No. Not ever.
One of 2 things happened here:
1) Shaft said that if UND gets rid of the nickname there would be a better chance of Big Ten schools scheduling them for games and his kid misinterpreted it, which I can see happening, and is probably the case.
2) Shaft really did say it hoping it would get around and intended to use it as a spin for the SBHE to soften the stance of the pro-nickname crowd. I can't believe this would be the case because anybody with half a brain could see through it, but if it is true...pretty slimy.