On Sept. 7, The University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation and UCM Athletics celebrated the completion of the Terry Noland Football Office Complex remodel project.
UCM alumni, students, coaches, football players and community members gathered on the track at Audrey J. Walton Stadium for the rededication ceremony. The renovation project was a collaboration between UCM and private support, with more than 80 donors contributing to the facility. Multiple speakers honored Noland’s legacy. There was also a tour provided to visitors of the remodeled complex and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with President Roger Best and Noland.
Noland was the UCM football coach from 1983 to 1996. Noland amassed 78 wins, seven winning seasons, and four MIAA championships. He was named Coach of the Year in 1986 when the Mules won their first league championship crown since 1926. He created star players, sending nine players to the professional ranks. Noland was inducted into the UCM Hall of Fame in 2004.
At the ceremony, Noland was celebrated not only for his career but who he was as a person. Many people at the event had kind words to say about him, whether it was family or people who knew him from years before.
“Papa is very caring and loving. Any time we have family over, he usually is playing with the kids and not hanging out with the adults, if that tells you anything about him,” Morgan Brinick, Noland’s granddaughter-in-law, said. “This day is so special to all of us.”
UCM Head Football Coach Josh Lamberson was also one of the speakers at the event. When discussing the future, Lamberson recognized Noland’s legacy and how to maintain it among the current football men.
“Noland’s legacy is to inspire our players to become more than they can even imagine and to take the lessons they learn while they are in this season of life and apply them to the situations they will experience when they become husbands, fathers and leaders of their own communities,” Lamberson said.
UCM Alumni Events Coordinator Morgan Starbuck believes the community is strengthened by the remodel project. Starbuck was raised in Warrensburg and she continues to live and work in her hometown.
“The Terry Noland remodel is going to offer a way for the community’s pride to grow. It’s giving the football team and the football staff the resources they need to work on taking their skills to the next level,” Starbuck said.
