University of North Dakota Athletics

University of North Dakota head football coach Bubba Schweigert announced Brett Holinka as the program's new defensive coordinator on Jan. 9, 2020. The former two-time all-conference selection at North Dakota served as the school’s outside linebackers coach in 2019. The 2022 season will mark his fourth season at UND. 

Facing a quick turnaround in the fall of 2021, Holinka returned a bevy of starters in the secondary and linebacker positions to help the Fighting Hawks keep up their attack mentality on defense. 

UND finished inside the top-5 in the MVFC in third down defense, fourth down defense, first downs allowed, passing defense, scoring defense, tackles for loss and total defense. 

Linebackers Devon Krzanowski and Noah Larson paced UND with 68 and 59 total tackles while Jaxson Turner's six sacks propelled him to the top sack artist in the program's Division I era. 

He saw four players earn All-MVFC honors, including a second team selection for defensive back Evan Holm. 

Holinka guided a UND defense to take on a culture of creating pressure and forcing turnovers, as the Fighting Hawks saw increases in sacks per games and turnovers forced per contest during a seven-game 2020-21 season. UND led the conference and finished 10th in the nation with 3.43 sacks per game and the 15 turnovers gained were second in the Missouri Valley. 

The Hawks also finished in the top half of the conference in interceptions, fumbles forced/recovered, rushing defense, scoring defense, passing efficiency defense and defensive touchdowns. 

Two of his defenders reached all-conference status, led by linebacker Devon Krzanowski. The junior finished near the top of the league in tackles, stops for loss and led the nation in turnovers forced to earn a runner-up selection as the league's defender of the year. 
 
Holinka spent the 2019 year on Schweigert’s staff coaching the outside linebackers, where he led Jaxson Turner to finish second on the team with 4.5 sacks and racked up 44 tackles while Jade Lawrence enjoyed a career-best campaign in his final season with 51 total tackles, a pair of sacks, and two interceptions. He helped North Dakota finish the season with a 7-4 record and its second appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.
 
Prior to returning to UND, Holinka spent the 2018 year in the state of North Dakota, serving as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at U-Mary. While in Bismarck, Holinka coached a Marauder team to 12 interceptions and 26 sacks which ranked sixth and ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, respectively.
 
Before the stint at U-Mary, Holinka spent three seasons at Winona State as the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, guiding the Warriors to a 10-2 record in 2017 and a NCAA Division II playoff berth. During that season, Winona State led the NSIC in punt returns, kick returns, and overall kick coverage as well as scoring defense, total defense, takeaways, third down efficiency, red zone efficiency, and opponent pass efficiency. The previous season, the Warriors ranked second nationally in punt returns and sixth in total blocked kicks. Holinka coached a pair of players to all-conference selections as linebacker Mike Imperial and return specialist Jake Balliu both earned All-NSIC First Team honors in 2016 and 2017.
 
Holinka made stops at Rutgers (2012-2014) and St. Thomas (2010-11) to begin his coaching career, helping the Tommies reach the quarterfinals (2010) and semifinals (2011) of the NCAA Division III playoffs during each of his two seasons. 
 
A 2009 graduate from the University of North Dakota with a degree in physical education and exercise science, Holinka was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter for the Fighting Sioux football team from 2005-2008. He helped guide UND to a pair of North Central Conference (NCC) titles in 2005 and 2006 and was named to the All-NCC Honorable Mention team as a linebacker in 2007. Holinka concluded his career as a member of the inaugural Division I team in 2008, earning All-Great West honors.