Longtime collegiate coach Ian Shields joined UNLV football in 2020 as the program’s first-ever defensive analyst. In March 2021, head coach Marcus Arroyo announced that Shields has moved over to serve as offensive analyst.
Shields came to Las Vegas after serving as head coach at Jacksonville University in Florida, which was a member of the Pioneer Football League. He led the Dolphins for four seasons before the school ended the 22-year-old program in December 2019.
Prior to his arrival at Jacksonville, Shields served as the head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, where he spent two seasons, compiling a 17-6 record. While leading the Bears, Shields won a conference championship, was named the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, and twice had his offense lead the nation in rushing.
Prior to Lenoir-Rhyne, Shields spent five seasons as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Army (2009-13). Under Shields, Army produced one of the most prolific attacks not only in West Point history, but in the nation. Army's offense topped the NCAA Division I rushing list in both 2011 and 2012, the first time the Black Knights led the country in that category in consecutive seasons since 1944-45. Under Shields, the 2012 team set an Army record with 5,235 yards of total offense which was the first 5,000-yard season in school history. The Black Knights' 436.2 yards-per-game average ranked fourth on the Army all-time ledger.
With Shields' guidance offensively, Army never ranked lower than 16th in the nation in rushing, producing three top-five finishes in the statistical category. Shields was also part of a staff that led Army to its first bowl victory in 25 years in 2010, a win over SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Prior to his time at Army, Shields spent the 2008 football season as the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Cal Poly, leading the most prolific offensive attack in all of FCS football. The 2008 Mustang offense led the nation in scoring offense (44.36) and total offense (487.45), while registering the fewest turnovers. Shields’ ties to San Luis Obispo dated back to the 2004 and ‘05 football seasons, when he served as the Mustangs’ co-offensive coordinator.
In-between his two stints at Cal Poly, he made his head coaching debut at the collegiate level, leading the football team at Eastern Oregon University during the 2006 and ‘07 campaigns.
A 1994 graduate of Oregon State University and former starting quarterback for the Beavers, Shields served as the Offensive Coordinator at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for the 2003 season.
A native of Oregon City, Oregon, Shields began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater from 1994-96. He moved on to his first stop at Eastern Oregon thereafter, assuming offensive coordinator duties with the team from 1997-99. Shields then moved on to Saint Mary’s College in 2000, heading the Gaels’ record-setting attack for the next three seasons.
Shields lettered three times in football and twice in baseball at Oregon State. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in speech communication in 1994 and earned a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from OSU in 1997, concentrating in education, communication and exercise sport science.
Shields and his wife, Norma, a former collegiate volleyball standout at Eastern Oregon have three sons: Beau, Jonah and Jordan.
Shields’ Coaching Timeline
2021-PR: UNLV, offensive analyst
2020: UNLV, defensive analyst
2016-19: Jacksonville, head coach
2014-15: Lenoir-Rhyne, head coach
2009-13: Army, offensive coordinator/associate head coach
2008: Cal Poly, offensive coordinator
2006-07: Eastern Oregon, head coach
2004-05: Cal Poly, co-offensive coordinator
2003: Bucknell, offensive coordinator
2000-02: Saint Mary’s, offensive coordinator
1997-99: Eastern Oregon, offensive coordinator
1994-96: Oregon State, graduate assistant
