Austin Zoda enters his sixth season as an assistant football coach at Fort Hays State University in 2023. It is his fourth season as quarterbacks coach following two years as the tight ends coach.
In his first season as quarterbacks coach in 2019, Zoda helped Chance Fuller to an All-MIAA Second Team selection. Fuller set new school record for passing touchdowns in a season with 35, while throwing for 3,344 yards. Fuller ranked fifth in NCAA Division II for total passing yards and also garnered All-Super Region 3 honors from the Don Hansen Football Committee. In 2021, Fuller repeated as an All-MIAA Second Team selection and threw for over 3,000 yards once again. Fuller set school records for passing yards in a game (474), pass completions in a game (40) in 2021 and then set the career passing yards (8,095) and passing touchdowns (67) records in 2022.
Zoda helped tight end Matt Wendelberger to his third-straight All-MIAA honor in 2018. Wendelberger earned second and third-team honors in Zoda's two years as tight ends coach. Zoda helped the Tigers to their best season in program history in 2017, going undefeated in the regular season to win the MIAA Championship and earn their first NCAA Playoff appearance in 22 years. The Tigers backed that with a second-straight MIAA Championship and another appearance in the NCAA Playoffs in 2018. Zoda has helped the program to a 28-7 record in his three seasons on the coaching staff.
Zoda had a tremendous career as a player at Truman State University, where he was a four-time All-GLVC selection (two-time first team and two-time second team) as a defensive back. He helped the Bulldogs to a share of the GLVC Championship as a senior in 2016. Zoda finished his career with an impressive 318 tackles, leading Truman in tackles three straight years (2014-16) with 95 as his career-best in his junior season. He finished his career sixth on the all-time tackles list at Truman and helped the team to a record of 26-17 overall in his time as a player. Zoda was also a member of the GLVC All-Academic Team.
A native of Frisco, Texas, Zoda graduated from Truman State University in 2017.
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