Sharrieff Shah Sr. is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player as well as lawyer and

NFLPA The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeMa ...

certified agent. He is currently the

special teams coordinator In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

s coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

College football career

Coming out of

Susan Miller Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School is a high school located in the Crenshaw, Los Angeles, Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, California. It is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school serves Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California, ...

in Los Angeles, California, Shah was a four-year letterman for the Utes from 1990 to 1993. He started at strong safety all four years, but unfortunately suffered a career-ending neck injury three games in to his senior season. Shah earned All- WAC honors in his sophomore and junior seasons. He was named the

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

National Defensive Player of the Week and WAC Player of the Week in Utah's 1991 win over

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, when he contributed 13 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles. Shah's performance against OSU still ranks in the top five in Utah's single-game record book in four different categories: tackles for loss, forced fumbles, sacks and total lost yards (30). He also ran indoor track for the Utes, competing in the 60-yard dash and long jump from 1990 to 1992. He qualified for the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships all three years.

Legal career

Following his playing days, Shah continued his education, eventually earning his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from Utah, before practicing law for twelve years in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. He started as a commercial litigator before transitioning to a trial lawyer specializing in medical malpractice and catastrophic automobile accidents. He was also a certified agent through the

, representing and training several

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

players. On top of that, Shah served as the sideline reporter for Utah's flagship radio station, and served as a sideline analyst for local television stations for three seasons.

Coaching career

In 2012, Shah returned to coaching when he was hired by

Kyle Whittingham Kyle David Whittingham (born November 21, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2005, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to bec ...

as the cornerbacks coach at

. Since then, he has continued coaching the corners while also serving as the co-special teams coordinator from 2016 through 2018, before being promoted to sole special teams coordinator prior to the 2019 season. Shah has developed a reputation for being able to develop converted cornerbacks into highly successful players. Keith McGill (safety),

Eric Rowe Nelson Eric Rowe Jr. (born October 3, 1992) is an American football safety for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah. Early years Rowe attended Doerre Intermediate in Spring, Texas and Kl ...

(safety), Brian Allen (wide receiver), Dominique Hatfield (wide receiver), and

Josh Nurse Josh Nurse (born July 17, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2020 following his college football career with the ...

(wide receiver – safety) are five examples of players that converted to cornerback at Utah, before stints in the

. Leading up to the Rose Bowl game on January 1, 2022, Shah was asked about converting players to cornerback for the game due to the large amount of injuries, but he said they were instead asking experienced players to do more. In 2015, Shah was named Defensive Backs Coach of the Week by CoachingSearch.com twice, after wins against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He has also coached

Jaylon Johnson Jaylon Lawrence Johnson (born April 19, 1999) is an American football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah. Early years Johnson attended Central High School in Fresno, Calif ...

and

Julian Blackmon Julian Blackmon (born August 24, 1998) is an American football safety for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah. Early years Blackmon attended Layton High School in Layton, Utah. He playe ...

to All-American honors as defensive backs, and

Kaelin Clay Kaelin Clay (born January 3, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft and played college football at Utah. Early years Clay attended Long Beach Polyt ...

as a return specialist.

Personal life

Shah married his wife,

Jen Shah Jennifer Shah ( née Lui; born October 4, 1973) is an American television personality and convicted felon. She is a former cast member of the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City''. Shah pleaded guilty to a criminal c ...

, known for ''

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City ''The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City'' (abbreviated ''RHOSLC'') is an American reality television series that premiered on November 11, 2020, on Bravo. Developed as the tenth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired three ...

'', in August 1994, after meeting in college. Jen Shah was jailed in 2023 for six and a half years for stealing pensions from vulnerable people. Sharrieff Jr. played cornerback for his father at Utah from 2013 to 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Sharrieff 1971 births Living people American football defensive backs Utah Utes football coaches Utah Utes football players 21st-century American lawyers