If you went to any football games this fall, you might have noticed a major difference down on the field. That would be the absence of Mr. Master as a coach. Instead, he was actually seen at a few games up in the stands watching from above. Furthermore, some students even spotted him at the Starbucks down the road. So, we reached out to see what the former 8th grade English teacher has been doing since leaving Chaminade. 

First, he explained his career change. Mr. Master noted that ever since he had been teaching he always had an interest in web development and software engineering. His plan was to get a job in one of these fields to explore full-time once he left Chaminade. However, a thirteen year teaching career was far different in qualifications than software engineering. So, from June through November this past fall, Mr. Master went to night classes at Washington University to get a technical certificate in Full Stack Development. During this time he also worked as a Barista at the Starbucks in Frontenac to maintain health insurance for his family. Also, it allowed him to stay busy outside of staring at a computer all day.

More recently he said, “Halfway through my program, I was recruited by Mastercard to work as a Site Reliability Engineer specializing in monitoring software. It’s a very different job than teaching and coaching, but I get to work from home 2-3 days a week, which is a nice perk.”

I asked him whether he would consider teaching again and he said to never say never because while his current career path is exciting, he has a lifetime teaching certificate to go back. Additionally he said, “What I can tell you is that it would be very difficult to teach anywhere that isn’t Chaminade. It remains one of my favorite places and I couldn’t imagine returning to teaching anywhere else.” 

He mentioned one of his favorite experiences at Chaminade was  the intense Dodgeball Fridays with his mentor group. Sophomore Jon Sturmon ’26 said, “He was a great mentor group teacher, and would always do some fun things to keep the mentor group interesting.”

In terms of sports, winning the threepeat district championship in 2021 at FZN and not trying too tremendously hard to stop Thomas Prevost from planting a Chaminade flag on their 50 yard line were highlights. However, his best times were, “Talking to young men about reading and writing while taking brief interludes to ruthlessly roast anyone and everyone who entered my line of sight.” 

On top of teaching English, many remember him as a big Philadelphia Eagles fan. With an 11-6 record this year, Mr. Master said, “It started so promising, but ended about as disappointingly as any Eagles season I’ve ever seen. I still have faith in the talent of the team, but it’s strong proof that replacing both of our coordinators who both became head coaches was a tough obstacle to overcome. I’m very happy about the new Eagles DC– Vic Fangio is a legend and he’s from the area which means he understands Philly better than outsiders do. I also think Kellen Moore, the new OC, is a good coach with a strong background, but I’m very hesitant about anyone who’s ever worked in Dallas…a million showers couldn’t get all the scum off.”

In terms of coaching at Chaminade, he put down the rumor that he had left to take another coaching gig somewhere else. He says he wouldn’t ever see himself coaching any other team than the Chaminade Red Devils and thanks Coach Torrey for keeping his Hudl credentials to watch the football film. However, he doubts that with everything going on in his life  he’d have the time to come back as a coach. Instead, he has been back to quite a few football games and saw fellow students and faculty. He said, “It certainly warmed my heart to know that I wasn’t forgotten.”

Chaminade sophomore Charlie Hobbs ‘26 says, “He really tried his hardest to create a good relationship with his students, most of the time through sports banter.”  

With the ability to work remotely with his new job, Mr. Master said that he has a lot of travel planned for this upcoming year. From golf trips to Branson, to seeing a friend in Williamsburg, VA, he has been using this extra vacation time wisely. Later he plans to make it to Philly once or twice to see a Sixers game, but he’s also bounced around from New York, Jamaica, England, and Brazil. 

Overall, Mr. Master truly misses getting to be a part of the Chaminade family. He said, “It’s always good when I see people around, just catching up with them, finding out what’s new in their lives. A big part of my heart will always be at Chaminade, so I don’t expect these feelings to change. If you ever see me “out in the wild” say hi! I definitely want to catch up with anyone from Chaminade I run into.”

From writing WADWEDs and assigning CCRs to talking about football and coaching on the field, almost everybody in the Chaminade family remembers Mr. Master for something and we shall continue to stay in touch with him as he begins a new part of his career. 

Thank you Mr. Master, and we wish you the best of luck for your future away from Chaminade!

Super Bowl Prediction Results:

Before the Super Bowl we had time to ask Mr. Master for a few predictions and here are how they turned out:

• Final Score:
  • Mr. Master: KC 30 SF 28
  • Reality: KC 25 SF 22
• Coin Toss:
  • Mr. Master: Heads
  • Reality: Heads (Chiefs)
• National Anthem:
  • Mr. Master: Over
  • Reality: Over (95 seconds)
• Player TDs:
  • Mr. Master: Christian McCaffrey 2, Travis Kelce 2
  • Reality: Christian McCaffrey 1, Travis Kelce 0

“I’m HOPING for something like that scene out of The Dark Knight Rises where as the opening kickoff is getting run back, the field caves in below the players because I honestly can’t stand either team.”