Arion Shinaver

Arion Shinaver joined the Vanderbilt football program in 2022 and currently serves as assistant safeties coach. He was a graduate assistant with the defense in 2023, and spent his first season as a scouting assistant and defensive intern.

Working alongside safeties coach Melvin Rice, the Vandy safeties were led by seniors CJ Taylor, De’Rickey Wright and Marlen Sewell. Taylor paced the group with 64 tackles, 2.5 for loss, two forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions. He had a key pick late in the third quarter of the Birmingham Bowl win over Georgia Tech. Wright contributed 48 tackles and a pick while Sewell added 20 tackles. Taylor and Sewell were both voted team captains.

Before the 2024 season, Shinaver participated in the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, spending time with the Las Vegas Raiders staff over the summer.

Shinaver played collegiately at Notre Dame from 2016-19. The walk-on receiver appeared in seven games over his career with the Fighting Irish, helping the program to a trio of 10-win seasons, including a 12-1 record and College Football Playoff appearance in 2018.

Vanderbilt is Shinaver’s first collegiate coaching stop. Following his playing career, he worked as a strategy and analytics analyst at Deloitte Consulting for two years.

The Carmel, Indiana, native graduated from Notre Dame in 2020 with a degree in finance from the Mendoza College of Business.