At the end of the 2023 season, senior cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. was honored as the 13th consensus All-American in West Virginia's illustrious football history and his status as an elite player nationally and as a star at WVU goes beyond what he accomplished on the field.
In West Virginia's football history, Bishop is the first ever one-year transfer to come out of the NCAA transfer portal and immediately receive this honor in the same season.
This follows a nod to former defensive lineman Darius Stills, who got the same award in 2020 as he maintained WVU's trend of athletes who were developed over multiple seasons and went on to become a consensus All-American.
“I came on a mission. I told the guys, some guys leave schools to get money, to do all those different things and I just set a goal that I want to go to the NFL,” Bishop said. “This was the best spot for me and I'm glad that I chose West Virginia. The fans and the coaches, it helped me a lot.”
However, for this Minnesota transfer, his story is much different. In just one season for the Mountaineers, Bishop has revolutionized what West Virginia has to offer and did something that no other athlete in school history has done in this era, transfer from another school and immediately become an emblem for the program in a single season.
"It’s a big accomplishment, not only for me but for the school and being able to see that you can do it and you don’t have to do it by being on social media. You can just put your head down and work,” Bishop said. “Everybody’s path is different. Sixth-year started at a small school, under-recruited, small kid. A lot of coaches didn’t really believe in me coming out of high school and I just played with a chip on my shoulder.”
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It was clear that Bishop's mentality translated onto the field once he was given that opportunity, as he led the Power 5 in forced incompletions with 17 alongside recording 20 pass breakups to lead the nation. This doesn't even include his place as WVU's third-highest tackler with 59 stops on the season, along with four interceptions and a Chuck Bednarik award semifinalist spot to show for it.
To Bishop, all it took was a chance to let his game speak for itself to reach these new peaks.
“Just being able to be myself and let my game speak. It shows volumes that this is what it could have been doing but I just didn't have the opportunity,” Bishop said.
Outside of his play on the field, the extra effect that Bishop brings to WVU football is how his performances and honors set up the program for the future. Whether that's recruiting high school athletes or players out of the transfer portal, head coach Neal Brown said Bishop is something he can showcase.
“I'm really happy for him individually. Not just his on-the-field performance has helped us, but his work ethic and how he prepared has helped our defensive backfield,” Brown said. “We’re better, we’re significantly better because of him. It’s going to help us in the portal not only this year but moving forward it’s going to help us.”
After just one season for the Mountaineers, the coaching staff has proclaimed his unique work ethic and the mentality that he comes to work with each and every day. From day one, the senior cornerback showed off to the head coach as well as to his defensive backs and co-defensive coordinator, assistant coach ShaDon Brown.
“He's a good fit and it's kind of an underdog program. You think about his career, he goes to Western [Kentucky,] kind of underrecruited,” Neal Brown said. “He was a rotational guy and wanted to have a better opportunity, so he came here and he just worked.”
“When he came, he had a blue-collar mentality. He had an alpha mentality when he stepped on campus and he worked,” ShaDon Brown said. “He played himself into having an opportunity to play in the National Football League. An unbelievable honor to be a consensus All-American.”
For Bishop, it was these two coaches and mentors who believed in him enough to offer up this opportunity, one that he believed he deserved.
“It just speaks volumes. Everyone here believed in me or I wouldn't be here. Coach ShaDon, he coached me real hard and didn't let me get complacent even when I got the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week,” Bishop said. “It was always, ‘fourth and one, don’t let up’ because I'm nowhere near where I want to be at. I have dreams and aspirations of playing in the NFL and this is only some of it.”
ShaDon Brown worked closely with the defensive backs all season and had the opportunity to work closely with Bishop and watch his growth from the player he was when first walked through the door, to the athlete he has become now.
“I saw a guy when he got here, he didn't know many people but he was always in the building in the film room or working downstairs with Mike Joseph,” ShaDon Brown said. “You see that out of a new guy that this guy is serious about his craft and what he wants to do and wants to be. He didn’t start out that way.”
This includes Bishop's impact off the field, which was a shining quality to ShaDon Brown on multiple levels, especially with how he impacted his teammates with his hard work.
“He’s made an impact in the locker room and outside the building. He made a huge impact on the grass. That’s a win-win for Beanie and West Virginia,” ShaDon Brown said. “That was a blessing in disguise because you have other young players around him gravitating toward that. That’s how you become a great player, you have to put work into it.”
Now with only one game remaining for Bishop to suit up for West Virginia, the senior cornerback is set to take the field again since WVU has earned a spot in the Duke's Mayo Bowl against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Dec. 27.
With this postseason bowl game coming up before an appearance in the Shrine Bowl and then a chance of playing at the professional level on the line for Bishop, ShaDon Brown had no doubt that he would be there to join his teammates in one final matchup.
“I had zero doubts that he was going to play because he’s appreciative of West Virginia and the opportunity he was given here. He loves to play ball,” ShaDon Brown said.
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