Daurice of all trades: York Shrine Bowler working through DB growing pains

The last time statewide viewers saw Daurice Simpson in action, he was hauling in 10 passes for 97 yards in the York Cougars’ state championship loss to Spartanburg.

But defensively, he was beaten by Tavien Feaster on a wheel route that went for a 69-yard touchdown, and got incredibly unlucky when Spartanburg’s Cedarius Rookard snagged a ball out of the air that Simpson appeared to have successfully defended en route to a 58-yard touchdown, a play that undoubtedly swung the state championship game.

That’s behind Simpson this week, if only barely. He’s playing in the secondary again, this time for the South Carolina Shrine Bowl squad. Asked on Tuesday how playing cornerback was going this week, he sighed.

“I feel more comfortable now,” Simpson said while walking toward the South Carolina bus, and a lunch break. “I’ve got some really good safeties behind me.”

Simpson lined up all over the gridiron for York the last four autumns, but this week his mind is focused on stopping the North Carolina squad’s pass-catchers. He and his coach, Bobby Carroll, would rather him play receiver. But defensive back it is.

“I really in my heart-of-hearts think that Daurice is more an offensive, wide receiver-type player, and I told the Shrine Bowl,” said Carroll. “He played corner for us but I really think his niche in the world is playing offense. He just happened to be an athlete we had that we thought we could put out there and cover people.”

After a couple of practice sessions, Simpson seemed slightly relieved he didn’t have to cover the Sandlappers’ receivers in Saturday’s game at Wofford’s Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg.

“They’re pretty good,” said Simpson, laughing. “All of them. Tavin Richardson from Byrnes, and J.J. (Arcega-Whiteside) from Dorman, and the kid from Greenwood (Markeyvious Adams), they’re good. And Dupree (Hart)...”

Simpson got his first taste of the stout test facing him this week early on. During one-on-ones with Richardson on Monday, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Byrnes receiver with multiple Division I offers nabbed a pass over Simpson’s blanket coverage.

“I was like, ‘he pretty good,’” said Simpson, who isn’t much of a talker.

On the field he exudes swagger, but it’s not vocal like some of the other players practicing for the Shrine Bowl this week. His play this season certainly said enough. Despite struggling through a nagging hamstring injury, Simpson made 75 tackles, eight pass break-ups, two interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and scored a defensive touchdown.

Simpson really showed out with the ball in his hands. He averaged 17.2 yards per punt return with one touchdown, and caught 69 passes for 837 yards and four more scores.

“He’s been an extremely versatile guy, kind of a jack of all trades,” said Carroll.

But he doesn’t have to do it all this week, which should help him focus on the basics of his defensive back craft. Both teams are limited to mainly playing Cover-Two and man-to-man defenses. Carroll said York doesn’t use any man-to-man concepts, so that will be new for Simpson.

“You’re behind the eight ball,” said Carroll. “That’s the tough thing about all-star games. The defense has got its hands tied as far as what coverages you can play. It’s gonna be a lot faster, going against better competition, and it’s gonna teach him that if I got the skills to do what they want me to do, then I can be successful. But if I don’t, I might get embarrassed. And it’s like that for all of them, not just him.”

Going against the likes of Arcega-Whiteside, a Stanford commit, Richardson and Adams, who has offers from Marshall, N.C. State and Appalachian State among others, is a big challenge for Simpson. It’s not unlike the one he’ll face in college football if he ends up on the defensive side of the ball.

The key is to “try to stay on them and get a good break on the ball,” said Simpson. “They’re all pretty tall, so try to get their hands down.”

There’s a chance this will be Simpson’s reality at the next level. He has good size – 5-foot-11, 180 pounds – but receivers just seem to get bigger every year, especially as guys like Richardson that would have been tight ends in 1990s college offenses, line up closer and closer to the sidelines. And offenses become ever more complex, increasing the likelihood that a defensive back makes the news for the wrong reasons.

Simpson’s sigh from earlier said it all. Asked if his star player would rather be playing offense this week, Carroll said, “Oh I know he would, he’d much rather be an offensive player. Everybody would!”

Simpson still has to take the ACT one more time, probably in February, but he has plenty of options on the table. Illinois State, James Madison, N.C. Central, Youngstown State were some of the first schools to offer him scholarships. He took a recent visit to Georgia Southern when it played Idaho and was offered by the Eagles about two months ago.

“I like the atmosphere; they’ve got a good atmosphere,” Simpson said about Southern, which just won the Sun Belt Conference title in its first season as a Football Bowl Subdivision school.

Simpson also unofficially visited Georgia State back in early October, but he’s not really worried about his college choice this week. It’s a dead period for college recruiters and Division I coaches aren’t allowed to scout the Shrine Bowl, a rule put in place over five years ago.

Instead of worrying about recruiting or the position he’s playing, Simpson is focusing on performing well and enjoying himself. He said visiting the Shriners’ Hospital earlier in the week “was a good experience, man, to see all those kids. Kind of realize what we’re playing for.”

And he’s meeting a lot of new friends, guys that he previously only knew as names on Internet recruiting lists, or as jersey numbers on the opposite side of the field. In the hours off the practice fields at Spartanburg High, the Shrine Bowlers have been playing loads of the Madden football video game.

“I whooped up on Dupree (Hart) yesterday and then he beat me last night,” said Simpson.

Hart, coming up the hill, shouted, “I made you cry!”

“We’re 1-1 right now. I’m gonna beat him tonight, though,” said Simpson, who badly wants a win right now.

This story was originally published December 18, 2014 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Daurice of all trades: York Shrine Bowler working through DB growing pains."