‘Coach I’ inspiration on, off field for UNLV

Bill Ireland was the perfect man to start the football program at UNLV in 1968, known back then as Nevada Southern.

Ireland did wonders in guiding the first-year Rebels to an unheard-of 8-1 record. The first wonder was that the school could even afford to field a team.

The Legislature authorized the football program but approved only $15,000 to start the team. Even 40 years ago, that was nothing.

I met Ireland when I was a student at UNR in 1960 and he was the Wolf Pack baseball coach and assistant football coach. Ireland's charisma immediately struck me. I always thought one of his greatest attributes was his people skills.

Because of Ireland, Wayne Pearson, a former Gaming Control Board member, agreed to help the program and organized a dinner featuring Oregon State football coach Dee Andros as the guest speaker. Ireland and Pearson had been boyhood friends in McGill, a tiny town near Ely. The dinner at the Stardust Hotel raised $100,000.

The Grand 100 Club, a group of Las Vegas businessmen, raised another $100,000.

The point is that Ireland was the focal point of the first football program, and because of his likable and motivating personality, he was able to rally the community for financial support. Political leaders, led by then-Gov. Paul Laxalt, also supported the effort.

I covered the Rebels' first season in 1968, and I don't think anyone else could have made it happen.

If there had been no Ireland, there would have been no Pearson, the fundraiser extraordinaire.

Ireland, who was the Rebels' head coach for five years with a 26-23-1 record, popularly was known as "Coach I."

I always thought the "I" was for the obvious, his last name. Pearson thinks otherwise.

"To me, the 'I' stood for inspirational," Pearson said. "That's what he was -- so inspirational. That's what made Bill unique. He inspired me my whole life. Not just me, a lot of other people.

"You needed somebody to inspire so many people to put the program together, from the governor on down."

Among the people Ireland inspired were the UNLV students.

"The student body at UNLV has never been so involved as it was when he was coach," Pearson said. "We had crowds of 5,000 to 7,000 students a lot of times."

Ireland recruited Danny Wade, a linebacker at Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo, Calif., to UNLV.

"The first meeting you could tell he was wonderful," Wade said. "He was very genuine, not like the rest of the mainstream coaches."

Wade said Ireland influenced the rest of the coaching staff.

"They were all great human beings," he said.

Wade credits his success in life to Ireland. And Wade's successes include being president, CEO and COO of the MGM Grand during a 17-year career at the Las Vegas hotel-casino. Wade also rose to vice chairman of the MGM Grand board of directors. Not bad for a former Rebel football player (1972-74).

"Without Bill, I wouldn't be what I am today," Wade said.

Ireland's first Rebels team opened with eight wins before losing its last game to a 9-1 Cal Lutheran team, 17-13. The 8-1 mark was an NCAA record for a first-year team playing only four-year schools.

"He is the only person in the world who could have accomplished that," former university regent and Rebel booster club president Bill Morris said at a 1997 testimonial dinner for Ireland.

"We're still amazed. We're forever grateful to you," added Morris, who was president of the Rebel football booster club numerous times until his death in 1998.

Fred Dallimore, a Rebels baseball coach for 23 years, was brought to UNLV in 1969 by his mentor Ireland. Dallimore pitched for Ireland for four years at UNR.

"Everything I did in athletics I owe to Bill Ireland," Dallimore said. "I can't think of one guy in my playing career who didn't enjoy playing for Bill. He treated everybody the same.

"He had the unique ability to blend people to get the most out of them."

Ireland succeeded Chub Drakulich as the second UNLV athletic director from 1973 to 1980. Jerry Tarkanian was hired during Ireland's tenure.

Tarkanian told me Ireland was one of the main reasons he left Long Beach State for UNLV.

Ireland was inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its first class in 1987. He also was selected to the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

A memorial service will be held in Reno for Ireland at Lawlor Events Center on the UNR campus at 1 p.m. Monday, followed by a reception at the Eldorado Hotel.

Ireland inspired a lot of people. I was one of them as a college student and later as a sportswriter.

Ireland will be missed at both ends of the state.

Royce Feour, a longtime sportswriter and boxing columnist for the Review-Journal who retired in 2004, writes an occasional column for the R-J.