MSU Texas helps Weber realize leadership goals

Kathy Floyd
05 June 2025

Sports General Education

Volunteer assignment leads to master’s degree for kicking coach

Kathy Floyd
05 June 2025
3 min read

When Zachary Weber came to Sheppard Air Force Base in 2021, he did what he always did when he settled into a new community. He sent his resume to area high schools to volunteer for coaching assignments. He included former Midwestern State University head football coach Bill Maskill on his list.

That routine task led Weber to walk the stage at the graduate commencement ceremony at MSU Texas on May 16, where he received his master’s degree in sports administration.

Maskill brought Weber on board as a volunteer consultant to work with kickers and punters, and he stayed on when Rich Renner took the football program in 2024. It was working with Maskill and meeting other football coaches at MSU Texas that made Weber realize a master’s degree was his next step if he wanted to pursue a career of coaching and working within an athletic department when he left the Air Force.

“MSU solidified how I felt about being a military leader and an educational leader,” Weber said. “It molded me for the future.” His goal of being a military leader was realized when he was assigned to Sheppard. He had first come to the air base in 2006 as a student. “I wanted to come back here to teach in the same place where I was a student. I wanted to mentor these new airmen,” he said.

Weber’s planning for his next career after retirement began while stationed in Spain. He received a bachelor’s in sports and health sciences with a concentration in coaching from American Military University.

Zachary Weber

Zachary Weber was presented an award from the Wichita Falls Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for being an outstanding military instructor and his volunteer work with MSU Texas, the Sheppard AFB youth center, and the YMCA. In top photo, he is congratulated by MSU Texas President Stacia Haynie.

As the final part of his master’s degree, he needed an internship. MSU Texas Associate Professor of Kinesiology Sandra Shawver allowed him to use his volunteer position with Mustangs football as his internship.

“Looking ahead, I am hoping that my 25-plus years of coaching, 22 years in the Air Force, a bachelor’s and master’s, and a great internship at MSU, I will be able to have a successful second career coaching student-athletes,” he said.

In an unexpected move, Weber has been transferred to South Dakota, his sixth base in 19 years. He will retire from there with the goal of returning to his native Ohio to continue coaching. “My goal is to have a coaching career at the college level or be an athletic director and coach at the high school level,” he said.

Weber said he was grateful for the time spent at Midwestern. “I have learned so much from the football staff and professors,” he said. “I’m still in shock how much this MSU community really wants people to succeed. I never thought moving to Wichita Falls would change my life, but I am forever in debt to this town and MSU. This has been a life-changing experience.”