Khalek Shepherd’s mother Monica knows football well and her oldest son even better. So when Khalek dropped a punt against UCLA in Virginia’s season opener Aug. 30 at Scott Stadium, his mother made sure he heard about it.
“She said, ‘Come on, man, you've been catching the ball since you was seven. That’s unacceptable,’” Shepherd said, sitting at the press-room podium inside John Paul Jones Arena the Monday before the Cavaliers (4-2, 2-0 ACC) dealt Kent State a 45-13 trouncing Sept. 27.
Monica also had words for Khalek after Virginia’s 23-21 upending of then-No. 21 Louisville. This time, she was worried for her punt-returning son, a fifth-year senior set for graduate classes.
“She said, ‘You know, you scared me running up like that. You should have fair-catched or something because I didn't know what was going to happen,’” Shepherd said.
Shepherd, whose chief gridiron occupation is running back — he comprises one-third of a dangerous triumvirate alongside powerful senior Kevin Parks and cat-quick sophomore Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell — gets plenty of feedback from his father Leslie as well.
Leslie also knows of what he speaks: he played seven seasons in the NFL, scoring 26 touchdowns as a wide receiver for the Redskins, Browns and Dolphins from 1994-2000.
Leslie watches all of Khalek’s games — even if he’s in the Mountain Lion stands watching Khalek's brother Chaudlier, a redshirt freshman defensive back at Concord University. If he can’t watch Khalek in real time, he TiVos the game and catches it at home. By Sunday night, Leslie — who texts Khalek every game-day morning and whom Khalek said he calls after every game — is always ready to impart some paternal pigskin wisdom.
Listening to Shepherd discussing his father, it appears Leslie’s support is nothing if not unconditional.
“He’s always been that guy that always guided me and [has] always been in the back burner and always been in the background but [has] always been in my ear,” Shepherd said. “He always told me he wanted me to enjoy my career.”
“In my ear” seems particularly important in Shepherd’s development as a Division I college football player. Leslie, Khalek said, was not afraid to put his personal stamp on his son’s athletic progression.
“He’s basically the reason why I’m who I am and where I am today, because he stayed on top of me to make sure my head was straight — made sure I worked hard to get where I wanted to be,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd is the kind of player with whom coaches love to work: adaptable, humble, battle-tested and all about team. He’s one of 22 seniors on the Cavalier roster, and though he’s not as vocal as, say, middle linebacker Henry Coley, he nonetheless contributes positively to the team’s culture.
“He’s a selfless guy,” coach Mike London said. “Khalek has done a nice job of taking whatever role there is and embracing it and trying to help the team win.”
Shepherd is part of a crowded backfield to be sure, but he doesn’t mind. After all, that backfield is churning out 129.9 rushing yards per game with Shepherd, Parks and Mizzell all gaining four-plus yards per carry for a Virginia team aiming to capture the Coastal Division crown.
The trio has kept opposing defenses on their toes: Mizzell posted 61 yards against Kent State, Shepherd 73 at altitude versus Brigham Young and Parks a game-defining 169 against Pittsburgh.
“That’s the good thing about having three great running backs is that you don’t have to depend on just one,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd knew the value of a three-pronged rushing attack long before he enrolled at Virginia. He knew even before his days at Gwynn Park High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
He knew even in elementary school.
“It’s a real funny story because 85 pounds — I would go back to Little League, 85 pounds — I was in a backfield with Stephon Morris, that was a corner at Penn State, and Devon Smith, that was a receiver at Marshall,” Shepherd said. “So that was a pretty dynamic backfield at what, I don’t know, we were in third [or] fourth grade.”
Now, Shepherd is in the second half of his final collegiate season — the last seven-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, if one reduces his career to a single game. He’s looking to go out strong, but not just from an individual standpoint. He’s not a “feature back” and never has been one at Virginia — and he doesn’t mind.
“I just want to end my career on a good note and say that I was part of a great team,” Shepherd said. “So, the carries and the being a feature back [have] never been my intentions coming here. My intentions were to be a part of a great team and get a great education while I was here. And that’s been happening, so I’m pretty satisfied about that.”
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