MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Noah Shepard

This year, fans of USD athletics witnessed many memorable performances during USD’s first year in Division I. Records were broken, milestones were set and the bar was raised for generations of Coyotes. Two athletes stood out from the rest of the pack and earned the title Volante Athletes of the Year.

Most of the schools who had an interest in Noah Shepard out of high school thought he might have a decent college career as a safety, but he wanted a chance to play quarterback and USD head coach Ed Meierkort offered him the opportunity.

Shepard is now a junior at USD and he can point to the record books to prove he’s made it as a quarterback. This past year, Shepard became the new career record holder in passing (6,485) and total offense (8,281) and he is only nine touchdowns away from becoming career leader in passing touchdowns.

“Breaking those records were something I set my sights on from the moment I got here,” Shepard said. “To actually achieve that and still have some time left to add on to those records is special to me.”

When Shepard came into the program, he was part of a group of quarterbacks vying for the starting job, which was just vacated by Wesley Beschorner, who held both records that Shepard broke.

“Noah took over some very big shoes and has been able to do things even Wesley wasn’t able to do,” Meierkort said. “These records are just a tribute to his ability and hard work. He will go down as one of the great players in this program.”

Even though he already holds some records and will go down as one of the best players in USD history, Shepard still set a few big goals this year and is poised on winning every game USD plays in this upcoming year.

“I want to win every game we have and knock off Northern Iowa and Montana State, two teams who stuck it to us last year,” Shepard said. “I just want to make a face for this university for football and let everyone know this program will be here for a while.”

One team Shepard is looking forward to going up against is the University of Northern Colorado because it’s one of the schools that passed on him as a quarterback.

Shepard is originally from Colorado and he said going back there to show how far he has come will make the game even more special.

“It’s definitely a game I want to win and show them what they missed out on and what I could’ve done for them,” Shepard said with a smile. “At the same time I have to remember I’m a Coyote and I got my chance here.”

This past weekend, the National Football League conducted its annual draft and Shepard saw two quarterbacks he played against, University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Zach Miller and West Texas A&M’s Keith Null, get drafted and another, Central Washington University’s Mike Reilly, sign a contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Shepard said the thought of being drafted or signing with a NFL team is always in the back of his head.

“The thought of it is always going to be there no matter how hard you try and put it aside, but it just comes down to working hard and being dedicated,” Shepard said. “It would be awesome to hear my name called during the draft, but I have to work hard from week one this year to make it to that point.”

Meierkort said Shepard has the ability to be drafted by an NFL team.

“He just has a couple things to improve on, but I really think he is a guy who can end up in an NFL camp,” Meierkort said.

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