July 11, 2026

Before a spring football practice in 2024, Coach Burleson casually mentioned to Shelbi that a future GA named Miles was watching practice. Shelbi clocked the name (Coach B doesn’t mention just any GA to the athletic trainer) and went back to work. Fast forward to August 2024: Miles officially joined the HSU football staff as a GA, and Shelbi was the athletic trainer and hired him to set up water for practice. Though they shared the same field and schedules they somehow managed to barely speak all semester. Then came January 2025… and a Facebook Dating swipe. Or rather, almost a swipe. Shelbi saw that Miles had swiped on her and panicked due to the work overlap... (awkward!) She left Miles hanging in swipe-limbo for weeks. As spring football approached, Shelbi reached out to Miles about his water job only to learn he was moving into a full-time campus role instead. One conversation turned into another, and before long, Miles asked Shelbi on a date. The plan was simple: one lap around ACU. Low-cost, low-pressure, and a clean exit after 45 minutes. Instead, one lap turned into five hours sitting on the tailgate of a truck, talking about life and the rest was history. That spring wasn’t easy, with baseball, football, and job uncertainty in the mix. Most “dates” were quick meals and stolen moments. By summer, things settled, and the future started to come into focus...together. Shelbi had always sworn she’d never date a coach… yet somehow found herself happily immersed in film sessions, constant football on TV, and GA schedules. What once sounded like the worst possible plan became her dream: sharing her passion for work with someone who truly understood it. The Lord has a funny way of aligning paths. Two people who could’ve been ships passing in the night instead found their way to each other right on time.