Shields joins Marble Falls ISD as teacher and coach

CAPTION: New Marble Falls Middle School teacher and coach Ben Shields observes athletes learning new skills as linemen during the Mustang Football Camp July 27. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

For years, Ben Shields sat in a radio booth, capturing the highs of the Marble Falls Mustangs and Lady Mustangs.

In short, he typically had the best seat in the house while wearing a head set and a purple polo not only serving as the play-by-play announcer but also as the director. After all, Shields was the one who decided when to take commercial breaks, how long each segment went, and even what to ask the color analyst during pre-game shows.

While Shields may still wear purple polos and may don headphones, it won’t be for a radio station anymore. Instead, he may be talking to a voice in the press box who may be telling him what the opponents are doing as Shields has traded in his spot in the radio booth to walk the sidelines as a Marble Falls Middle School coach and seventh grade social studies teacher.

“I loved my job and I loved doing radio,” he said after his first week of being on athletic director and football head coach Keri Timmerman’s staff. “I loved being a part of KBEY, but you reach a certain part in your life where you want to do something new, and I’ve been thinking about education for the past three or four years; it has been in the back of my mind and just over the past year or two, I just started taking it more seriously and decided to go get my alternative teaching certificate.”

After the first of this year, Shields had been working toward his certifications on his own time.

“Take some courses and pass the test, and then I was able to apply for jobs and saw the Marble Falls job for a coach came up and here we are,” he said.

Here we are indeed. Shields spent last week getting to know some of his athletes during the Mustang Football Camp as he worked closely with the defensive linemen and varsity coaches Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt and Tyler Porter.

This may be a career change, but playing and coaching isn’t new. Shields played football at Llano High School where he was a lineman before graduating in 1994. And what may have started as a chance to spend more time with his son, William (W.J.), led him down this path. Shields coached his son in youth sports at Lake Travis for years.

The day after he applied at Marble Falls Independent School District, he was called in for an interview and was offered a position soon after.

“Working with kids and coaching teams at (Lake Travis Youth Association) for the past few years made me realize that I do like working with kids and I think that I can make an impact and a chance to see kids grow and improve,” Shields said. “It’s something I really started to take a liking to. Obviously youth sports are different than coaching at a public school, but I think you still deal with kids and still seeing kids developing and see them grow.”

He is equally excited about teaching.

“I’ve always wanted to teach as well, at least that’s something I’ve been really thinking about the past five years,” he said. “So it’s just the chance to have an impact on kids and make a difference.”

Shields and the coaching staff will begin preparations for the 2026 high school season during the program’s third annual Midnight Madness practices Monday, Aug. 3. That means that by 12:01 a.m. the high school players will be on the field going through drills.

CAPTION: Ben Shields (right) and wife Andrea (center) with their son William (front) and daughter Hadley at a ball game. Courtesy photo