MINOT, N.D. – You can feel the excitement building amongst the players and staff, and soon it will spread to the turf at First Western Bank Field as the start of the Ian Shields era kicks off this Tuesday morning, March 21, at 6 a.m.

Shields, Minot State's new head football coach, begins building his Beaver program that day with the first of 15 spring football practices culminating in the Minot State Spring Game on April 22.

"For our whole staff it's going to be good to get out there with the guys and actually coach football," said Shields, who was hired at the end of January and quickly put together a team of assistant coaches who over the past month and a half have worked hard on the recruiting trail to find new talent for the Minot State roster, while also evaluating the Beavers current talent.

A group of returners about 85 strong who will suit up for spring practice and the chance to learn a new system under the guidance of new coaches.

"They're excited about the future, about what's going to happen," Shields said of the Beaver players. "They have been working hard, they know it doesn't happen just by hope."

Working hard in strength and conditioning, what Coach Shields calls the team's "Fourth Quarter Program," but now it's time for the players to learn the Xs and Os that they'll take to the turf when the 2023 season begins for real with the home and season opener on Thursday, Aug. 31, against Southwest Minnesota State at 7 p.m.

"It's going to actually be fun to get them out there with a helmet on, moving around, and have a ball out there and start practicing football," Shields said, adding, "this is so important for us to put a strong foundation underneath us. That is what this spring is about, our foundational pieces; offensively, defensively, and in the kicking game."

Learning the fundamentals in all facets of the game will be a big part of spring practice for the Beavers.

"We're at 100 level; we're not skipping to the 400 level right away, it's only lower-division courses as far as the football-side of it's concerned," Minot State's new coach said. "Get the great fundamentals started, good techniques, get our systems in place and our terminologies in place, and put our program in place.

"We'll just see where the journey takes us," Shields added. "We have 15 practices this spring to find out more about ourselves and to get closer to being the type of team we want to be."