Minot State Welcomes New Head Football Coach
Ian Shields named head of the Beavers
MINOT – The Beavers have their man.
Minot State Athletic Director Kevin Forde is pleased to introduce veteran college coach Ian Shields as the next head coach of the Beaver Football Program.
Shields, a former head coach at the NCAA Division I FCS, NCAA Division II and NAIA levels, begins immediately as the 22nd head coach of Minot State’s football program.
“It’s a great day to be part of Beaver Nation: I’m delighted to announce that our next head football coach is Ian Shields,” Forde said. “Ian was a very impressive candidate on paper, he really impressed the committee during his zoom interview, and when he came to campus, you could feel his passion and desire to make the State University of Minot and the community of Minot la maison.”
“I’m thrilled, I’m excited about this opportunity,” said Shields, who has spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach, analyst and senior adviser to UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo. “I think it’s a great opportunity to build a program there at Minot State and a great opportunity for my family; we are excited to join the community.
Prior to his move to UNLV, Shields served as head coach for four seasons at NCAA Division I University in Jacksonville, Florida (2016-2019), an FCS program that Shields led to a 7-4 record and a third place in the league in 2017, his second season with the team. Shields compiled a 17-26 overall record in his four seasons in Jacksonville.
Prior to coaching the Jacksonville Dolphins, Shields spent two seasons at NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne in North Carolina, where he went 16-6 and won the Conference title. South Atlantic in 2014.
Also spending time during his career as an offensive coordinator at Army, Cal Poly, Bucknell (Pa) and Saint Mary’s (California), Shields served as the head coach of Eastern Oregon of the NAIA’s Frontier Conference from 2006 to 2007.
“With his wealth of knowledge and vast experience in college football, I’m excited to see the positive steps our program will take in the coming months,” Forde said.
Shields is also excited to start building a winning program at Minot State.
“Our young men will play with tremendous effort,” he said. “We’re going to win, but we’re going to strive to win with everything we do: Personally, athletically, academically.
“We are excited to build this program and win with these young men in all aspects of their lives.”
The first step in getting there for Shields is the recruiting process, and with National Signing Day fast approaching – Wednesday, Feb. 1 – the new Beavers coach is aware of the importance of this time of the year. year.
But the new Beavers coach says his first recruits already have ties to Minot State.
“We need to keep recruiting with Class 23, obviously they’ve done a good job, but we need to find the right kids, and there are still some great kids out there.
“But the most important recruits are the guys on the team, and I have to get to know them,” Shields added. “I need to get to know our current roster; we must enter our off-season program and participate personally in their development.
A graduate of Oregon State where he played football and baseball, Shields received his Bachelor of Science in Voice Communication in 1994 and his Master of Arts in Education with a major in Human Performance and Voice Communication in 1997 while beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the OSU Beavers.