MINOT – The Beavers have their man.
Minot State’s Director of Athletics Kevin Forde is pleased to introduce veteran college coach Ian Shields as the next head coach for the Beaver football program.
Shields, a former head coach at the NCAA Division I FCS, NCAA Division II, and NAIA levels begins his duties immediately as the 22nd head coach for Minot State football program.
“It’s a great day to be a part of Beaver Nation: I am excited to announce our next head football coach is Ian Shields,” Forde said. “Ian was a very impressive candidate on paper, he really impressed the committee in his zoom interview, and when he came to campus you could feel his passion and desire to make Minot State University and the community of Minot home.”
“I’m thrilled, I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Shields, who spent the last three seasons as assistant coach, analyst, and top adviser to UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo. “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to build a program there at Minot State and a tremendous opportunity for my family; we’re excited to join the community.”
Prior to his time at UNLV, Shields was the head coach for four seasons at NCAA Division I Jacksonville University in Florida (2016-2019), an FCS program that Shields led to a 7-4 record and a third-place league finish in 2017, his second season with the team. Shields compiled a 17-26 overall record in his four seasons at Jacksonville.
Prior to leading the Jacksonville Dolphins, Shields spent two seasons at NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne in North Carolina where he compiled a 16-6 record and won the South Atlantic Conference title in 2014.
Also spending time during his career as an offensive coordinator at Army, Cal Poly, Bucknell (Pa,), and Saint Mary’s (Calif.), Shields was head coach Eastern Oregon of the NAIA’s Frontier Conference from 2006-07.
“With his wealth of knowledge and his vast experience in college football, I am excited to see the positive steps our program takes in the next few months,” Forde said.
Shields is equally excited to get started 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’re excited to build this program and win with these young men in every aspect of their life.”
The first step in doing that for Shields is the recruiting process, and with national signing day quickly approaching – Wednesday, Feb. 1 – the Beavers new coach is aware of the importance of this time of year.
But the Beavers new coach says his first recruits already have ties to Minot State.
“We have to keep recruiting with the ‘23 class, obviously they’ve been doing some good work, but we have to find the right kids, and there are still great kids out there.
“But the most important recruits are the guys on the team, and I need to get to know them,” Shields added. “I’ve got to get to know our current roster; we’ve got to get into our offseason program and get into their development personally.”
A graduate of Oregon State where he played both football and baseball, Shields earned his Bachelor of Science in Speech Communication in 1994, and his Master of Arts in Education with a focus in Human Performance & Speech Communication in 1997 while beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the OSU Beavers.
