So many new faces. So much for the mostly new Kansas University football coaching staff to evaluate in Saturday’s first intrasquad scrimmage of fall camp.

“It tells you who’s really willing to put it in there and who’s not,” defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said of the scrimmage. “A lot of guys can look good when it’s a thud tempo or this or that, when they know it’s not really live. The guys who truly want to play physical show up when it’s live. When it’s not live, you can’t find out. A lot of guys can pretend and work their way through that.”

So busy with the challenges of distinguishing pretenders from playing-time contenders on a defense that returns just two starters makes Bowen more appreciative than ever of tough, physical, proven players who have a little Tasmanian devil in them. Players who bring a love for contact, even though pain is an inevitable, ever-present consequence, tend to exceed projections.

“Some guys can ignore it and understand that pain doesn’t really mean much,” Bowen said. “Pain doesn’t mean you cry. Pain just means you keep going. Some guys can figure that out.”

Blue Team safety Tevin Shaw comes in to tackle White Team receiver Dakota Turner during the Spring Game on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

Nickelback Tevin Shaw, who joins defensive end Ben Goodman as the only returning starters on the defense, is one of those guys. It was playing in the secondary he had to figure out. At Piscataway High in New Jersey, where Shaw was a two-time state runner-up wrestler and a two-time state champion football player, he was a running back and linebacker.

Shaw, pointed to KU by a Charlie Weis coaching pal, had been offered a scholarship to play running back for Iowa, but by the time he was ready to commit, the scholarship had gone elsewhere. At Kansas, he red-shirted in 2012, played mostly special teams in 2013 and started eight games at nickelback last season.

“He’s strong as an ox, probably one of the stronger guys on the team, definitely the strongest pound-for-pound guy on the team,” Bowen said. “And he’s incredibly tough, and he never fatigues. He’s one of those guys you know you can count on. There’s no softness about him. There’s none of that, and he’s an intelligent young man.”

As a senior in high school, Shaw rushed for 304 yards in the state-title game. Iowa wanted him to stay at running back. A softer soul gets discouraged going from that scenario to joining the Kansas secondary. Shaw joined up, tuned in, and his responsibilities steadily grew.

“It was just a matter of time to learn the little nuances of footwork and reads and keys and all that,” Bowen said. “When a kid has all those other intangibles, it’s pretty much just a matter of time before they figure it out.”

Nickelback is a vague term that can mean anything from a third cornerback to an extra linebacker, depending on the team. Bowen said KU’s nickel is a hybrid safety/linebacker. To hear him describe it, the Jayhawks essentially play a 4-2.5-4.5 defense, with Shaw accounting for the fractions.

“I didn’t really know too much about the secondary, but once I started playing it, I really liked it,” Shaw said. “It’s been a pleasant surprise.”

So has Shaw.

A fourth-year junior, Shaw was part of Weis’ first recruiting class, which was 27-deep. Shaw and seven others remain: Greg Allen, Courtney Arnick, Taylor Cox, Tyler Holmes, Schyler Miles, Tre’ Parmalee and Jordan Shelley-Smith. Eight is not enough, but those who remain tend to be long on much-needed toughness for a team so short on depth.