As UND transitions to the Big Sky Conference, Greg Breitbach begins his fifth season as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his seventh overall with the Fighting Sioux, Breitbach moved to his current position after spending two years as the running backs coach.
In 2011, the Sioux closed out the campaign winning seven of their last eight games en route to earning a share of the Great West Conference title. Running back Jake Miller and wide receiver Greg Hardin both earned first team All-GWC honors on the offensive side. Breitbach's offense reached 3,400 yards of total offense for the fourth straight season under his watch with a nearly 50-50 split between the run and the pass.
Miller also became the first player in GWC history to earn three consecutive GWC Offensive Player of the Week accolades. He rushed for 942 yards and 13 touchdowns, while adding 16 receptions for 142 yards. Hardin once again ranked near the top of several GWC receiving categories, hauling in a team-high 43 passes for 549 yards and three touchdowns.
In 2010, the Fighting Sioux offense racked up 3,554 yards of total offense and averaged 45 points per game in its three home wins. The 104 points combined in victories over Northeastern State and Northwestern State marked just the sixth time in program history that UND tallied triple digits in back-to-back games.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Greg Hardin and junior running back Josh Murray were named to the All-Great West second team after combining for 15 touchdowns and more than 1,500 yards of total offense. Hardin accounted for 10 of those scores, including nine through the air.
Under the guidance of Breitbach in 2009, UND produced its 15th straight season with over 3,400 yards of total offense. Ismael Bamba (WR), Mitch Sutton (RB), and Jake Landry (QB) ranked near the top in the Great West Conference in their respective categories and Sutton was named the 2009 GWC Rookie of the Year.
In his first year as offensive coordinator, Breitbach guided quarterback Danny Freund into the UND record books as he became the first UND signal caller to account for a trio of 300-yard games in back-to-back seasons. Freund also completed a school-record 72 percent of his passes during his final season.
Breitbach also coached the Sioux to high rushing numbers as Murray led the team and the Great West Conference with 1,146 yards rushing. He was the conference player to register a 200-plus yard rushing game—which he did twice.
Since Breitbach was elevated to offensive coordinator and UND began the transition to NCAA Division I status, the Fighting Sioux have had four offensive players named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America football team and 16 have been named Great West All-Conference.
In 2007, Breitbach mentored All-America running back Ryan Chappell, who set a UND single-season record with 2,180 all-purpose yards, including a school-record 306 rushing yards against Central Washington. As a team, the Sioux ran for more than 2,800 yards during the regular season - its best total in 33 seasons.
In 2006, his first season on the Sioux staff, Breitbach coached Chappell to a record-breaking season that saw the freshman become just one of two rookies to earn All-NCC honors.
Breitbach came to UND after spending each of the previous three seasons as offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. While at UWSP, Breitbach helped the Pointers set several offensive team records, including points per game (39.4) and single-season completion percentage (66.1).
Breitbach’s 2003 offense led the nation in regular season touchdown passes and ranked among the top 10 nationally in five other offensive categories. That season quarterback Scott Krause garnered Division III All-America first team honors and would later win a Grey Cup championship with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts in 2004.
Prior to UWSP, Breitbach had stints as special teams coordinator and receivers coach at Lewis & Clark College (1999-2002) and assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Montana-Western (1996-1998). He also spent the 1993 and 1994 seasons as a graduate assistant at Montana Western.
Breitbach received his bachelor’s degree in business education from the University of Montana-Western in 1994 and his master’s degree in education administration from Portland State University in 2002. He played two seasons each at Dickinson (N.D.) State University (1989-90) and Montana-Western (1991-92).
He and his wife, Kara, have three children: daughters Alaina and Jenna, and son, Trent.
