Jace Schillinger was added to the Fighting Sioux football staff in the summer of 2009 as running backs coach.
In his first year at UND, Schillinger guided Mitch Sutton to Great West Conference Rookie of the Year and GWC All-Conference first team accolades. Sutton led the Sioux with 689 yards on the ground (62.6/game). The UND ground game netted 1,324 yards (120.4/game) and scored 11 touchdowns. Against 16th-ranked Cal Poly (Oct. 31), the Fighting Sioux running game tallied season-highs in carries, (52), yardage (238) and touchdowns (three).
Schillinger spent the 2008 season as the head football coach at Park High School in Livingston, Mont., and from 2006 to 2008 he was the assistant football coach and assistant track coach at his alma mater, Dickinson State, where he worked mainly with the defensive line. From 2005 to 2006, Schillinger worked at Billings Central High School in Billings, Mont., as the head track coach and assistant football and basketball coach.
A 2005 graduate of Dickinson State with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education with a coaching minor, Schillinger played tailback for the Blue Hawks and helped them win three consecutive DAC-10 championships from 2002 to 2004.
A team captain from 2003 to 2004, Schillinger was a two-time NAIA All-American running back and an All-Dakota Athletic Conference first team selection. In 2004, he was the recipient of the NAIA Champions of Character Award and was honored as the DAC-10 Conference Football Athlete of the Year. He was also named the DSU Outstanding Male Physical Education Student of the Year in 2005. He is Dickinson State's all-time leader in rushing yards, all-purpose yards and points scored.
Schillinger graduated from Baker High School in Baker, Mont., in 2000 and was a member of the 1999 and 2000 football and basketball championship teams.
He lives in Grand Forks with his wife, Amie and daughter, Lola (1).
- Go Sioux -
