Sports

Published: Sunday, Sep. 06, 2009

Football a family affair at Cal Poly

Amazing but true — three sets of brothers are part of the Mustangs football team this season

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Head to the Cal Poly football team’s practice fields, and chances are someone’s yelling, “Shotty!”

That’s easy enough to distinguish. It takes a little more work to decipher which Shotty they’re shouting at: Defensive assistant coach Kyle Shotwell, defensive end Ryan or long snapper Troy.

All three of the Santa Barbara brothers are Mustangs at the same time for the first time, and the experience has brought them together in a way that growing up in the same household never could.

“It’s a blast, I’ll tell you that much,” said Kyle, a former Cal Poly Buck Buchanan Award winner who’s in his first year coaching following a two-year stint in the NFL. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We had our team picture the other day, and I thought about how unique it is to have three brothers in one team picture.”

It sure sounds unique, and becomes even more so considering there were not only one set of three brothers in that picture — but two.

Former Mustangs backup quarterback Pat Johnston is in his first year as a defensive assistant coach. He and younger brothers Phil, a junior safety, and Ken, a freshman quarterback, are the sons of Craig Johnston, who quarterbacked Cal Poly to a Division II championship in 1980.

Pat is charged with helping run the scout offense, where he has day-to-day contact coaching Ken. It’s rewarding Pat said, but it can also be a tightrope act.

“You never want to cross that line where it makes your brother feel like you’re ragging on him more than anybody else,” Pat said. “My style anyway is to be more encouraging than anything else.”

Linebacking brothers Marty and Kyle Mohamed were also in the photo.

The Shotwells’ situation goes that extra mile in novelty because ever since Kyle Shotwell popularized the nickname during a standout career from 2003 to 2006, it’s become widespread propensity to call them all Shotty.

The new coaching staff that arrived with head coach Tim Walsh in January gave them prefixes of Big, Middle and Little to help set them apart, but it’s no problem for the Shotwells.

In their own way, they’re each used to dealing with looming shadows.

Father Steve set the bar high for all of them. A standout offensive lineman at Cal in the early 1980s, Steve earned the Brick Muller Award as the Golden Bears’ most valuable lineman in 1983.

“He had a successful career at Cal,” said Ryan, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior starter, “and ever since I could remember, I knew I was going to play football. We played all the other sports, but I knew I was going to play football.”

Imagine how the youngest brother, 11-year-old Matthew, might feel at this point.

Coming out of Dos Pueblos High, Kyle led the way, coming to Cal Poly and redshirting in 2002. The Mustangs were the only scholarship option outside of the Naval Academy for him.

By the end of his college career, Kyle was the third in a string of consecutive Mustangs defensive players of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Ryan had an offer from Arizona during his junior season but delayed accepting it, and the school gave it to someone else. He eventually chose between Colorado State and Cal Poly, going with the school that gave him the best opportunity to play early.

He started every game as a redshirt freshman and has been a fixture on the defensive line ever since.

Troy was more interested in Taekwondo than football in high school. It was something the other brothers hadn’t done.

“Every time I went to a competition, it wasn’t like, ‘Here’s the next Shotwell,’ ” Troy said. “It was like, ‘Here’s Troy Shotwell.’ I really liked that.”

But in the end, Troy followed his brothers to Cal Poly after developing into a standout offensive lineman and long snapper toward the end of his high school career.

A redshirt freshman last season, Troy was the starting long-snapper after fellow Santa Barbara standout Scott Winnewisser was injured in the season opener.

Not that close losses are highlights, but Troy was out there snapping in pressure situations against Montana and Wisconsin.

As a backup offensive tackle, it’s also Troy’s job to block Ryan at times in practice.

“I’m actually kind of jealous,” junior guard Will Mitchell said. “There’s nothing better, especially between Troy and Ryan because Troy’s at tackle and Ryan’s at defensive end. They get to go against each other every day with pads and just let it out.

“Knowing that Troy’s on the offensive side, he can make a name for himself. He won’t be (a) Buck Buchanan Award winner. He’ll have to vie for something else. He’ll be his own trail blazer, and hopefully Matty will come after him.”

Kyle said Matthew’s narrowed his choices to USC and Cal Poly, but even if he does choose the Mustangs, he’ll be too late to get in on the bonding the Shotwells are doing now.

A couple times a week, Ryan said, the brothers will hit the hot tub to talk about football and life. Now all in their 20s, it’s easier to relate to each other than at different points in their childhood.

“My whole life, I was always a lot younger than Kyle,” Troy said. “I always saw him as my older brother, but I never really knew him.

“I’ve loved this last year because we’ve had a chance to bond as more than just brothers now. I see him more as a friend than just a brother.”