Eddie Shepard is Biola's Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations. He became associate athletic director for internal operations in summer 2016, after 13 years of coaching Biola swimming and diving, and was elevated to senior associate athletic director in 2024.
Shepard manages the department's budget and facilities, leads hiring for the department, directly supervises more than two-thirds of the coaching staff and conducts exit interviews and check-ins with Biola's student-athletes. A builder of systems, he has led an overhaul of how coaches and administrators work across the department, creating efficiencies that free staff to spend their time on more meaningful work.
A former Biola swimmer and two-time NAIA All-American, Shepard placed third in the 100 and 200 backstroke at the NAIA Championships before becoming the fourth head coach in program history. In his first seven seasons, the Eagles reached the NAIA Championships every year, the men finished in the top 10 every year and the women in six of the seven. After a one-year sabbatical in Washington, he returned for five more seasons (2011-16) while also serving as assistant athletic director for internal operations.
In 2015-16, his final season, the women placed fourth at the NAIA Championships, a program best, the men placed 12th, and the Eagles earned five individual national titles and 18 All-America honors. That season Shane Brinson became the program's first national champion diver. Shepard coached Christine Tixier to two NAIA Female Swimmer of the Year awards and six individual national titles, and he coached April Smith to the program's first NAIA title, in the 200 breaststroke in 2010. He served two terms as president of the NAIA Swimming and Diving Coaches Association (2008-09 and 2013-14).
Shepard earned a Master of Theology from Biola in 2010. He lives in La Mirada with his wife, Elisa, son Mason and daughter Penny.
