ARLINGTON, Texas — Zach Shackelford is a leader in Austin.
"Him and Sam Ehlinger are probably our most vocal leaders, offensively," Texas head coach Tom Herman said.
After toughing it out through a coaching change following his freshman season, Shackelford felt he needed to stay on the 40 acres.
He added he knew his place was Texas, a campus which felt like home.
"I was down with the challenge for whatever was to come and I'm super happy with how it turned out," Shackelford said.
The Belton grad became an All-Big 12 center in 2018, a season in which he helped guide the Longhorns to a 10-4 record and a win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Helping Shackelford stay even-keeled through it all is the same man who did it in Belton: Former Tigers coach and current Longhorns analyst Bob Shipley.
"Coach Shipley is a man I feel like I can always go to and talk to and get advice from because his sons went through all the processes of Texas Football," Shackelford said.
As coach Herman took the podium for his Big 12 Media Days press conference in Arlington, the final coach to do so this year, it was with praise for his center.
High praise.
"He's as good a center as there is in the country," Herman said. "He's brilliant at making the calls."
For now though, with expectations in Austin as high as they've been in a decade, Shackelford is just ready to help get Texas back on top.
"I want to just do everything in my power to win and be successful, as a team, on the field," Shackelford said. "Because regret is a really bad thing and I just want to leave it all on the field and enjoy my senior year."