans were already there to welcome the Penguins. Shannon spotted his entire family, but what made him most grateful was seeing nearly “100” other familiar faces.
Shannon said it “was the best” and comforted him in a hectic time. YSU ended the season 4-8, and he played in just three games, but he was halfway to his dual-sport dreams. The baseball team took advantage of Shannon’s time playing football, taking recruits to the games and pointing out that Shannon was their right fielder. Now came baseball time.
Unlike baseball’s workload in the fall, football is pretty much a year-round sport. Meanwhile, Shannon was trying to get back into baseball after a year off. His first at-bats came during the Fall World Series, so it was difficult for Charpie and his staff to analyze his talent.
Still, the grind quickly began. Shannon grew accustomed to returning to school after a baseball road trip at 2 a.m. while having a football workout at 6. His daily routine consisted of waking up around 5:30 a.m. and heading to the football facility for 7 a.m. meetings. Football practice was from 8-11 a.m., followed by class from 12-1:45 p.m. Then, Shannon would go straight to Eastwood for 6 p.m. games, and bedtime was around 10 p.m.
“It was everything I imagined it to be and more. It was a lot, but it was something where you can’t complain about it because you’re doing two things you always wanted to do.””
“It was everything I imagined it to be and more,” Shannon said. “It was a lot, but it was something where you can’t complain about it because you’re doing two things you always wanted to do.”
Shannon also had to juggle the NCAA’s weekly hour limitations, which note athletes can only participate in 20 hours of team activity per week, regardless of how many sports they play. Charpie worked with YSU football head coach Doug Phillips to discuss when Shannon would work with the team and independently.
But through it all, Shannon stayed composed. When Charpie called his name, Shannon was ready. He hit 10 home runs, the third most on the team, while having the eighth most at-bats.
On May 10, everything clicked. In the ninth inning with YSU down one, Shannon smoked a walk-off two-run home run over the right field fence to give it a 13-12 win over Oakland. The following day — Mother’s Day — Shannon blasted a solo shot to left field with his mom, Kerry, in the stands. He received the ball postgame and immediately gave it to her.
“He’s just cool as a cucumber. Ninth inning, down one, whatever the case may be, if Brady Shannon’s up, we’re good,” Charpie said. “I’ve never had the opportunity to coach a guy like Brady Shannon. I think he’s 1-of-1. I don’t think I’ll ever have another athlete like him.”
Watching Shannon play on the same field where he grew up, Dan calls his son’s path “wild” and “surreal.” But Shannon’s far from finished. After spending last summer with YSU football, he’s now giving baseball his full attention, showing the Stompers exactly what Youngstown State sees every day.
“Did I expect him to be this good? You always expect your sons to reach for the stars, and I think he hasn’t reached his ceiling in either sport,” Dan said. “He never ceases to amaze me.”