Shaw lands dream job at Missouri Southern State University
Coshocton High School and Indiana University graduate Zack Shaw was named head strength and conditioning coach for the Missouri Southern State University football team. (Submitted)
Coshocton High School graduate Zack Shaw has been named head strength and conditioning coach for the Missouri Southern State University football team.
Before graduating from CHS in 2011, Shaw had 450 tackles, making him the school’s all-time leader. He also earned first-team All-Ohio Division IV honors, East District Player of the Year, and league player of the year when he was a senior. After graduation, he attended Indiana University.
He played 49 games over his college career and was credited with 130 career tackles that included 84 solo stops. He was named an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten from Coaches in 2015 and earned the Hoosier Iron Award for outstanding performance in the weight room. When he started at Indiana, his plan was to become a special education teacher.
“Going into my first semester at Indiana, I wanted to be a special education teacher,” Shaw said. “But after going through my first summer of training with the strength and conditioning staff, I fell in love with all the different dynamics of strength training. In high school, you are told to lift to get bigger, faster, stronger. No one ever went into detail on what was actually going on or why we were doing it. But there was so much more to it and I knew that being a strength coach at the collegiate level was something I wanted to pursue after college.”
He started as an intern at Western Carolina University in January 2017 and that summer, he became the assistant director of football training. He was also the head strength coach for the women’s soccer team and baseball. He only had a few days notice to begin his new job in Missouri.
“I received a call asking if I wanted the job on a Wednesday and was here early Saturday morning assisting with recruiting tours,” Shaw said. “So, it was definitely a quick transition, but that is just how it works.” He also said that has been the toughest part of his new job – knowing he had to pack up and make a 12-hour drive in two days and also to have all of the programming ready.
Shaw said he enjoys getting up every morning and having the ability to be able to make a difference.
“In the college setting, you have 100 plus athletes that train any given day,” he said. “That’s 100 plus opportunities to make someone better. At the end of the day, I am the one the athletes will see and spend most of their careers with. It’s my job to help them prepare for the next chapter of their lives.” Shaw also said he feels it is his job to take the athletes places where they can’t take themselves.
His parents, Scott and Tina Shaw, are really proud of his accomplishments. “He had an outstanding college football career and he has worked his tail off to get where he is today,” Scott said.
“He is going to have amazing opportunities and the sky in the limit for him,” Tina said. “I want him to enjoy the ride.”
Besides his new job, Shaw is looking forward to getting married in May to Brooke Donaker. “We’ve been together for 10 years and she’s so supportive. When I told her I was offered the job, she didn’t hesitate to tell me to take it. She’s doing everything back in North Carolina by herself.” Donaker plans to move to their new home the first week of March.
“I definitely had aspirations of going pro,” Zack said. “I got my shot and it didn’t work out for me. But at the end of the day, I’m where I’m supposed to be doing what I’m supposed to be doing and loving it.”
