Willis Ireland (April 29, 1927 – July 31, 2007) was an American college football and baseball coach in Nevada.
As the coach of the 1966 Wolf Pack baseball team, he managed Fred Dallimore, who later coached the UNLV baseball team, and is the father of former San Francisco Giants player Brian Dallimore.
Ireland, wanting an award to symbolize the rivalry, obtained a replica of the Howitzer John C. Fremont had brought with him in his expedition to Nevada.
[1] In 1990, his wife Jeanne Ireland was the Democratic Party's candidate for lieutenant governor; she lost by 15%.
On October 8, 2012, Governor Brian Sandoval announced that one student-athlete a year from the University of Nevada, Reno will receive the "Bill Ireland Award.